It is fair to say that God looks at the world and human life differently than we do. This is especially true when we compare God’s plan for human sexuality with that of today’s culture.
Many today view human sexuality in a purely pragmatic way because science has developed pills, procedures and devices that divorce sexual activity from its natural outcome: pregnancy. Separating life from the action allows people to view sexual intercourse as solely a natural response to human instinct and human need.
God’s perspective on sexuality is radically different. It recognizes that human life and the human spirit exceed biology and humanistic philosophy. God’s plan understands that sexual activity flourishes when the nature and dignity of human life and the process by which that life is transmitted are unified. It also acknowledges that the separation of the two ends of sexual activity – love and life – diminishes the fulfillment that God intends and often results in human agony.
By God’s design, human sexuality is a gift given to us so that we can co-create life out of love for love. God’s plan ensures love of life remains intact.”
What happens when people choose the cultural interpretation about sexuality over God’s message? Statistics and research would show that we become less pro-life. (Consider the increase in abortions, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and sexual violence.) All this has profound and destructive effects not only on individual persons but on society as well.
Here is a quote from Human Sexuality from God’s Perspective written by the USCCB’s Pro-life Secretariat on the 25th anniversary of Humanae Vitae. “When a society permits sexual behavior to be torn from its moorings in human love and marriage, when it treats sex as a mechanism for personal pleasure, it encourages a destructive mentality and diminishes the value of personal commitment and of human life itself.”
Sexuality is clearly tied to being pro-life. By God’s design, human sexuality is a gift given to us so that we can co-create life out of love for love. God’s plan ensures love of life remains intact.
Sirach 15:15-17 tells us that we get to decide if we will follow God’s commandments or blow them off. It also states that what we choose will be given to us. What’s your choice?
By Alice Heinzen, Director of the Office for Marriage and Family Life