This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
According to "Catholic message" (Forum, Dec. 22), Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to homosexuality and gay marriage is based on principles "inscribed in human nature itself, accessible to reason." That "the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman" must not be "equivalent to radically different types of union" because that would "harm and … destabilize marriage."
Today, one can't reasonably argue that the origins of homosexuality aren't in nature. Even Mormon leaders now sort of admit that.
So, is being gay "natural" in the way a birth defect is natural? having an incomplete body, a handicap you have to accommodate?
Or is being gay "natural" in the way a gifted artist is natural? A child prodigy like Mozart is an uncommon act of nature, but no one sees that person as defective or handicapped. Rather, such a rare gifted person is part of the natural spectrum of human experience.
According to the American Psychological Association, homosexuality is an occurrence along a natural continuum of human sexual orientation. That there are fewer gays does not make them unnatural.
And I see no "reason" that the union of two loving souls of the same sex "destabilizes marriage."
Colin Buck
Kaysville