Largely agree with this point, except for one major caveat -- natural law arguments are not religious arguments. That's what is natural about them. The collapse of the distinction between natural and religious is precisely what allows for the dismissal of natural law arguments as not applicable to the public realm of a secular society (whatever that phrase may mean or entail, a great source of contestation).
Richard Dougherty On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 2:44 PM, Marc R Poirier <marc.poir...@shu.edu> wrote: > > > > > Judy and all: > > > > You write: “Sexual relations that can lead to procreation should occur > only between a man and a woman...uh, this pertains to same-sex couples how? > ” > > > > I suspect the writer meant to write: “Sexual relations, which can lead to > procreation, should occur only between a man and a woman.” That would make > it a natural law argument, one that does not refer to God. It’s part of a > millennia-long (probably inevitably recurring) notion that sex is basically > polluting and is redeemed by various kinds of restrictions. One functional > and redemptive justification for sexual activity is potential procreation. > Not pleasure, not fostering a bond of companionship, not the release of > important desires. As you well know, in the Judea-Christian tradition, > non-procreative sex is problematic, and in one version of Christianity > pleasure in sex is itself sinful. (Not so in traditional Judaism!) > > > > But of course to say all this openly brings religion and perhaps God back > into the state’s justification. What happens instead is to make certain > kinds of conclusions about sex statements of obvious fact and then claim > rational basis. > > > > Warmly, > > > > > > Marc R. Poirier > > Professor of Law and Martha Traylor Research Scholar > > Seton Hall University School of Law > > One Newark Center > > Newark, NJ 07102-5210 > > 973-642-8478 (work) > > 973-642-8546 (fax) > > 201-259-0896 (mobile) > > Selected articles and drafts available at http://ssrn.com/author=1268697 > > > > Somebody has to plant the seed so that sanity can happen on this earth. -- > Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > To post, send message to conlawp...@lists.ucla.edu > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see > http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/conlawprof > > Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as > private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are > posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or > wrongly) forward the messages to others. > -- Richard J. Dougherty, Ph.D. Chairman, Politics Department University of Dallas 1845 E. Northgate Drive Irving, TX 75062 972-721-5043
_______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
