Is birth control a sin?

[Ave Maria]

once upon time, i felt the conviction that it was a sin, with no doubt, then i married and had repeated miscarriages and felt guilt for allowing more pregnancys to occur when i knew the likelyhood of them surviving were slim. I felt selfish.

i never felt right about using condoms after that, but i sis it anyway.

Onan used birhtcontrol and was struck dead by God..

Sex wasnt given to us by God just for procreation, i believe, because of teh closeness and affection it brings...
I think, it has to be something each couple prays about, God may mean for some to use it, some not... since it is not clearly defined in teh bible, it depnds on how God convicts you i think.

Onan was not struck dead for using birth control because that is not what he did. He was struck dead for disobeying God.

 

[sara elizabeth]

This is an issue I have considered in depth also. I personally feel that using hormonal birth control is a sin as it can cause an abortion. Children are definetely a blessing from God and should be seen as such. Because of this I think any birth control should be used very carefully to see if our motives are pure. If we are selfishly preventing birth, that is a sin.

That said, I have practiced birth control. I have four children and am pregnant with #5. We will have been married 10 yrs. when this one is born. So, as you can see, if we had not practiced any birth control we could have had an unbelievable family. At this time we are considering calling it finished after this baby. Not because we feel that they are not each so very special, but because we feel it is just as important to give them all the care and love they need.

So, I guess to sum it up I feel that birth control (other than hormonal types) can be used carefully and not sinfully. Alot of it really is in the reason for using it. Selfishness, though, is always a sin.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Ave Maria]

This is an issue I have considered in depth also. I personally feel that using hormonal birth control is a sin as it can cause an abortion. Children are definetely a blessing from God and should be seen as such. Because of this I think any birth control should be used very carefully to see if our motives are pure. If we are selfishly preventing birth, that is a sin.

That said, I have practiced birth control. I have four children and am pregnant with #5. We will have been married 10 yrs. when this one is born. So, as you can see, if we had not practiced any birth control we could have had an unbelievable family. At this time we are considering calling it finished after this baby. Not because we feel that they are not each so very special, but because we feel it is just as important to give them all the care and love they need.

So, I guess to sum it up I feel that birth control (other than hormonal types) can be used carefully and not sinfully. Alot of it really is in the reason for using it. Selfishness, though, is always a sin.

Just my thoughts.

I must say that I generally agree with your post. I disagree on parts but I'll remain silent about those parts.

 

[Truth and Reconciliation]

Could a child really be a reward to a hopeless, homeless, and unemployed person who has terminal cancer?

What doesn't make sense to man can make perfect sense to God, for His ways are above ours.

 

[Gold Dragon]

For those who take issue with artificial birth control, Natural Family Planning is something you should look into. It involves no drugs or barriers and has a high level of success because of an informed understanding of a woman's cycle and her body. It requires strict dilligence from both partners and is still less effective than artificial methods.

Our family uses artificial birth control.

 

[TwinCrier]

Could a child really be a reward to a hopeless, homeless, and unemployed person who has terminal cancer?

What if that child were.... YOU! Can we not trust God in such situations? Children don't beome less valuable just because of the situation they are conceived in. The soul of the rape or incest child is just as priceless to God as the planned and wanted child born to the rich white married couple.

 

[Ave Maria]

What if that child were.... YOU! Can we not trust God in such situations? Children don't beome less valuable just because of the situation they are conceived in. The soul of the rape or incest child is just as priceless to God as the planned and wanted child born to the rich white married couple.

I don't believe that it would be a child. A sperm and an egg are not a child. It does not become a child until conception. Therefore, if conception was prevented then apparently it was meant to be. If God really wanted that person to conceive, they'd conceive despite any birth control methods they are using.

 

[skiguy21]

No (not to me, because im not catholic) but i don't think so because God gave us a brain (or wisdom) to be smart with our choices...and if you can't keep another family member than there should be a way to control that, without abortion.

 

[ZiSunka]

Hey everyone. Let's assume we have a married Baptist couple who want to withhold having children for a while. So, they decide to use birth control. Suppose the female goes on the birth control pill or the shot which can act as an abortifacient. Is this a sin? Or suppose instead that they use condoms which merely prevent conception from occurring in the first place. Is this a sin? According to Catholicism, both are a sin. But what do Baptists generally believe?

coffee, tea and chocolate can all act as abortifacients, as well as some herbal supplements such as saint john's wort, flaxseed oil and grape seed oil. If we are going to talk about all things that can act as abortifacients, we have to include over the counter products such as some allergy pills and sleeping remedies. Hydrogen peroxide can be an abortifacient, too. HRT can be cause spontaneous abortion, too, not to mention the fact that in 90% of the cases of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), no one knows at all what caused it.

