Book – What’s Wrong with Homosexuality?

Is homosexuality unnatural?

Does the Bible condemn it?

Are people born gay?

Should it matter either way?

John Corvino approaches such questions with precision, sensitivity, and good humour. In the process, he makes a fresh case for moral engagement, forcefully rejecting the idea that morality is a ‘private matter’. Instead of shrinking away from the moral debate, he makes the case for why everyone could and should be a moralist. Such is the artifice of Corvino that he manages to balance logical precision with a light prose full of compassion, humanity and wit.

For the last twenty years, John Corvino has traversed the US responding to moral and religious arguments against same-sex relationships. In this timely book, he shares that experience, addressing the standard objections to homosexuality and offering insight into the culture wars more generally. Blending philosophical fastidiousness with a narrative voice that provides humour and sensitivity, Corvino is one of the most rational participants in a very topical debate.

This book appears at a time when same-sex marriage is being hotly debated across the UK. Many people object to such marriage on the grounds that same-sex relationships are immoral, or that they do not deserve the same social recognition as heterosexual relationships. Unfortunately, the traditional rhetoric of gay-rights advocates – which emphasizes privacy and tolerance – fails to meet this objection. Legally speaking, when it comes to marriage, ‘tolerance’ might be enough, Corvino concedes, but socially speaking, marriage requires more. Marriage is more than just a relationship between two individuals. It is also a relationship between those individuals and a larger community. The fight for same-sex marriage, ultimately, is a fight for full inclusion in the moral fabric. What is needed is a positive case for moral approval. This is what Corvino unabashedly offers here in his thought-provoking new book.

For everyone interested in morality, gay issues, gay rights, theological debates on homosexuality, and culture wars, What’s Wrong With Homosexuality? should be essential reading.