This is such an interesting thread for someone like me, whose childbearing years are behind me, to read.
When I was a young Mom, no one I know even thought about the things you all are thinking about.
I knew men who were afraid to get a vasectomy, or couples who were afraid they might change their mind about children after a vasectomy, but never people who thought it was morally wrong.
And that included all the Catholics I knew, too. (I lived in the northeast, so I didn't know any fundamentalists, although I'm sure there was probably a small percentage living here or there.)
Why does the man want a vasectomy? Is it because he wants to be able to adequately provide for the children he already has? Is it because he or his wife has health problems? Is it because he has a child with extraordinarily special needs whose needs would be shortchanged if there were other children to care for?
If a person has been told that it's a mortal sin to practice birth control, or use the pill, or an IUD, or a condom, or get sterilized, and has the choice of making one irrevocable decision, and committing one possible sin or thousands upon thousands, and his family is complete, maybe one sin (if indeed, the person believes it is a sin) is the better way to go....
One sin for which you could atone (because if, in your heart of hearts, you were truly convicted that it was a sin, I'm sure you would be sorry) instead of thousands upon thousands.....
Why do I say it this way? Because if you killed someone, you'd be absolutely convinced it was a sin. Or if you robbed a bank, or told a damaging lie....But logic doesn't tell you that a vasectomy in an overpopulated world and a culture where raising children is costly is wrong.
When I was a young Mom, no one I know even thought about the things you all are thinking about.
I knew men who were afraid to get a vasectomy, or couples who were afraid they might change their mind about children after a vasectomy, but never people who thought it was morally wrong.
And that included all the Catholics I knew, too. (I lived in the northeast, so I didn't know any fundamentalists, although I'm sure there was probably a small percentage living here or there.)
Why does the man want a vasectomy? Is it because he wants to be able to adequately provide for the children he already has? Is it because he or his wife has health problems? Is it because he has a child with extraordinarily special needs whose needs would be shortchanged if there were other children to care for?
If a person has been told that it's a mortal sin to practice birth control, or use the pill, or an IUD, or a condom, or get sterilized, and has the choice of making one irrevocable decision, and committing one possible sin or thousands upon thousands, and his family is complete, maybe one sin (if indeed, the person believes it is a sin) is the better way to go....
One sin for which you could atone (because if, in your heart of hearts, you were truly convicted that it was a sin, I'm sure you would be sorry) instead of thousands upon thousands.....
Why do I say it this way? Because if you killed someone, you'd be absolutely convinced it was a sin. Or if you robbed a bank, or told a damaging lie....But logic doesn't tell you that a vasectomy in an overpopulated world and a culture where raising children is costly is wrong.
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