Lesson 22: How Does God Operate in Natural Events
Let me add another thought before we move on. We used to see meaning in nature and even thought we could discern natural laws which taught ethical principles. So it made sense that we could ask questions such as “How does God operate in natural events?” However, things have changed greatly in the past couple centuries. Modern technology has made it very difficult to speak about what is natural.
You see how problematic this has become with the response of the ELCA to its recent social statement on human sexuality. The position of the traditionalists who oppose the statement is essentially that “right thinking men” can agree on what is natural law. They simply need to observe the biological difference between men and women. No matter how involved the argument, it boils down to an understanding of what is natural. In fact, the primary biblical text used to support the position, Romans 1:18-32, uses the natural law argument. It helps to remember there are no homosexuals in the Bible, only heterosexuals who choose to engage in unnatural sexual relations with their own kind.
Those who wrote the statement did not attempt to define what natural sexual relations are, but instead based their conclusion on the Bible clearly calling for faithfulness in all relationships of trust. I do not know if they discussed natural law in the modern world. I do know a high school junior in our reading group could observe we have not been able to agree on what is natural since we separated sex relations from reproduction. That started centuries ago with women, not homosexuals, deciding they had a right to limit the size of their families and expect pleasure from sex relations just like men. Then technology enabled this to happen by developing dependable contraception. Immediately the Church and other groups differed on whether natural law called for reproduction, expression of love, or a combination of both. Soon scientific findings in biology and genetics challenged old definitions. We began speaking of a social group we labeled homosexual.
This conflict between traditionalist and modernist definitions of “natural” extends to many of our controversies, such as abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, in vitro fertilization, cosmetic surgery, hybrid seeds, pesticides, hormone cattle feed, genetic planning, global warming, and on and on. It plays out in name calling: one side accusing the other of allowing society rather than God to determine what is good and the other claiming the opposition is more concern with rules than people. We obviously need a public conversation in which we listen to each others’ views, and perhaps we should speak about what is good for me, my children, and my society rather than what is natural.
Let me know your thoughts on the matter. Next week we’ll turn to how we identify which people operate for God in our world.
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