Patriarchal Religion, Sexuality, and Gender

This book is an evaluation and critique of a school of thought that has defended a form of natural law theory, alleged to be based in Thomas Aquinas, that has prominently defended the conservative moral views of the papacy on matters of both sexuality and gender as, allegedly, a secular view consistent with liberal constitutionalism. New natural law is not a secular view consistent with liberal constitutionalism or a form of argument consistent with the philosophical aims of historical Thomism, but rather polemically defends sectarian arguments that many thoughtful Catholics now properly reject. Finally, the book criticizes the fundamentalist style of the new natural lawyers as rooted in their embattled defense of the highly patriarchal structure of religious authority. The book contains an original analysis of the history and culture that gave rise to such patriarchal authority (including a celibate male clergy), and questions the appeal of such authority in contemporary circumstances (discussing the priest abuse scandal in the Catholic church). The book concludes by discussing alternative forms of Christianity that are not fatally flawed in the way new natural law is.