Sexuality is a Choice

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Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: http://pauljernberg.com

Spanish translations by Vélez Translations, http://www.veleztranslations.com

Roughly speaking, there are two modes of inquiry into the most important questions we can ask about ourselves. The first, we might describe as the ancient approach, is to ask, what is a human person and what best produces the flourishing of the human person?

This approach treats this question as both an internal and external one. Internal because we are human beings ourselves, and so we can look at our own personal experiences to inform the answer, but also because there are other human beings external to myself who can give us more perspective than only one person can.

The other approach, which we could call the modern approach, asks, what brings the fulfillment of the self? What will bring me satisfaction? The inquiry in this case is not external, but merely internal.

We look at everything through the lens of the subjective rather than the objective. We want to find ways for my appetite, my desires, my beliefs, and my dreams and ambitions to find satisfaction.

For me, there’s a simple way of contrasting these two sensibilities. Ask yourself what is more noble and good - the flourishing or fulfillment of an individual person or the flourishing and fulfillment of a community of individuals?

If you say it’s better that many should flourish, then our exploration for how to encourage that outcome should be an exploration of what is common and shared. It should examine humanity and the human person rather than just the isolated selfish individual perspective.

The modern world frames this question as something personal – to each his own. You do you. You speak your truth. These are the trademarks relativism and subjectivism.

But if we can all agree that it’s better for many to thrive than for only one to thrive, then we necessarily have to expand our inquiry to consider what is common to all of us – it assumes that there is something objective that informs our inquiry about ourselves and about reality.

And this is what the ancient world did. It sought to understand the human person. What is a human person, what is our purpose, what leads to our flourishing and fulfillment? Notice that all of these questions are inclusive of the many.

Whereas, the modern world says, what is my purpose, what is my perspective, what is my truth, and how do I find my own personal fulfillment.

And if we get off track and our dysfunctions become too much to bear, what do we do? We seek psychological therapy where the focus is again, on the self. We spend hours talking about ourselves. Not about ethics, not about spiritual fulfillment, not about anything objective or external, only internal and subjective.

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