Ratner, Herbert

English

epublications@Marquette

The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 56 | Number 4 Article 6November 1989Nature's Answer to AIDSHerbert RatnerFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationRatner, Herbert (1989) "Nature's Answer to AIDS," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 56: No. 4, Article 6.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol56/iss4/6Nature's Answer to AIDS Herbert Ratner, M.D. This article appeared as an editorial in Child and Family, Vo l. 20 #3. Over a hundred years ago Kierkegaard, the famous Protestant theologian, said , "The trouble with life is that you understand it backwards, but have to live it forwards." Nature, however, expects man, who is guided by reason a nd directive natural inclinations, to understand life as he lives it forward. When man ignores nature's teachings , nature automatically strikes back as if trying to bring man back to his senses. Perhaps this is what AIDS is all about. In one of his great generalizations, Aristotle pointed out that , For any living thing that has reached its normal development . .. the most natural act is the production of a no ther like itself, an animal producing an animal , a plant a plant , in orde r that, as far as its nature allows , it may partake in the ete rnal and di vine. That is the goa l towards which all things strive. that for the sake of which they do whatsoever their natu re renders possible ... Since .. . no li vi ng thing is able to partake in what is eternal and di vine by uninterrupted continuance ... it tries to reach that end in the only way possible to it ; . .. [it] continues its existence in someth ing like itself ... [by reproduction]. (Aristo tle. De Anima, Bk. II , 4, 4lSa 2S-b 8) Characteristic Reproductive Norms In stnvlng for the eternal each species of living things has its own characteristic mode of reproduction which conforms to its nature and destiny. The end goal of this mode of reproduction is to produce offspring sufficiently mature to carryon the reproductive function . Thus the species perpetuates itself. In vertebrates , although the male is always necessary for insemination, he does not often have a further parental role . Dogs, cats and hamsters exemplify this. When the male does have a parental role beyond insemination it varies acco rding to the needs of the maturing young. Some species of birds provide striking examples of male participation. Here the inseminating male takes turns incubating the fertilized eggs and , after hatching, shares in the back-and-forth feeding of the rapidly growing chicks and in their protection until they leave the nest for an independent life . This completes the work of procreation, and the partnership of male and female ends. This spring-to-fall collaboration is known as seasonal monogamy. 18 Linacre Quarterly Human beings take the longest of all animal newborns to mature . Many years of parental cohabitation are required for the growth and development of the young. In earlier times the period was shorter since there was less accumulated knowledge and fewer skills to pass on to the young. In modern times this may extend to eighteen or more years . As in other mammals , the human female is the primary nurturer during the early years , a task for which she is specially fitted by a physical and psychological connaturality with the child. I The male, morale supporter of the nurturing mother, is customarily the provider and the protector of the mother and child. With the passage of time, he also contributes to the emotional growth and to the physical, intellectual and moral education of the child . Additionally , the continuing presence of two parents , male and female , helps prepare the child for participation in the gregarious , socially complex, two sexed society characteristic of man - the social and political animal. In the concise words of Aristotle, male and female thus "cooperate to ensure not merely existence, but a good Iife ."2 The Natural Institution of the Family The need for both parents to participate in the child's growth and development over a long period of time prolongs connubial togetherness . Meanwhile, the father of the first child , while discharging his parental duties along with the mother to that child , normally becomes the father of the second child , and for the same reasons, the father of additional children . This extends connubial togetherness even longer. The need for the male to work with the female in fulfilling the needs of the family gives rise to another factor which distinguishes the human species from other animal species . In man, nature utilizes the copulatory act for sustaining, maintaining, fortifying and revivifying the togetherness of father and mother. Nature does this by elevating copulation in man from the transitory, instinct-determined act of the lower animals, into voluntary acts of committed love not found in lower animals. Thus, nature converts human copulation into a love-giving as well as a life-giving act. It is not simply a generative act , but a unitive, agapeic act intrinsic to the marital compact. This unitive act bolsters the parental role of guiding the newborn to adulthood . The special feeling of love engendered by the marital couple overflows to the rest of the family to help create a milieu optimal for the rearing of children. The male becomes more paternal , the female more maternal and the children more filial. The unitive , agapeic act along with the other accumulated experiences of living together - eating together, sharing children (and later grandchildren) , sharing the joys and sorrows and the ups and downs of life - virtually weld husband and wife into a lifelong monogamous relationship as visualized in the traditional wedding pledge "until death do us part." The extensive needs of the young and the unique ability of the parents to November 1989 19 fulfill them account for the natural institution of the family. Out of this comes marriage, an office of nature. Rather than the family being rooted in marriage, marriage is rooted in the natural institution of the family. Thomas Aquinas discerns this with great philosophic insight: Matrimon y was inst ituted chieny for th e good of th e offspring. not only as to its begetling s ince thi s can be effected even without marriage - but also as to its advancement to a perfect state, because eve rythin g tends naturall y to bring its effect to perfection . (SUII/ Theo! .. Supp .. Q. 59. a. 2 .. Respd.) The natural institution of the family, known as the nuclear family by soc ial scientists and most commonly called the traditional family , is one of nature's underlying constants. It has been with us from the beginning of man. It is one of the most enduring and resilient realities of human history. Aberrations and deviations, innovations of one sort or another come and go, but never thrive or last. The traditional family has a habit of burying its own