Consent

A lot of moral relativism, especially in the arena of sexual morality, has by and large rejected Natural Law, the basis of morality in the Catholic ethics I hold to, and relies instead on this thing called “consent.”  As long as two adults “consent” to something, that thing is okay.

But I’ve just read something that I’ve never read before, or heard before, or realized before, and it raises some good points.  I’d like you to memorize it, should this “consent” thing come up in conversation you’re part of.  And, eventually, it will.

Two adults consent to a relationship.  But what if they had already previously consented to relationships with other people?  Does that matter?  How does that matter?  Does that invalidate or lessen to some extent the newer consensual relationship?  What if the other member of a prior consensual relationship does not consent to the partner entering another “consensual” relationship?  What if children resulted from a prior consensual relationship, and now will lose out from spending time with an adult because of this newer “consensual” relationship?  Does the fact that innocent parties are harmed somehow convince us that “consent” cannot be the sole criteria in determining the morality of certain actions?

Hmmm?