Study Links Gene Variant in Men to Marital Discord – washingtonpost.com.

Now, are you ready for my response? Here it comes . . .

So what?

Frankly, from what I know of my own fallen manhood, I have to admit surprise at the correlating finding – there may be some men out there who are actually genetically predisposed to fidelity and harmony! Now, that’s news.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so flippant. What is worthy about this story is the interpretation of some of the scientists. Whereas many in the media immediately want to jump to biological determinism, these scientists refused to do so. In fact, one scientist made a very Catholic statement:

“There are many ways this information can help a man and his wife when they marry,” said Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University who studies romantic love. “Knowing there are biological weak links can help you overcome them.

A man who knows he has this allele, she added, might be able to use the knowledge to ignore tugs of restlessness he might feel in his marriage: “You can say, ‘Oh, it is just my DNA, and I am going to ignore it.’”

Knowledge (the human intellect) allows us to control(the human will) our biological predispositions (the sensitive appetites). St. Thomas Aquinas teaches us that this is the formula for a truly human personality.

As I read this statement, I began to wonder why such statements are not made about other biological impulses. The modernist-spawned tolerance movement refuses to accept such a formula for homosexuals. For the modernist, to act against a biological predisposition to same-sex attraction is to deny part of who you are. In Catholic thought, to approach such a drive with knowledge (about the true nature of sexuality, about the possible causes of such an attraction in his or her life) and self-control (chastity, choosing to try to overcome the biological drive) is actually to truly become who you are.

Learn more about biological determinism and find out why it is wrong. Read this book from the Abunga family-friendly bookstore.

[ad#determinism]

Related Links:

• Do you know of good links related to this post? Let me know by leaving a comment!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.