Posted on 08/27/2010 6:52:49 AM PDT by markomalley
I didn’t suggest extinguishing life merely preventing it’s creation in the first place. Anytime a choice is involved that prevents a far more serious choice from being made I err on the side of prevention. Why create a situation where such a horrible “choice” has to be made when a little self control will make it a non issue?
I should add I am staunchly against abortion and even more so when it is a result of poor choices in the first place.
It’s easy to tell the Koran is not the word of God. The book contradicts itself in later passages and then suggests that lying is an acceptable practice to defend the faith. I can’t imagine God ever suggesting it’s OK to lie for him.
“I disagree. “Contraceptives” are tools - a device or a drug - but “contraception” is an action. A gun is a tool, but shooting it is an action”
What hasn’t been stated here is that the Catholic Church says, “No ARTIFICIAL contraception is allow. They do allow “natural” means, whatever you consider that to be. I don’t see how natural is any different than taking a pill. Also, if we are suppose to allow God to decide how many children we have then wouldn’t it be wrong for a Catholic to undergo fertility treatments that are unnatural also? Seems to me if you are to accept children from God you should also accept when God doesn’t send you children. Just asking, I’m not sure what the Church’s stand on that is.
Whether or not it should be is irrelevant. It is what it is, as God designed it to be.
Part of the problem here is that people are assuming if you’re against contraception, you are forcing people to have kids.
Nope.
If for some good reason, you don’t wish to have any more kids, the good Lord gave you an easy, natural way to do that, to which the Church does not object: DON’T HAVE INTERCOURSE DURING FERTILE PERIODS.
That’s it. And if you can’t do that simple thing, I may well wonder what is wrong with your level of self-control. Do you also eat pizza at funerals? Do you also belch in Church?
So is a vasectomy a one time sin or a sin every time you have sex? What about women that have to have hysterectomies? How about tubes removed from ectopic pregnancies? I’m curious where the lines are drawn myself.
Self control is different for everyone some are better than others, that’s why we have druggies and sex addicts.
Ignore those who may think your decision is wrong.
There are hidden contradictions in the minds of people who "love Nature" while deploring the "artificialities" with which "Man has spoiled 'Nature.'" The obvious contradiction lies in their choice of words, which imply that Man and his artifacts are not part of "Nature" -- but beavers and their dams are. But the contradictions go deeper than this prima-facie absurdity. In declaring his love for a beaver dam (erected by beavers for beavers' purposes) and his hatred for dams erected by men (for the purposes of men) the Naturist reveals his hatred for his own race -- i.e., his own self-hatred.
--"Lazarus Long" (Robert A. Heinlein)
Of course, but that doesn’t affect the morality of the thing. If someone told you “I have no self-control when it comes to drugs”, what are you going to say to them? “Oh, well ok, have fun then.”
No, you say, “I hear ya man, but ya gotta try your best, ‘cause that stuff will mess you up.”
This is not a problem at all morally, if the procedure was done for a medically necessary purpose.
I'm no moral theologian, but basically you draw the lines as follows: when a person makes himself/herself intentionally sterile, that is where sin comes in. When the person is unintentionally sterile (defect, disease, wrong time of month) there can be no sin, because there is no intent.
I agree, ultimately only God can truly judge how significant a control you have over your own impulses. It seems like the significance of a sin depends on how strong or weak an individual is. People can become stronger of will over time but their struggle should count for something when coming to judgment.
Just as adultery would be a greater sin for me than for say a sex addict. I have much better control and should be able to resist with little effort. The addict on the other hand is a starving man at a banquet.
So what about a spouse sterilizing themselves to prevent their loved one from becoming pregnant, which puts them at risk medically?
Absolutely right, and that's a long-held principle of moral theology. Sexual sins were regarded as among the least evil because those passions were so easily stirred up. Something like treason, which took malice and forethought, was far, far worse.
Well, again I’m no priest or moral theologian. But in my opinion, when you make the decision to sterilize yourself, you’re already on shaky ground.
That’s a tough situation, but I think ultimately you have to be obedient to God rather than the docs and to side with what Christianity has always taught on this. Praying your heart out all the while. Good things come from following Him even into the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
“I don’t see anything wrong with family planning for 40+ year olds that have been married for years and have many children”
Well, family planning for people 40+ is not a common issue since most women won’t be fertile at that age anymore.
Thanks for clarifying.
“It would be just as wrong to ban contraception as it would to ban guns.”
Hmm... so should we be handing out free guns to kids like we give them free contraception?
So sorry to hear that. Father Greg is still with us, so maybe his messages are received better than I thought. Father is not wishy-washy on Church teaching, or much else for that matter, LOL.
We’re blessed to have him and Father Eddie, who was just ordained last year. He’s popular with the parish school kids, and he’s very ‘old-school’ as someone within the school told me. They meant it as a compliment :)
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