The claims that birth control pills are an abortifacient are waaaay blown out of proportion. The primary method of action is to prevent ovulation, making it impossible to get pregnant. They have to be taken in very high dosages to work to abort a fertilized egg, and modern birth control pills are a very low dosage compared to pills even 20 years ago.

You can live your life worrying about and avoiding all the things that might act as an abortifacient, but you will live a very swallow and lonely life. In some women, an allergy to the husband's sperm causes them to constantly spontaneously abort their babies. Does that mean they should divorce their husbands or stop trying to have a baby to avoid this misguided idea of sin??

 

[ZiSunka]

Could a child really be a reward to a hopeless, homeless, and unemployed person who has terminal cancer?

Yes. Why not? Do you really think that children are only a blessing to rich families with steady incomes, beautiful homes and good health?

 

[Ave Maria]

Yes. Why not? Do you really think that children are only a blessing to rich families with steady incomes, beautiful homes and good health?

That's a pretty stark contrast to what I mentioned. Even a low-income person with not so good health can handle a child. My example was rather extreme and so is yours.

 

[Ave Maria]

coffee, tea and chocolate can all act as abortifacients, as well as some herbal supplements such as saint john's wort, flaxseed oil and grape seed oil. If we are going to talk about all things that can act as abortifacients, we have to include over the counter products such as some allergy pills and sleeping remedies. Hydrogen peroxide can be an abortifacient, too. HRT can be cause spontaneous abortion, too, not to mention the fact that in 90% of the cases of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), no one knows at all what caused it.

The claims that birth control pills are an abortifacient are waaaay blown out of proportion. The primary method of action is to prevent ovulation, making it impossible to get pregnant. They have to be taken in very high dosages to work to abort a fertilized egg, and modern birth control pills are a very low dosage compared to pills even 20 years ago.

You can live your life worrying about and avoiding all the things that might act as an abortifacient, but you will live a very swallow and lonely life. In some women, an allergy to the husband's sperm causes them to constantly spontaneously abort their babies. Does that mean they should divorce their husbands or stop trying to have a baby to avoid this misguided idea of sin??

Wow I had no idea! That totally changes my mind about birth control. If what you say is true then I accept any form of birth control!

 

[InspiredHome]

I am personally against all forms of chemical birth control. They do not prevent conception, but rather implantation. I've read some very insightful articles by Randy Alcorn: http://www.epm.org/resources-birthcontrol_pill.html

 

[Ave Maria]

I am personally against all forms of chemical birth control. They do not prevent conception, but rather implantation. I've read some very insightful articles by Randy Alcorn: http://www.epm.org/resources-birthcontrol_pill.html

Actually they prevent both. First and foremost, they prevent conception, however if conception occurs, they can also prevent implantation.

 

[InspiredHome]

Actually they prevent both. First and foremost, they prevent conception, however if conception occurs, they can also prevent implantation.

Sorry. I meant to say that. I haven't been all here lately.

 

[bloodofthelamb12]

Not to offend any of my Catholic comrades, but I believe the use of contraception is more a matter of faith than of sin. (Does God want us to have a kid? Can He provide for another child? etc.)

...Though an interesting case could be made for harming the temple of God by not having kids. A little known though scientifically sound fact (and one that Planned Parenthood foolishly denies); the greater the number of children you have, the lower the likelihood that you will develop breast cancer later in life. Why? Estrogen.

http://www.abortionbreastcancer.com/start/

signed,
Caleb

 

[Ave Maria]

Sorry. I meant to say that. I haven't been all here lately.

Oh that's ok InspiredHome, I was just trying to clear up a perceived misconception. Personally, I prefer condoms/spermicide as birth control as opposed to hormonal birth control simply because hormonal birth control tends to worsen my depression.

 

[TwinCrier]

I don't believe that it would be a child. A sperm and an egg are not a child. It does not become a child until conception. Therefore, if conception was prevented then apparently it was meant to be. If God really wanted that person to conceive, they'd conceive despite any birth control methods they are using.

Shouldn't that go the other way? We should NOT use drugs and devices to alter our body, but if conception doesn't (or does) happen then it was "meant to be." If you believe that if God really wanted that person to conceive, they'd conceive despite any birth control methods they are using why use them at all? I think the answer is because we want to control everything and leave God out of it.... unless He really wants to get involved, then it's okay for Him to butt in. If we're going to say we're trusting God, we should do it all the way.

Protestant Views on Birth Control

 

[Blake]

... or a man gets a sectumy (I don't know how to spell it lol) ...

vasectomy

 

[Gold Dragon]

or a man gets a sectumy (I don't know how to spell it lol)

Is that like a beer-gut?