This issue of the Bulletin is dedicated to a topic some might find controversial. Perhaps we should ask ourselves why that is. After all, sexuality is central to our humanity. Entering into the full range of human relationships, from the most intimate and personal liaisons to the great stage of societal structures and needs, our sexuality is a vehicle of personal and social expression that gives shape, tone, and substance to our relational nature. In short, we engage the world and others as sexed persons. Although sexuality can be perverted, twisted, and destructive of good relationships, its healthy expression is an important source of personal joy and social stability.
Given its essential relationship to human nature in general and procreation in particular, sexuality has always occupied a central place in theological reflection. The Semitically based religions which most heavily influence American religious life — Islam, Judaism, and Christianity — associate the source and actualization of sexuality with the sacred. The Bible, for example, opens on a note of human sexuality: Adam and Eve become "one flesh...and indeed it was very good" (Gen. 1 and 2). Shortly thereafter, however, the biblical account tells us the original plan went awry, and the basic goodness of human sexuality became vulnerable: "Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked" (Gen. 3:7). Here in the story of humankind's creation and fall from grace, we find the root of religious concern about sexual ethics. Human sexuality is fundamentally good, but it can lead to abuse. Consequently, decisions in the realm of sexuality carry moral weight and bear religious significance. From the point of view of America's mainline religious communities, the use and abuse of human sexuality bears directly upon the sacred origins and fundamental nature of men, women, and the human community.
It is no surprise, then, that sexuality and gender have emerged as particularly powerful moral and political lightning rods. As an article in a recent issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education noted, "Few subjects have vexed religious denominations lately more than sexuality and gender. Whether the topic is abortion, homosexuality, the ordination of women and gay people, same-sex marriages, even the roles of men and women in traditional marriages, it seems difficult to air opposing views without a shouting match."
It is our hope that this issue of the Bulletin manages to air such views in modulated but clear tones. It takes on many subjects bound to be provocative while exploring the ethical, religious, and health implications of sexuality.
Christine Gudorf's piece on the McCaughey septuplets — and our entire "Media Rx" spread — touches on an issue central to human sexuality: reproduction. Professor Gudorf provides a sympathetic and enlightening perspective on the positive role of religious faith within the arena of assisted reproduction. Miracle or scientific triumph? Both are possible and quite compatible.
"Divine Marriage and Divine Alchemy," Wendy Doniger's article in this month's "Reading Room," is an interesting sample of the thinking of this noted University of Chicago Divinity School professor. The piece in our "Upfront" section, about a study conducted by a University of Chicago team on sexual behavior in Chicago neighborhoods, shows how some religious groups respond when people put themselves at risk. And we also feature a series of articles that examine the controversies that have grown out of the 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development. Center researcher Larry Greenfield, a conference participant who now heads up our Religion, Sexuality, and Public Policy project, gives a more complete take on this watershed event in his introduction to this issue.
Philip Boyle has written a case study on spousal equivalency benefits for partners in same-sex relationships which analyzes the moral arguments both for and against such benefits, while Martin E. Marty directly confronts Alan Wolfe's analysis of the American view of homosexuality.
This array of articles is directed toward a single aim: illuminating the intricate relationships and powerful interplay among human sexuality, religion, and health. The quest is a crucial one — of greater importance now, perhaps, than ever before. The Park Ridge Center takes it seriously. For me, it is sufficient to say that the undoubted influence of religion on sexual health has prompted us to establish "Sexuality, Religion, and Health" as one of the eight permanent areas of engagement for the Center's research initiatives.
