If Catholics believe birth control is a mortal sin, than what do you do?

[dusky_tresses]

Just as my questions asks, what do you do?

I have heard of Natural Family Planning but I have heard that it is not theologically correct. But I've also heard that birth control is not theologically correct because apparently, both interfere with what sex is supposed to be about-- procreation. So what is the church's stance on if sex is about pleasure?

I think we all know that unless you can afford it, having many children is very expensive. If you cannot provide for all of them, having children is not a good idea. So using this argument, what do most people do? use birth control. If you cannot use birth control what CAN you do? many people do not have the time for Natural Family Planning. But are they supposed to avoid having sex simply because they don't want to have children or as many children?

I am aware that all denominations once followed the RCC's teaching on birth control. But they had good reasons for changing what they believe, didn't they?

 

[areniel]

Q. Why can't we practice birth control?
Q. Why can't Catholics use artificial birth control?
Q. Why is birth control wrong?
Q. When the natural method (Natural Family Planning) fails and you have a huge family why is birth control wrong or is it?
Birth control is a term which really means just the opposite of what it sounds like: if successful it results in no birth and no self control. Artificial contraception was condemned as a sinful act by every major Christian denomination in the world, Protestant and Catholic, until 1930. This condemnation was based on the fact that other than abstinence, early man had no method of preventing pregnancy except withdrawal (coitus interruptus). This practice, which is also called onanism, is condemned in Genesis 38:7-10 (keep in mind that during this period in the history of mankind if a man died without having fathered a son, it was the duty of his brother to provide his brother's widow with an heir):

"Er, Judith's firstborn, was wicked in the Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death. Then Judith said to Onan, ‘Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.' But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his sperm on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death also." (NIV) In the 1930 Lambreth Conference, the Anglican Church declared that artificial contraception was not considered sinful "where there was a clearly identified moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood." In other words, it was left totally up to the consciences of the individuals involved. Within a relatively few years, every Protestant denomination had stopped condemning artificial contraception. Today, most promote it.
Genesis 1:27-28 says:

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them. ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.'" (NIV) In the sex act in marriage, the couple is complying with God's command and is performing an act of re-creation; with God's help they are creating a new life. Sexual activity using artificial contraception is a deliberate act to derive sexual pleasure (mutual masturbation) while avoiding the natural result of such activity. It is an act of recreation rather than re-creation as it is ordered toward self rather than toward God. Within society at large since 1930, the divorce rate has steadily increased until it has reached approximately 50 percent of all marriages. Within marriages which consciously practice Natural Family Planning (NFP), the divorce rate is approximately 2 percent.




Q. Is there an alternate form of family planning, other than Natural Family Planning (NFP), that is approved by the Church for those who cannot, for medical reasons, practice NFP?
The only "approved" methods are NFP and abstinence; any form of artificial contraception is immoral because it frustrates the life-giving aspect of marital intercourse. Any medical condition which would necessitate the use of something other than NFP would dictate the practice of abstinence.


I can't post links to websites so I can't link you to the source, but I copy and pasted from a link titled "I'm Glad You Asked". There's a link up on the Catholic resources thread.



Hope this helps.


Blessings,


areniel

 

[faerieevaH]

Not practicing NFP for medical reasons seems strange.... if you mean that the womans cycle seems to irregular to practice NFP, there are many solutions to the problem as the methods used to determine the days when conception can take place doesn't need regularity (though it does make it easier. *L*)

The use of NFP is theologically correct IF used for the right reasons. For example: "I use NFP because I only want one child because otherwise I can't have that fancy sportscar and go on holidays each year." is a selfish limitation of the procreative aspect. There are however many legitimate reasons not to have children anymore or not to have them on that particular time, the most widely accepted being medical reasons. Financial reasons can be included if the couple deems them grave enough to weigh through. No one can decide for a couple which reasons are serious enough to start limiting the possibility of conception by using NFP, this is something they have to weigh themselves and talk over with their priest.

 

[Benedicta00]

NFP is the only moral choice if you truly have to postpone pregnancy for what ever reason as long as it is not a self serving, selfish reason. Medial reasons, finical, real finical reasons, not because you want to afford luxuries are all understood that one may have to wait on having another child. So that is what you do. You practice the only moral means there is and that’s NFP.

And sex is for both, no dichotomy here, it is for both unity and procreation. It should never be used for pleasure in of it's self, that is lust and lust is a sin.

We are all called to self control over our passions and desires, we are not animals, we do have reason and when it comes to sex we are called to use our reason and control ourselves. If everyone understood that then the world would be much better off right now.

 

[geocajun]

Just as my questions asks, what do you do?

I don't mean to sound antagonistic, but is the idea of simply trusting in God that scary? My wife and I do it and I'm often amazed at how many of our friends try to push NFP on us, constantly.

I have heard of Natural Family Planning but I have heard that it is not theologically correct. But I've also heard that birth control is not theologically correct because apparently, both interfere with what sex is supposed to be about-- procreation. So what is the church's stance on if sex is about pleasure?

