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Birth control reconsidered: Protestant film questions contraception, rediscovers Reformation beliefs
TheChristians.com ^ | Jun 11, 2013 | Celeste McGovern

Posted on 02/17/2014 9:40:55 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM

Birth control reconsidered

A Protestant film questions contraception, and rediscovers Reformation beliefs

By Celeste McGovern Jun 11, 2013

The contraception mentality: Despite half a century of contrary evidence, many still believe this.
The contraception mentality: Despite half a century of contrary evidence, many still believe this.

For anyone under 60, birth control is just a fact of life. Those under 50 won’t recall that it was ever controversial. The pharmaceutical separation of sex from babies has been so thoroughly accepted by Western society that any holdouts are seen as fringers: “orthodox” Catholics, Mormons, and health hippies.

But questions about contraception are arising from unlikely sources lately: not enough to call it a trend, but significant enough to notice.

For example, the film, Birth Control: How Did We Get Here? Its Protestant director, Brian Peeples of Huntersville, North Carolina, said he got the idea after he and his wife changed their minds about birth control at a Baby Conference in 2010. It’s more of a movement than a movie, however, with a second film expected later this year, and a series of books and study guides to “communicate the Biblical position on birth control and its impact on the church, marriage and family.”

The birth control movie was “born from a desire to communicate the truth about birth control and family from the Word of God to other believers,” explains its website; this in a culture where there is little if any difference between Christians and non-believers when it comes to preventing children.

It’s the sort of ideology that’s expected from Catholic clergy and the more serious Catholic laity, but this film features mostly Protestant evangelicals: high profile Calvinist minister R.C. Sproul Jr., author George Grant, and Geoffrey Botkin of the Western Conservatory of the Arts and Sciences.

It retells the history of birth control from an evangelical perspective, recounting how in little more than a century, Protestant churches turned away from ages-old teachings on sexuality and marriage. In a flurry of European eugenics and overpopulation “science” they began to view children as inconvenient. Their teachings and birth control practices were before long indistinguishable from nonbelievers’.

Yet before that, one commenter in the film observed, “Every single church affirmed that children are a blessing and that we have no business saying no to God’s blessings.”

The film recounts the eugenic roots of the birth control movement and its rabidly anti-Christian, racist, hedonist founder Margaret Sanger, who seized on then-persuasive Malthusian overpopulation theories. Opposing her were protestants like Anthony Comstock, a 19th century Puritan-tradition crusader who saw birth control as the devil’s particular attack on the young, and as being inextricably wed to pornography and abortion – all “born of the same mindset ,” according to the film, “the corruption of the sexual impulse… [and] contrary to scripture”

With the fall of contraceptive laws in the mid-20th century, first pornography and then abortion were rapidly legalized; so, like him or not, Comstock is vindicated.

So is the Catholic Church, which the movie notes was the sole voice – given that the Protestants had collapsed – to weigh in,  with Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life) encyclical, affirming everything Christianity had taught about birth control for the millennia previously.

In a way the movie seems a bit of a mea culpa for mainstream Protestantism missing the boat. “Opposition to birth control was seen as a Catholic thing,” one commentator says. “Protestants were for liberty.”

One of the great tragedies of the last century, says another, is how willingly Christians co-operated with the anti-baby, pro-eugenics, agenda, compelled by “science,” a sense of duty, a desire to be modern, and for “deliverance from  responsibilities of children while having all the pleasures of adulthood,” as one commentator put it.

Some saw birth control as a means of preventing abortion. However, 50 years and 50 million American abortions later, that is a harder argument to sustain.

The difficulty in defending marriage today derives in large part from the legal arguments for the new “right to privacy” that brought birth control to the West. It began with “privacy in marriage, which soon gave way to privacy for the unmarried, this in turn gave way to privacy for homosexuals,” the film narrator remarks.  “Now that sterility is universally accepted, marriage has lost its fundamental purpose; procreation. Marriage, disconnected from its purposes, loses its meaning and the historical definition of marriage hangs in the balance.”

