Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/298224
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 APRIL 2014 Opinion 21 should not insist on things for which there is no correlative in nature... such as the abilit y to adopt children. They should, in a word, simply be grateful for the fact that they are tolerated by societ y and stop bothering others with their outrageous demands. Well, you can't really argue with the first part. Homosexualit y not only exists in nature but is also prevalent among most animal species. Bonobos – our closest relatives in the animal kingdom – seem to have an entirely ambivalent attitude towards gender stereot ypes when it comes to sexual appetite and behaviour. And the difference between a bonobo and a human being amounts to less than one per cent of our respective DNA. But to perceive the astounding fallacy in the second part, you need only substitute the words 'same-sex adoption' for any other totally unnatural human practice that we not only accept in our everyday lives, but in many cases cannot live without. Let's try 'healthcare', and see how far we get. I have nothing against health (or so the argument would now go). Health exists in nature; you can see that some animals are healthier than others. Its existence goes without saying, so nobody is going to argue that you don't have a right to be healthy. The issue concerns whether you have a right to healthcare. Health may exist as a phenomenon all it likes. But nowhere in the rest of the animal kingdom will you find the practice of preserving health through entirely unnatural interventions – sometimes even involving that most unnatural of all contrivances, surgery. No species other than man has created a system whereby an entire substratum will specialise in treating the physical and psychological ailments of all its specimens, with the declared aim of improving standards of public health across the board. Only humans do this. They do this to other animals too, and anyone who's ever taken a dog to a vet will surely observe the animal 's reaction. The dog will have to be dragged and shoved bodily into the clinic, often leaving claw-marks on the doorstep. Would its reaction be the same if 'going to the vet' was an everyday occurrence in the animal kingdom? All these things are alien to nature, yet this fact is never used as an argument against their very existence. For like most fallacies, the one about same-sex adoption being 'unnatural ' seems to lead a double life. The same people who argue this way will also defend all sorts of other similarly unnatural behaviour patterns that they themselves indulge in every day. They will have no problem with any amount of unnatural behaviour that makes their own daily living more tolerable or comfortable. But when it comes to a phenomenon that might affect the happiness of others, suddenly these people insist upon strict adherence to the natural way of doing things, even as they sit at an unnatural computer and produce reams of drivel in the form of an equally unnatural written language. So much for the hypocrisy. There is, however, another aspect to this argument that also betrays ignorance. Not just of nature, but also of the law. For what is the law, if not yet another manmade invention? Why does it exist? To emulate nature? To enforce a 'natural ' code of conduct among human beings? Hardly. If that were the case, there wouldn't exactly be much point in having any laws in the first place. Nature's world, after all, has been in existence for billions of years. Throughout that time it has wielded its authorit y with absolutely no need for any assistance by man-made laws and it will continue to do so long after mankind is gone and all its precious laws with it. The law does, however, have a purpose. It serves to regulate human – as opposed to natural – behaviour. And the human behaviour it regulates can and does extend to the rearing of children by same-sex couples, even here in Malta and even before the introduction of the civil unions law. Same-sex couples exist, with or without societ y's approval. They adopt children any way, and have been doing so for years. Faced with this situation, the law has a dut y and an obligation, under the civil canon, to acknowledge and regulate these realities. As for nature's opinion in the matter… that is quite simply irrelevant. Download the MaltaToday App now 'It's unnatural', said illogical Marsaxlokk Bugibba Grand Harbour Friday 25 th April Saturday 26 th April Wednesday 30 th April Like most fallacies, the one about same-sex adoption being 'unnatural' seems to lead a double life