Contraceptive's are sinful (worse than just 'theologically incorrect'). NFP is approved by the Church for use by those with sufficient reason to space children, or sometimes avoid pregnancy altogether.

I think we all know that unless you can afford it, having many children is very expensive. If you cannot provide for all of them, having children is not a good idea. So using this argument, what do most people do? use birth control. If you cannot use birth control what CAN you do? many people do not have the time for Natural Family Planning. But are they supposed to avoid having sex simply because they don't want to have children or as many children?

You can abstain during the fertile periods. Having chilren is not as expensive as folks often make it out to be though - I have 3 so far and have found it to be alot cheaper than I had been previously led to believe. Cars and big screen TV's are expensive however.

Natural family planning takes less than 60 seconds a day - if one doesn't have time for that, then they obviously don't have time for sex either.

I am aware that all denominations once followed the RCC's teaching on birth control.

They were following the Christian doctrine. Many non-catholics still do, but the Catholic Church is the only large body of Christians which still holds firmly to the teachings of Christ on responsible love and procreation.

But they had good reasons for changing what they believe, didn't they?

No good reasons..
Remember contraceptives have been around longer than Christianity, and the early church experienced much more persecution and poverty than we do here in the USA to be sure. If we think we have any good reason for using contraceptives, imagine how those in the early Church must have felt. Yet, they knew better - they understood that sex was sacred, and a not merely a tool for pleasure. Nineteen centuries later, the Anglican church decides that it's alright for some folks to interfere with the sacred marital act, and within ten years, flying in the face of the constant teaching of the Church, almost every non-catholic christian group had decided that contraceptives were alright.

 

[Benedicta00]

Having chilren is not as expensive as folks often make it out to be though - I have 3 so far and have found it to be alot cheaper than I had been previously led to believe. Cars and big screen TV's are expensive however

This is true.

 

[JJM]

I can't post links to websites so I can't link you to the source, but I copy and pasted from a link titled "I'm Glad You Asked". There's a link up on the Catholic resources thread.

http://www.scborromeo.org/glad/glad.htm

 

[Miss Shelby]

I am aware that all denominations once followed the RCC's teaching on birth control. But they had good reasons for changing what they believe, didn't they?

God doesn't change His mind to suit changing culture. Much of the instruction that God gives to us reminds us to be removed the worldy practices.

Michelle

 

[poppinskw]

Out of interest, what happens when an oral contraceptive [the pill] is prescribed to a woman for a medical condition and not used as a contraceptive.

For example a female that is not sexually active, but has a problem with bleeding or irregular cycles etc. Does that contraceptive pill then just become a medical treatment and is acceptable to the Catholic Church in those circumstances?

Thanks

Les

 

[epiclesis]

Out of interest, what happens when an oral contraceptive [the pill] is prescribed to a woman for a medical condition and not used as a contraceptive.

For example a female that is not sexually active, but has a problem with bleeding or irregular cycles etc. Does that contraceptive pill then just become a medical treatment and is acceptable to the Catholic Church in those circumstances?

Thanks

Les

Using contraceptives for medical reasons while not married is allowed.

I believe once you're married, it's not allowed.

But I do think there are non-contraceptive ways of solving the same issues, but I'm not entirely sure what they are.

 

[Benedicta00]

Out of interest, what happens when an oral contraceptive [the pill] is prescribed to a woman for a medical condition and not used as a contraceptive.

For example a female that is not sexually active, but has a problem with bleeding or irregular cycles etc. Does that contraceptive pill then just become a medical treatment and is acceptable to the Catholic Church in those circumstances?

Thanks

Les

It’s acceptable if you are chaste, meaning you are committing no moral offence but the pill really isn’t healthy even for those reasons. One must truly examine if the medial benefit they receive from it is worth the possible side effects, like infertility just to name one.

 

[eyesofmystery]

I think it is acceptable to use the pill as a hormone treatment if you are not sexually active, and if nothing else can be used as treatment. When I was in my late teens, I took Diane-35 because I had acne and antibiotics had stopped working for me. My dermatologist had prescribed it, and this particular pill is meant to be used as acne treatment - it also works as birth control, but its primary purpose is acne prevention (even on the box, it was written "acne therapy"), and doctors are not supposed to prescribe it to be used solely as birth control. After a few years, that stopped working too, so I went on ortho-tricyclen, but I was only on that one for about half a year. My acne wasn't as bad after that so I don't need to take prescription medicines anymore (God bless Pro-Activ!). I was never sexually active, so there is no way that the pills would have acted as birth control.

Lots of people think NFP is just the rhythm method, but it's not. NFP does not use the calendar method and you don't need a cycle like Swiss clockwork to use it. I know couples who use NFP and all their pregnancies were planned. There are several forms of NFP so it's easy to pick and choose which ones are more suitable for you. The Billings method is one, also the basal body temperature method. Used together, they are the sympto-thermal method. I think there are other forms too, but the ones I've named are the most common ones.