undertakers as seen in recent years with the demise of the communes. Nature's Prescription One of the remarkable properties of the natural institution of the family is that it protects society against epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), the latest and most lethal of which is AIDS. It accomplishes this by making genital sex intrinsic to and limited to marriage. The reason is clear. Epidemics of A IDS and other sexually transmitted diseases have their genesis in multiple sex partners . In faithful monogamy, even were the AIDS virus (or other microorganisms) to develop de novo in one partner or the other, this mutant could not extend further than the monogamous couple or the family unit. Nature's script, in effect, becomes the prescription protecting man and woman from epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases. Because of the bafflingly poor immune response of the body to its viruses, AIDS is the most threatening in fectious disease that man has ever encountered . It is even questioned whether the human species will survive its insidious onslaught. It is no coincidence that the diverse populations of heterosexuals , AIDS experts and homosexuals, all agree that the primary prevention of the genita l spread of AIDS viruses consists of abstinence before marriage and faithful monogamy thereafter. AIDS demands these conforming behavioral changes on the part of man and woman. The natural insti tution of the family, a striking example of nature's wisdom, is a reality, whether viewed as a product of an all wise, far-seeing creator, or the product of a blind evolutionary process. The fact is that it has proven itself in the longest clinical trial of all times and has prevailed through the 20th century despite the innovations of man. Nature knows. man guesses! Acceptance and Rejection Both primitive and later societies which have adhered to nature's script 20 Linacre Quarterly and in which lifelong faithful monogamy was accepted as nature's norm have been notably free of sex ually transmitted diseases. In societies in which sexual morals became lax and the sensual and erotic life became an end to itself, multiple sex partners were commonplace, abortions abounded, perversions prevailed , sex ually transmitted diseases were common, an anti-child mentality developed, and the family as a functioning unit broke down. This was roughly what happened with Rome following the seco nd Punic war (218-20 I B.C.) and acco unted for its decline and fall. Today, western man is undergoing a catastrophe of even greater proportions. Society is presently characterized by infidelity to family, country and religion, dissension betwee n man a nd woman, single parent and broken homes , insecure childhood carried over to insecure adulthood, sex without norms, rampant sexually transmitted di sease including an unusual inc rease of new ones, a sharp increase in the incidence of sterility, seemingly uncontrollable drug misuse, and a growing disregard of the value of life as seen in abortions on demand and in the promotion of infant and adult euthanasia under the principle that some people are better off dead . Though the above may reflect an expansion of human freedom , by no stretch of the imagination can this be viewed as progress. Freedom's Grandeur and Misery Man's perennial difficulty is that he is the only animal who by virtue of reason and will acts as a free agent. His freedom is both his grandeur and his mise ry. Other animals do not act but are activated by instincts . These instincts automatically direct the animal to the good animal life. Some keenly describe them as acts. He is a decision-making or choice-making animal. Guided rather than compelled, his road to the good life is through the mora ls and ethics which fortify his natural inclinations implanted by nature. These morals and ethics take the place of instincts found in lower animals. Man runs into difficulty when he treats freedom as an unbounded variable. He does not always fully gras p that freedom has limits: that freedom is like a free-flowing river, which if deprived of its banks turns into marshlands and bogs . Law a nd justice are freedom's banks. Without them man's freedom bogs him down and mires him in mud. Aristotle stated this reality when he observed that man can be the best or the worst of all animals, For just as ma n when perfected is th e greatest of all a nimals. so he is the worst of a ll when sepe rat ed from law a nd justice. For the most cruel injust ice is the o ne wh ich has weapons to carry it o ut: a nd a man ha ving weapons (e.g. s peec h. hands. etc .) to be used with prudence and virtue. can (through imprudence and vice) misuse these for co ntrary ends. For this reaso n. a ma n without virtue can be the mos t unhappy. the most savage. and the worst (of animals) for lust a nd gluttony. (Politics. Bk . I. 2. 1253a 30-40. Apostle translation.) November, 1989 21 The True Antidote for AIDS To be the best of all animals is not easy given man's fallen and Freudian nature. Though made in God's image, man frequently lacks certitude. He often substitutes rationalization for reason. Accordingly, man should not spurn the accumulated wisdom found in the great books of civilization. Nor should he spurn his religious heritage. God wants man to benefit from his grace , a spiritual power which helps make good the promise of nature. Nature above all wants her highest product , man , to survive and thrive. She has apparently thrown down the gauntlet with AI OS. It is as if nature is saying, "You have misbehaved long enough; get back to abstinence and monogamy or perish." The sooner we live up to this fact of life the sooner will man's destiny be secured and the sooner man will reap the benefits of the natural institution of the family, the cornerstone of society. References I. Ratner. H. The nursing couplet iv: Connaturality. Child and Family. 19: 162-164. 1980. Reprinted in The NurSing Couplel. 1988. pp. 8-10. a Child and Fami/r reprint booklet. 2. Aristotle. Oeconomica. Bk. I. See Aristotle. The natural institution of the family. Child and Fami/r. 16:62. 1977. 22 God. like a good teacher. has taken care to compose most excellent writings that we may be instructed in all perfection. Alllhal is "'Til/en. says the Apostle, is IITil/en/or our inslruuion. These writings are in two books: the book of creation and the book of the Hol y Scriptures. In the book of creation there are so many creatures , so many excellent writings that deliver the truth without falsehood that Aristot le. when asked whence it was that he had his admirable learning. replied. "From things which do not know how to lie!" Thomas Aquinas Senna 5 in Dam. II de Advel1lu. Ed. Vives , Opera Omnia. XXIX, p. 194. Linacre Quarterly 

Nature\u27s Answer to AIDS

https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1730&amp;context=lnq

Nature\u27s Answer to AIDS

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

epublications@Marquette