It is this half-century years of hindsight since the birth control pill was first marketed in North America in 1960 that is beginning to spur the sexual counter-revolutionists.

“I think we’re seeing the fruits of the whole contraceptive revolution and quite honestly the fruit is rancid,” Julie Roys, host of the radio show Up for Debate on Moody Radio, says in the film. She notes that since the pill’s arrival, the marriage rate has declined by a third, divorce has almost doubled, the proportion of children born in single parent families has more than tripled “and now we’re seeing the hookup culture.”

In that respect, the film is not alone. Mary Eberstadt’s 2012 book Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution recounts in detail the harm done by sexualization of the West, from rising divorce, increasing promiscuity, juvenile delinquency, neglect of children, abuse and objectification of girls and more.

“Society is losing its mooring and all of us are beginning to ask, ‘Where is all this heading?’” Roys says in the film. She finds that many young people particularly want a deeper understanding of male and female sexuality, and and its deeper meaning.

In any case, the first rumblings about birth control have not been missed by pro-abortion advocates. Robin Marty, a columnist at rhrealitycheck.org, a sexual and reproductive health news site, has launched an ongoing series of commentaries under the title “They’re Coming for Your Birth Control.” And one atheist blogger calls it a “freaking creepy” trend.



TOPICS: Ecumenism; Mainline Protestant; Moral Issues; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: contraception; protestant
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Our follow up documentary to How Did We Get Here? was created to train Christian audiences to apply sound biblical doctrine to the area of family planning with a true gospel-centered attitude towards children and a desire for multi-generational legacy. The title question of the film seeks its answer by studying God’s sovereignty, reviewing our response to God’s revealed will, and defines the God-given avenues for obedience, sanctification, and proper stewardship.

Modern Christians desire relevancy, yet an overwhelming majority have never heard a practical message on the topic of birth control.  In our first film, we showed how the culture slowly transformed the church into accepting birth control as biblical theology.  Now, that we have gone the way of the world, leaning on our own understanding instead of fearing God, we must rediscover what the Scriptures say and what our forefathers knew before us.

In this film, we will cover six core arguments, presenting the Biblical evidence FOR Christian living with as many children as God might provide; and AGAINST birth control, contraception, and all forms of “family planning”, while answering the most common objections along the way.  

Starting with The Sufficiency of Scripture, we will establish how the Bible speaks to this issue.  We’ll look to The Gospel Picture in Marriage to determine the relationship of procreation & unity – of life and love.  The Dominion Mandate will be defined and examined to see whether or not it still applies today.  We will consider the purpose of The Natural Process in God’s unique design of the female body.  We will see Children as God’s Blessing from His hand and the proper place for wisdom in family.  Finally, we’ll end with a review of how Parenthood affects our understanding of God, our sanctification, and our Evangelism.

This film is for Christians as an aid to help us recover the gospel in family life.  The best witness before a lost and dying world, is an obedient life, surrendered to Christ, the Creator and Sustainer of all life.  May we preach the gospel with our lips and with our lives.

1 posted on 02/17/2014 9:40:55 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Brian Kopp DPM

 

The fruit of our contraceptive culture is rancid and many voices are calling for a restoration of the church. In order to effectively communicate the truth about birth control and it’s impact on the church, marriage, and family, we begin by asking two questions: How Did We Get Here, and Is It Up to Us?

Thus The BIRTH CONTROL MOVIE Project, was born out of a desire to communicate the truth about birth control from the Word of God.

Our first award-winning documentary, BIRTH CONTROL: How Did We Get Here?, was created to educate audiences on the history of birth control and its impact on the church, marriage, and family.

Our feature documentary BIRTH CONTROL: Is It Up to Us?, was created to train Christian audiences to apply sound biblical doctrine to the area of family planning with a true gospel-centered attitude towards children and a desire for multi-generational legacy.

The first of two films focuses on the history of birth control and it’s impact on the church, marriage, and family.


