About 15 years ago, before my reversion to the Catholic faith while sitting in my law school property law class, I remember clear as day the only mention of the natural law in three years of American legal education. It was mentioned by the professor because it was referenced in one line of the textbook. The professor agreed with the authors of the textbook that the natural law was not a relevant concept because no one really knew what the natural law required. And with that, the natural law was dismissed and never spoken of again in any of my law school classes.
There was one follow up conversation I had with a classmate after class. She was a very nice young lady who I would have described as a “hippie girl” at the time. She was clearly into the things of “nature,” as best I could tell. She seemed interested in the natural law theory and asked me if I knew anything more about it than the very limited and not very satisfying explanation given in class. Having heard concepts such as natural rights in political debates before, I knew there was something more to it. And didn’t the Declaration of Independence refer to “Nature’s God?” My classmate clearly believed natural law was related somehow to communing and becoming one with the natural elements of the world, that is, with the ecological environment. Sadly, I really didn’t have a good answer to give her at the time. But it struck an interest that has never gone away.
It may come as no surprise that after doing some research, attending seminars, and reading a lot, I figured out the natural law actually does mean something. Yes–we can know what the natural law means! And while we are free to disobey the requirements or precepts of the natural law, we are all nevertheless subject to its jurisdiction, so to speak.
In this process of coming to understand natural law better, the first thing I realized as I began to study it is that not only was my law school professor and textbook wrong, but so was my “hippie” classmate. You see the natural law doesn’t actually refer to “nature” in the same way many moderns refer to the environment or ecology. The natural law is not some form of new age, pantheistic communion with the Mother Earth whereby humanity and the plants, animals, seas and mountains of the earth equally share in one overarching spirit that guides our lives and destinies. In other words, the “natural” in the natural law is not forest, birds, rivers and trees. On the contrary, the “natural” in natural law refers to our nature as human beings.
Great, so what is our nature as human beings mean? Contrary to popular strains of modern new age mysticism, and contrary to popular “science” being taught in our schools where humans are just another mammal in a long chain of evolutionary “improvement”, humans are indeed special with a unique nature. Our nature as humans, or the essence of what we are, unlike the plants and other animals, is a rational being designed (not evolved) a certain way in order to achieve a purpose. And that purpose, as both pagan Aristotle and Church Doctor Thomas Aquinas understood, is to achieve authentic happiness.
I realize this statement, that our purpose as rational beings is to achieve happiness, is a loaded one and is going to require much more development and explanation in future posts. But what I learned was that for the Christian, true happiness consists of achieving the beatific vision of God in Eternity. The fullness of happiness lies with worshiping and adoring God in Heaven. The natural law, applicable to all living humans on earth, guides us towards achieving our ultimate purpose of sharing eternal life with God. Because the natural law applies to us while we make our way on our earthly journey, the natural law has tremendous social, legal, and political implications.
Once I learned these basics of the natural law, I realized very quickly that what my law school classmate thought was the natural law, wasn’t even remotely close to being correct. But I also realized that many of my political allies, and those who would occasionally refer to the natural law in various political contexts, did not have a good understanding of it either.
In fact, the more I learned about the natural law, the more I realized that my own fundamental ideas concerning political life, the law and culture were fundamentally flawed in several ways. While studying the natural law confirmed many of my concerns and rejection of progressive leftist ideology, it also caused me to call into question what I felt were core conservative/libertarian beliefs about the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and American law in general.
This introductory post on the natural law is intended to set the stage for hopefully many other discussions and explorations into the meaning of the natural law and how those principles can be used to remedy many modern day political and social ills. It will be an eye-opening experience; so be prepared to be challenged, and perhaps even shocked as the natural law not only exposes the dark underbelly of our culture (which isn’t so hidden anymore) but provides remedies and solutions—our civilization may depend on it.