I take the position of the Church, for one reason only: it is the teaching of the Church. I accept her wisdom, and leave it at that.
And what is the age of consent, according to the Church?
For my daughters, 36.
When the Catholic Church uses that term, it is refering the age at which a person is permitted to enter into the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony as sexual intercourse is not condoned outside of marriage. It can be either as a right or subject to parental or other forms of consent. Age and other prerequisites to marriage vary from one jurisdiction to another, but generally is set at about eighteen. Most jurisdictions allow marriage at a younger age with parental or judicial approval, and some also allow younger people to marry if the girl is pregnant. The marriage age should not be confused with the age of majority, though in some places they may be the same.
That seems a bit strange the CCs laws and secular societies laws are pretty much the same, about 18 yo, but with parental approval, it can be younger…if Im not mistaken, that is exactly the same as secular law…??
In my opinion, the idea of age of consent laws, or pretty much any magic number legislation, is ridiculous. Consent isn’t determined by a number, it’s determined by consent! There are plenty of teenagers who freely give their consent when they have sex, these people aren’t raped because they’re underage (thus making statutory rape illogical). It should be obvious to anyone that a 5-year-old can’t give consent (given that they probably don’t even know what sex is), but in the case of teenagers, free consent can be given. The problem with the very concept of adolescence is that it’s a new concept. In the 19th century (and even into the 20th century), teenagers were considered adults, and, biologically speaking, people are adults when they hit puberty. The reason why teenagers are rebellious is because they are treated like children, even if they have the maturity to do things that the state forbids them. And let me also state that, in the case of the drinking age, you’re not any more mentally prepared to drink when your 21 than when you were 20 years 364 days. And you don’t magically learn how to drive a car when you’re 16, you learn to drive a car when you learn to drive a car. And it is completely ridiculous that a soldier, someone who has seen people gruesomely die, can’t be seen as mature enough to drink a beer. So, to end it, I obey the Church’s rule on marriageable age, but I think magic number legislation is irrational, and marriageable age is determined by one’s mental and physical maturity, not by a number.
