David Ancell / Sunday May 18, 2003
After my last post on Busted Halo, someone asked me to explain why contraception is intrinsically evil. I must admit that I’m not the best explainer of this, but I took a shot at it. Here is the text below (in case they ban me from the board, which they probably will do sooner or later):
Frank Sheed, a great Catholic theologian and apologist, wrote a book named [em]A Map of Life[/em]. He begins by explaining that “you do not know what a thing is unless you know what it is for.” He gives the example of a man who has never shaved before who discovers a razor and then learns that it cuts. He tries to use it to cut wood. The result is not only that he doesn’t cut much wood, but that he ruins the razor. He goes on to say that sincerity and good intention are not enough, but a knowledge of the true purpose of life is necessary if one is to serve God and his fellow human beings.
Likewise, there is a thing as natural law. At its most basic level, it means that things must be used according to their nature.
Now, to get to the reason why contraception is a great evil, let’s consider what sex does. It unifies the man and wife, and it may result in the procreation of offspring. God himself desires absolute unity with him in Heaven for each one of us, and God creates new life. Therefore, the marriage act is part of our sharing in God’s divine life. When contraception is used, we are using God’s creative act but deliberately trying to push God’s creative power out. This is also why homosexual sex is immoral as well.
Let’s also look at the practical consequences of contraception:
1. It makes the fertility of the partners into a disease that needs to be treated so that they can use each other for their own pleasure. This also results in a less than self-giving attitude required to sustain a marriage.
2. It can foster an attitude that children are not the supreme gift of marriage but rather an interference in the pleasure of the couple.
3. It has been known to create a situation where a man expects his wife to always be sexually accessible, thereby making her an object. Indeed, exploitation of women has become easier thanks to contraception because there is less worry about the natural consequences that require commitment.
Remember that we are talking about the use of the sex act in a way in which one willingly tries to prevent its life giving power. A couple practicing NFP is not only respectful of their bodies, but they avoid procreation by not engaging in the act when the woman is fertile rather than destroying the fertility and then engaging in the act. The same goes for a couple who refrains from intercourse entirely due to the fact that they know that having a child is impossible for them.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
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