This engagingly fast-paced documentary takes a historic look at the modern church’s public embrace and overwhelming acceptance of child prevention as biblical theology. The reinterpretation of Scripture and rejection of our church history in the mid twentieth century allowed for responsible planned procreation.

Read more about the film...

No longer was the raising of godly seed seen as the primary purpose of marriage; but now marriage was redefined as a union “intended for companionship and mutual spiritual aid”. This new view, brought on by the European spread of eugenics, brought rise to a departure from centuries of universal agreement among all branches of the church. In essence, the church was complicit in championing “privacy in marriage” to allow the liberty of responsible planned parenthood, heedless of scriptural authority or precedence.

 “In answering How Did We Get Here? we will be one step closer to a return to the Church’s historic and Biblical view of marriage and a resurgence of desire for godly offspring.”

Director Kevin Peeples’ desire to create a film on birth control was founded on his own personal journey to answer the question posed by the upcoming film BIRTH CONTROL: Is It Up to Us?, but once the project was started he and his fellow producers, Scott Dix and Nathan Nicholson, discovered that before answering that question, a look into the history of the church was in order. How Did We Get Here?  took the team around the United States capturing captivating interviews with authors, historians, theologians, radio talk show hosts and others, such as Dr. George Grant, Dr. Allan Carlson, Geoffrey Botkin, Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr., Lila Rose, Kevin Swanson, and Julie Roys.

Starting with creation and ending in the late 20th Century, this film will look at how the Church’s voice changed radically in the 20th century due to overwhelming social pressure. Before we can discuss the desperate need to return to Scripture and to the Church’s historic position on marriage and family, a need arose to present where we came from and how we got here. How Did We Get Here? sets the stage for Is It Up to Us?.

 

 

 

The title question of the film seeks its answer by studying God’s sovereignty, reviewing our response to God’s revealed will, and defines the God-given avenues for obedience, sanctification, and proper stewardship.

Children bring maturity, obedience, sanctification, and strength in facing difficult circumstances. And when you study what the scriptures say, we realize that birth control can have no part of our lives. Controlling and preventing children is contrary to creating lasting legacy through fruitful and obedient marriages.

This film is currently in production and will be available soon! 

 

 

 

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee.  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.”   Isaiah 41:10; 54: 17

One man fought the battle for national purity… and won. By the 1870’s, a young Anthony Comstock arrived in New York City in the middle of the Second Industrial Revolution.  America was changing.  As the world’s first billion dollar company was being formed, rural families flocked to the city and immigration exploded.  New technologies coupled with metropolitan anonymity enabled the rapid spread of obscenity, contraception, and abortion.  Insufficient laws had not caught up to new challenges and Comstock saw how these vices would have a detrimental effect on the family and American culture if not properly checked.  By age 28, he made an unconditional surrender of his life to the will of God; he gave up his personal ambitions and took God’s will for himself, no matter what might be the cost.  He entered the fight.

He began by making citizen’s arrests and incredibly within a year he found himself in Washington, DC meeting with congressmen and drafting the Postal Act of 1873.  The Comstock Act, as it soon came to be known, passed in dramatic fashion during the final hours of the 42nd Congress and Comstock himself was shortly thereafter surprised with an appointment to be its chief enforcer with the newly created office of U.S. Post Office Special Agent.  Thus, Comstock embarked on the life work in which he would serve for the next 42 years.  This book tells the story of how Anthony Comstock almost single-handedly fought the battle for national purity and won. 

2 posted on 02/17/2014 9:43:07 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Brian Kopp DPM

Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae... prescient.


3 posted on 02/17/2014 9:44:11 PM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: D-fendr

At least some of our separated brethren are waking up, as evidenced by these movies. Now if we could just get the Catholic bishops to wake up.


4 posted on 02/17/2014 9:47:20 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: Brian Kopp DPM

bookmark


6 posted on 02/17/2014 10:33:16 PM PST by GOP Poet
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To: D-fendr

Truth will set you free.


