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WEEK IN RELIGION 4/18/80

TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO SEXUAL ETHICS

IS BEING CHALLENGED IN MAJOR CHURCHES

Artist Joe Giacalone's cartoon, above, and its

humorous punchline, suggest the intense concern among Christians

for the complicated matter of human sexuality.

As churches continue to search for an answer to the question of whether

sexual practice is inherently sinful, the study panels of several

denominations have concluded that it is more appropriate to focus on

human relationships than in universal rules dealing with these concerns.

A task force of the United Church of God of Canada has aroused controversy

over its "contextual" recommendations, soon to be submitted to the church's

general council, in which it states: "That sexual intercourse may be right

for singles under certain circumstances; 'mature, self-accepting

homosexuals' should be admitted to the ministry; the church should stress

'intention to faithfulness' rather than 'sexual exclusivity' within

marriage and masturbation as a normal part of human sexuality." The

report urges that all sexual relationships be viewed in the light of

four criteria: "Are they creative and liberating? Are they mutually

supportive? Are they socially responsible? Are they joyous?"

In many ways, the Canadian task force document is similar to a disputed

1977 report by a commission of the Catholic Theological Society of

America. The commission, which included two priests, two laymen and a

nun, suggested that human sexuality be viewed from "personalist"

criteria, rather than an objective approach that categorizes certain

actions as "intrinsically evil." Their report, Human Sexuality,

published by Paulist Press, upholds the principle that "wholesome human

sexuality is that which fosters a creative growth toward integration."

The authors maintain that this is the standard against which acts

such as contraception, masturbation, pre-marital sex, adultery,

homosexuality, fornication, sodomy or bestiality --formerly held to be

"intrinsically evil" -- should be measured.

The doctrinal committee of the U.S. Catholic bishops denounced the

conclusions as "pastorally dangerous and contradictory to theological

tradition," and the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the

Faith reprimanded the authors "for the erroneous conclusions and the

potentially harmful impact these ideas can have on the correct formation

of the Christian conscience of so many people." In 1975, the traditional

Catholic Church's position had been reaffirmed by the Vatican Declaration

on Sexual Ethics -- which declared that "all extra-marital sex,

masturbation and homosexual acts are objectively evil in and of

themselves."

Other church bodies have indicated possible changes in their approaches to

human sexuality. A British Methodist panel concluded last year that

"Christian morality cannot be expressed in terms of approval or

disapproval of particular acts considered in isolation from the

circumstances in which they are performed and the persons who perform

them," and a proposed position paper of the American Lutheran Church --

while maintaining its traditional stand on most sexual practices -- admits

that the church has been guilty of much that is anti-sexual.

As churches apply the teachings of Bible, scholarship and scientific

research to their positions on human sexuality, they are facing the old

question of whether they can update traditional approaches without

compromising basic doctrines. On one point, however, both

conservatives and liberals seem to agree -- it is vitally important

for the church to address the issue.

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