欧美名人演讲 第71期:同性恋与道德的关系(17)

 　　No, because Diet Coke contains caffeine.

　　不，你喝它是因为健怡可乐里含有咖啡因。

　　Caffeine actually functions as a diuretic; it removes fluid from your body.

　　而咖啡因实际上是一种利尿剂，它的作用反而是让液体流出你的身体。

　　This is why you're not supposed to drunk caffeinated drinks while you're engaging in sports.

　　所以，我们运动的时候不该和咖啡因饮料。

　　It's why you pee a lot after you drink caffeinated drinks.

　　同样所以你喝了咖啡因饮料之后会排出更多的尿。

　　And yet, we all know that the purpose of eating and drinking is nutrition and hydration.

　　那么，我们都知道吃和喝的意义在于吸收营养和水分。

　　That's the purpose of the digestive organs.

　　是消化器官的功用。（而你喝可乐就违背了这种功用）

　　Get this away from me, you pervert¹.

　　把它拿回去，你这个变态！

　　Oh sure, you laugh now, but the next thing you know, Diet Coke drinkers will want to teach in our schools and parade in our streets.

　　你们竟然笑得出来，我要告诉你们可怕的事实（模仿反同性恋者的口气）：喝健怡可乐这种"非自然"的东西的变态正在课堂上教书，在街上闲逛！

　　You're laughing, and that's good because it means that you follow me.

　　你们都笑了，这很好，因为你们听懂了我要表达什么。

　　This is what we commit ourselves to when we insist that our organs have a "natural" purpose, and to use them for any other purpose is unnatural², and therefore, wrong.

　　当我们坚定地信仰"器官都有其'自然赋予'的功用，否则就是'非自然的'，是错的。"这种逻辑的时候，我们就会闹出这种笑话。

　　Frankly³, when I hear people say that homosexuality is "unnatural," it's really kind of a fancy dressed-up way of saying, "It's gross! It bothers me. It's icky."

　　老实说，当我听到别人说同性恋是"非自然"的时候，他们常会换种精心打扮过的说法：比如同性恋很恶心，同性恋让我心烦，同性恋令人作呕。

　　And I have no doubt that a lot of people feel that way about homosexuality.

　　我并不怀疑这一点，很多人对同性恋有着类似的感受。

　　Maybe you're one of those people, and that's okay.

　　也许你也是其中之一。这没什么大不了。

　　A lot of us have feelings.

　　我们身上都会产生感受。

　　A lot of things might gross you out.

　　很多东西都会让你感到恶心。

　　You might think that having reptiles⁴ as pets is gross.

　　不妨设想一下，把鳄鱼蜥蜴当成宠物可能让你感到恶心。

　　You might think that eating broccoli⁵ is gross.

　　吃西兰花香菜松花蛋可能让你感到恶心。

　　You might think that cleaning the bathroom is gross.

　　打扫洗手间可能让你感到恶心。

　　You know, here at Wayne State University, where we're doing this lecture tonight, we have one of the largest mortuary science programs in the Midwest.

　　就在我今晚演讲的地方--韦恩州立大学。这里有中西部最大的供科学研究的遗体储存机构。

　　Many of my students are in the mortuary science program; they take Ethics⁶ class.

　　我的学生里很多人都参与到遗体研究项目中去，他们都会接受伦理培训。

　　They touch dead people on a regular basis.

　　他们会定期触碰死者的遗体。

　　I think that's disgusting.

　　在我看来真是令人反胃。

　　They hand their papers in to me and I'm like, "Ew!"

　　他们把论文用手交给我的时候，我真是不舒服。

　　But, the fact that it grosses me out, the fact that it would gross most of us out doesn't make it wrong.

　　但是，一种事物让我不舒服或者让我们大多数人反胃，并不等于它就是错的。

　　At best, it gives us grounds for an aesthetic⁷ judgment⁸, not a moral judgment.

　　退一万步说，我们也仅仅可以对其作出美学的判断而不是道德的判断。

　　Okay, where are we?

　　好，我们说到哪里了？

　　I have looked at some of the most common arguments against homosexuality and explained to you why I think they don't work.

　　我们已经分析了最常见的一些反对同性恋的论点，还对你们评述了为什么我认为这些观点都站不住脚。

　　I want to conclude tonight by talking about what the real problem is.

　　那么真正的问题是什么？今晚我想以此讨论作结。

　　And I should say, by talking about what part of the real problem is because I don't think there's any simple problem or simple explanation here.

　　应该说，我会讨论真正问题的各个部分，因为我不认为问题是个简单的问题，也不认为会有个简单的答案。

　　I think it's complex.

　　问题非常复杂。

　　But I think part of it goes back to something that I said a moment ago about it making people uncomfortable, grossing people out.

　　一部分的问题在于我刚刚讨论过的，同性恋会让一些人不自在、不舒服。

1 pervert   

n.堕落者，反常者；vt.误用，滥用；使人堕落，使入邪路

参考例句：

• Reading such silly stories will pervert your taste for good books.读这种愚昧的故事会败坏你对好书的嗜好。
• Do not pervert the idea.别歪曲那想法。

2 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。

3 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

4 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

6 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

7 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

8 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。