欧美名人演讲 第70期:同性恋与道德的关系(16)

 　　Now, there are a number of problems with this argument.

　　这种论调的漏洞很多。

　　A lot of our organs have multiple purposes.

　　我们的很多器官都是多功能的。

　　I can use my mouth for talking, for singing, for breathing, for licking stamps, for blowing bubbles, for kissing a woman, or for kissing a man, and it seems very arbitrary to say that all of those are natural, except the last one.

　　我可以用我的嘴聊天、歌唱、呼吸、舔邮票、吹泡泡、亲吻一位女士，或者亲吻一位男士。如果你要说前面几项都是"自然的"，只有最后一项"不自然"，这种说法未免过于武断了吧。

　　And if you say, "Well, okay, using it to lick stamps is not natural, but it's okay."

　　如果你认可舔邮票虽然是"不自然的"，但也没什么道德问题的话。

　　Well, then we don't have a morally relevant sense of unnatural¹.

　　那么"自然的"还是"非自然的"和道德又有什么相干呢？

　　Now what about the sexual organs?

　　那么，生殖器官呢？

　　Obviously, one purpose of the sexual organs is procreation; nobody denies basic biological facts here, but is that the only legitimate² purpose?

　　很显然，生殖器官的一个功用，是生育。大家都认可基本的生理常识。那么生育是它唯一合理合法的功用吗？

　　Heterosexual people often have sex, even if they say don't want children, don't want children yet, don't want any more children, or can't have children.

　　异性恋者常常发生性行为，不想生孩子的时候会上床，暂时不想要孩子的时候也会上床，已经有了孩子，不想再继续生的时候会上床，甚至没有生育能力的时候也会上床。

　　Why? Because there are other purposes for sex-building and expressing a kind of intimacy³ and connection and relationship, showing affection for a person.

　　这是为什么？是因为除了生育孩子之外，性行为还有别的目的：建立或者表达亲密的情感，向爱人示爱等等。

　　Even the Roman Catholic Church which by no means is a permissive organization, will allow sterile⁴ heterosexual couples to marry and have sex and will allow pregnant women to have sex with their husbands, even though further procreation cannot result.

　　即使是罗马天主教廷这样一个非常保守教条、律令森严的组织，也允许没有生育能力的夫妇结婚，并且发生性行为。也允许怀孕期间的女性，同她们的丈夫发生性行为，即使明知这种性行为不会以生育为结果。

　　Why? Because they recognize these other dimensions of sex, this unitive dimension of sex.

　　为什么？因为他们也认可"性"有着多元性，多种目的构成了统一的"性"这个概念。

　　But, if it's okay for heterosexual people to pursue that in the absence of procreation, why is it not okay for homosexual people to do this?

　　那么，对于异性恋者来说，不以生育为目的的性行为是可以接受的，为什么同性恋者的性行为就是不可接受的呢？

　　I think one of the best ways to show this is by analogy to certain other organs of the body.

　　我们还可以以别的器官来类比分析。

　　Take the digestive organs.

　　比如消化器官。

　　What's the purpose of the digestive organs?

　　消化器官的功用是什么？

　　Nutrition and hydration.

　　吸收营养和吸收水分。

　　So, it seems that any time you eat or drink something, it should be to bring nutrition or hydration to the body.

　　那么，大概每当你在吃东西或者喝东西的时候，它的任务就是把营养和水分带入人体。

　　You've been drinking something.

　　这位先生您在喝东西吧。

　　Can I borrow that? This is the audience participation⁵ portion of the program.

　　瓶子能否借来一用？（走下讲台）接下来是我们的观众互动环节。

　　It's a Diet Coke. Diet Coke contains less than 2% of the following.

　　这是一瓶健怡可乐。（从一位观众的手中拿起一瓶饮料)以下成分低于2%.

　　There's no nutrition in Diet Coke.

　　可以说健怡可乐里根本没有什么营养。

　　Why would you drink it?

　　你为什么要喝它？

　　Just for the taste of it?

　　仅仅是因为味道吗？

　　Presumably, presumably you would drink it for hydration because it brings fluid into your body, yes?

　　想来你喝它多半是为了补充水分，因为它可以让液体进入你的身体，是这样吗？

1 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

2 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

3 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

4 sterile   

adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
• The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

5 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。