St. Thomas’ Natural Law and Christ’s Golden Rule

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Ethics
Question One
St. Thomas’ natural law is based on natural inclinations. One of the natural inclinations is the desire to procreate and rear children (Aquinas, 2020). This is what St. Thomas would use to defend himself against the claim that he is homophobic. Innately, procreation occurs when a man and a woman engage in sexual intercourse. As St. Thomas opines, “human beings are naturally inclined to mate and care for their young.” (Aquinas, 2020) Anything that prevents human beings from naturally mating and procreating is therefore evil and against the natural way of life. Same-sex relationships can be considered as a way of living that prevents or hinders the achievement of this natural desire. One might argue that in modern same-sex relationships/ marriages, the desire to have children is still there and is achievable, thanks to technological advancements. Same-sex couples are rearing children through surrogacy, sperm donation and other methods. However, based on St. Thomas’ natural law theory, these methods are unnatural.
I would not find his defense plausible because even if the methods used in rearing children among same-sex couples are unnatural, they still fulfill their desire to raise offspring, albeit in a non-traditional family setting. Also, the fact that children among same-sex couples are brought into the world differently does not make such couples less capable of caring for those children.
Question Two
It is possible for non-religious individuals to take the natural law seriously. St. Thomas’ natural law is based on four natural tendencies, which are common to all human beings, religious or not. The first tendency is self-preservation (Aquinas, 2020). Universally, human beings have that survival instinct and are more likely t...