Just Love: Constructing a New Framework of Christian Sexual Ethics (original) (raw)

2017, A Theological Reader on Gender Diversities and Sexuality Envisioning Inclusivity

The conventional framework of Christian sexual ethics today is simplesex is only ethical within the confines of marriage. Few people question this framework, even though many Christians have been known toviolate this. This absolutist approach is often presented in churches today, and any further investigation and discussion is cut off. Those who differ, suggesting other approaches, are often accused of moral relativism. There is just no room to talk about sex in the church other than prohibitions. Christian sexual ethics is often limited to prescriptive or normative ethics. Even more concerning is together with the exporting of United States' "culture war" along with the spread of Evangelical Christianity globally that one's stand on sexual ethics becomes a litmus test whether one is a "true Christian," regardless whether one practices what one professes. On the other hand, the secular moral approach to sexual ethics-that sex acts between consenting adults in private, barring a few exceptions, should be nobody else's business-is also inadequate, given that this approach of reasoning often fails to consider the constellations of relationships we are embedded in, and the impact of our actions-be it sexual or otherwise-go far beyond our personal and private realms. Neither the conventional framework of Christian sexual ethics nor the secular moral approach to sexual ethics is adequate today. We desperately need to revisit and rethink our frameworks of Christian sexual ethics today so that instead of parading around the conventional framework of sexual ethics that is out of touch with modern times, we find ways of constructing ethical frameworks that are just, loving, appropriate and lifegiving. In the past half a century, many Christian ethicists and theologians have offered new perspectives for Christian sexual ethics. Margaret Farley writes, "Theology, too, has offered important insights regarding human sexuality and behaviour. Some of this work in North America began among Christian theologians in the 1960s with the Roman Catholic debate on artificial contraception. Soon after, significant publications by Anthony Kosnik and his colleagues in the Roman Catholic tradition, and James Nelson in the Protestant traditions, marked the start of a whole new era for Christian sexual ethics. The contributions of