 

[Fish and Bread]

Within marriages which consciously practice Natural Family Planning (NFP), the divorce rate is approximately 2 percent.

This statistic probably doesn't have a whole to do with NFP, actually. If both members of a couple are devout enough Catholics to practice NFP instead of birth control, then they also probably also adhere to the Church's teachings on divorce and will do everything possible to avoid it. So, it's more a case of devout Catholic couples being both more likely to use NFP and less likely to divorce, than it is NFP planning actually causing a reduced divorce rate. I doubt that non-religious folks who can't afford birth control and use NFP instead would have a lower divorce rate. It's likely the being a devout Catholic couple part that causes a lower divorce rate. I could be wrong on that point, though, it's hard to really say. This just kind of jumped out at me as possible false implied causality.

 

[Miss Shelby]

This statistic probably doesn't have a whole to do with NFP, actually. If both members of a couple are devout enough Catholics to practice NFP instead of birth control, then they also probably also adhere to the Church's teachings on divorce and will do everything possible to avoid it. So, it's more a case of devout Catholic couples being both more likely to use NFP and less likely to divorce, than it is NFP planning actually causing a reduced divorce rate. I doubt that non-religious folks who can't afford birth control and use NFP instead would have a lower divorce rate. It's likely the being a devout Catholic couple part that causes a lower divorce rate. I could be wrong on that point, though, it's hard to really say. This just kind of jumped out at me as possible false implied causality.

I think it's a little more complicated that. I think overall the use of abc and barrier methods have resulted in diminishing the intimacy that is supposed to take place in marriage. If my limited understanding of it is correct, NFP helps the couple understand God's design when it comes to the human body and what his plan is for marriage and teaches ways to communicate and tend to one another needs. In this day and age it's easy just to pop a pill and not have to worry about pregancy so overall I think that's resulted in lack of respect/understanding for/of what the marriage relationship is supposed to be about. If there's a lower divorce rate amongst nfp'ers is probably because they're relationships are flourishing to due it, not because they're staying together out of what the Church teaches about divorce.

Michelle

 

[marciadietrich]

I would guess it could be argued compared to Catholics who contracept that those who use NFP don't divorce at the same rate (though I haven't seen hard data on the 2-4% thing). Still, I would guess it is not greatly different than Catholics who don't use contraceptives nor NFP. If that is true, then the commonality of belief on divorce, marriage, the precepts of faith are likely a big factor in not divorcing.

And given that NFP didn't always exist as an option and in the past divorce was less common than today, there are obviously more factors involved than just NFP use or not involved in terms of divorce. I'd say more than just using contraception or not ... there is the ease of divorce, the social acceptability of divorce and remarriage and other factors that have to be accounted for.

 

[RhetorTheo]

Just as my questions asks, what do you do?

For any question "If Catholics believe X is a sin, then what do you do," the answer is don't do X.

Not that Catholics never do X, but that you shouldn't.

I agree with the earlier comments that children are nowhere near as expensive as people make them out to be. It's not like two-kid parents are putting all their money towards the kids' college education and medical bills. They are buying plasma TVs, fancier than needed cars, fancy clothes, dining out a lot, etc. My uncle had seven kids and he was a roofer with a housewife. They bought store brand cereal, etc., but they did just fine.

[/QUOTE]

 

[ShannonMcCatholic]

*lol( I read the title and thought "we have lots of babies"

We are not very well off- but my kids always have tidy clothes, healthy food, and are getting a top notch education. I don't think they know that we are poor. They all want more brothers and sisters....

 

[Adammi]

Just as my questions asks, what do you do?

I have heard of Natural Family Planning but I have heard that it is not theologically correct. But I've also heard that birth control is not theologically correct because apparently, both interfere with what sex is supposed to be about-- procreation. So what is the church's stance on if sex is about pleasure?

I think we all know that unless you can afford it, having many children is very expensive. If you cannot provide for all of them, having children is not a good idea. So using this argument, what do most people do? use birth control. If you cannot use birth control what CAN you do? many people do not have the time for Natural Family Planning. But are they supposed to avoid having sex simply because they don't want to have children or as many children?

I am aware that all denominations once followed the RCC's teaching on birth control. But they had good reasons for changing what they believe, didn't they?

I absolutely LOVE the way you titled this thread. 2 Thumbs up for that . It made me laugh. LOL

So what do we do?

Well, some of us (the married ones of us) are "single-handedly populating the earth". LOL

 

[Miss Shelby]

Here is a good article from a Protestant point of view, I believe he is a Baptist pastor, in regards to birthcontrol.

http://www.pricelesswoman.com/Other_Pages/Is_Your_Birth_Control_Biblical.html

Michelle

 

[zhilan]

What if one spouce is not Catholic and wants to use birth control? What is the Catholic spouce supposed to do?