In this episode of Intrinsically Ordered, Cade sits down with gay Catholic writer and lawyer Chris Damian to unpack one of the most abused buzzwords in Catholic debates: natural law.
They trace how Aristotle, Aquinas, and virtue ethics get flattened into YouTube talking points, why “sex is for babies and bonding” doesn’t actually settle anything, and how natural law gets weaponized against LGBT people, contraception, and queer families while mysteriously ignoring things like smoking and worker exploitation.
From Latin Mass culture and “Catholic Inc.” to chastity, conversion therapy, and bad analogies about chairs, cups, and diet soda, Cade and Chris ask: What would natural law look like if we actually cared about human flourishing—especially for queer people—instead of just defending a pre-decided rulebook?
00:00 Natural Law in Catholicism
01:35 Catholic Inc. and Rad Trad Explained
03:31 Natural Law and Sexual Ethics
09:39 Critiques and Complexities of Natural Law
14:17 Marriage and Natural Law
20:25 Natural Law in Practice and Popular Misconceptions
37:58 Christian Natural Law and Intuitive Goods
46:30 The Anorexia Argument and Natural Law
50:56 The Flaws in Catholic Natural Law Arguments
56:14 The One-Way Valve of Catholic Studies
58:10 Adoption and Same-Sex Couples
59:52 The Complexity of Human Flourishing
01:04:06 The Inconsistencies in Catholic Sexual Ethics
01:06:57 The Broader Implications of Natural Law

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