7 posted on 02/17/2014 11:39:47 PM PST by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It
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To: Brian Kopp DPM

It is hard to see, but I believe this pendulum will swing back.


8 posted on 02/18/2014 1:52:10 AM PST by Vince Ferrer
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To: Brian Kopp DPM; Gamecock; daniel1212; metmom

ping


9 posted on 02/18/2014 5:15:44 AM PST by Cronos (ObamaÂ’s dislike of Assad is not based on AssadÂ’s brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: Brian Kopp DPM

Wow.


10 posted on 02/18/2014 5:16:42 AM PST by vladimir998
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To: Vince Ferrer

The pendulum will certainly swing back. Truth always prevails. Sometimes it takes fire from the sky to make it happen though as in the Old Testament.


11 posted on 02/18/2014 5:41:31 AM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: vladimir998

R.C. Sproul was involved in this project. I know he is highly regarded among some FReepers. Hopefully this will open some minds and hearts to these Truths.


12 posted on 02/18/2014 5:46:38 AM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Vince Ferrer

This country rapid slide into Sodom and Gomorrah, from abortion, to homosexual “marriage”, started with birth control “free sex with no conditions” outside marriage. It has destroyed the sacrament of marriage.


13 posted on 02/18/2014 6:02:29 AM PST by NKP_Vet ("I got a good Christian raisin', and 8th grade education, aint no need ya'll treatin' me this way")
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To: Cronos
Thanks for the ping.

In a way the movie seems a bit of a mea culpa for mainstream Protestantism missing the boat. “Opposition to birth control was seen as a Catholic thing,” one commentator says. “Protestants were for liberty.”

Having worshiped in conservative Reformed churches for the last 20 or so years I will say that each of them puts great value on large families and are against oral contraception. So my data point is 3 PCA churches, a United Reformed Church of North America congregation and an ARP church.

14 posted on 02/18/2014 6:10:07 AM PST by Gamecock (Grace is not opposed to human activity. It's opposed to human merit. MSH)
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To: NKP_Vet

It has helped destroyed the state’s reasons for and definition of civil marriage. Can’t destroy a Sacrament.

The modern state defining/redefining marriage + acceptance of bc has done a lot to harm our culture for sure.

FReegards


15 posted on 02/18/2014 6:10:33 AM PST by Ransomed
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To: Brian Kopp DPM

“A Protestant film questions contraception, and rediscovers Reformation beliefs”

“Protestant” does not represent a monolithic block that can be extrapolated into anything meaningful.

I wouldn’t read too much into this - good or bad.


16 posted on 02/18/2014 6:15:34 AM PST by RFEngineer
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To: RFEngineer

Martin Luther called contraception “marital sodomy.” Calvin called it an “unforgivable sin.” How Protestantism got to where it is today on this subject is worthy of extensive study and reflection.

That some Protestants are seeing the light on this issue and actually investing serious time and money in trying to teach others these Truths is a true sign of hope.


17 posted on 02/18/2014 6:27:01 AM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Brian Kopp DPM
R.C. Sproul was involved in this project. I know he is highly regarded among some FReepers. Hopefully this will open some minds and hearts to these Truths.

If Reformed folk had a pope, RC might just be the one sitting in a big chair in Geneva.

18 posted on 02/18/2014 6:40:28 AM PST by Gamecock (Grace is not opposed to human activity. It's opposed to human merit. MSH)
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To: Brian Kopp DPM

News flash. Lots of Catholics use birth control.

It’s not really an exclusive “Protestant” or “Catholic” issue.

It’s more a third world, vs. first world issue.


19 posted on 02/18/2014 6:46:52 AM PST by RFEngineer
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To: RFEngineer

News flash. Catholics who practice birth control do so knowing its against their Church’s teaching. Protestants who practice birth control do it with their church’s blessing. There’s a real difference there.

It’s not a first world vs third world thing. It’s a sinful vs non sinful thing.


20 posted on 02/18/2014 6:53:15 AM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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