News-Record.com

As dedicated biblical Christians, my wife and I NEVER considered any form of contraception, because it was our passionate goal to rear children to the glory of God. It is only in a world that has rejected God and His standards, and sunk into the cesspool of lust and degradation at almost every turn, that killing babies or preventing their birth has become a serious concern.

Many countries, such as Russia, not long ago were encouraging their people to procreate, because of either serious decline in the work force, or the birth rate sinking below the survival rate - all because of zero-population nonsense. Even China is facing a troubling work force fall-off in the foreseeable future (recent Nat. Goeg. magazine article).

But, aside from the practical economic and sociological factors, a primary concern must be the moral issues artificial contraception (pills, condoms, and spermicidal applications) generates. No one, as Humanae Vitae points out, can doubt the predictable human impulse to take “advantage” of not getting pregnant to indulge their sexual appetites. The personal and social problems this creates are legion, as successful marriages are founded upon faithfulness before and during marriage.

It is interesting, that it is the liberal humanistic, 0-population western countries that are seeing the demise of their culture and populations in the foreseeable future if they don’t start procreating copiously. Perhaps this is just what the suicidal liberal elites have wanted all along. At any rate this is a fact.

People - Catholics, evangelicals, liberals – all find it all too easy to put-off children for other “more pressing” concerns; many finding it impossible to have children at all, or to have as many as they would have wanted. There is also an anti-children, anti-family bias today, created by feminism and socio-economic pressures. Not only does this portend ominously for the future of the species, but it robs people of the most intimate and rewarding relationships in all of life. We are selling our BIRTH-right for a mess of pottage.

So, I think the RCC’s position on this issue is generally biblically correct. It is hardly proper, as Humanae Vitae points out, to allow issues of AIDS and other sociological trends to completely overturn key doctrinal concerns. These issues NEED to be addressed; but there are other social forces and cultural norms that drive AIDS, etc. and other solutions that can be brought to bear.

On the other hand, there must be room for nuances in a firm position of opposition to birth control. The AIDS epidemic in Africa and elsewhere IS an emergency situation, where extra-ordinary, and temporary, means might be needed. Having moderate to large numbers of children is a phenomenon of a reasonably prosperous and normative social milieu. Dealing with the risks of allowing condoms in the African situation MAY just be necessary. There are successful abstinence programs there even now, but a full frontal attack SEEMS to be the only real solution, in the short term. They MUST find some way to arrest the sexual promiscuity that is the obvious cause of AIDS, etc. Making immorality “safe” can, at best, be only a temporary fix.

The problem for the RCC and biblical Evangelicals is that modern western society has lost its sense of God and family, and the joys that it brings to human existence, in favor of self-indulgence and libertinism. The Church must hold the line for moral sexuality and joyful family life, even if the culture falls headlong into the quagmire of godlessness.

"What makes anyone think the pope will overturn church teachings on contraceptives? The devastating effect of AIDS in Africa, for example, is decades old."

I don't understand the connection between choosing to prevent an unwanted birth (which is morally superior to murdering the child in utero) and living a lifestyle of random sexual conduct that spreads a disease.
Are you suggesting that church teachings regarding condom use among members is somehow responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS? Do you have a breakdown of statistics that shows Catholics have a higher rate of STDs than non-Catholics (regardless of continent)?
It sounds like you are trying to make Catholicism responsible for the behavior of those not within its fold.

"Are you suggesting that church teachings regarding condom use among members is somehow responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS?"

No, not at all; I'm simply saying that condom use, in particular, is ipso facto for the purpose of preventing STDs and pregnancy: the obvious results of copulation. Fear of these repercussions has, since time immemorial, caused a certain measure of restraint and abstinence among peoples. Now that we have condoms, et al. to greatly allay these concerns, people have naturally been inclined to have sex more freely. And since condom failure does occur, pregnancies also occur. And, if the habit of promiscuous sex is established, “careful” non-use of condoms, for greater freedom and pleasure, is also bound to occur; greatly increasing the chance of disease and conception.

We want sexual license without its consequences, and the terrible fact is that common people world-wide do not cotton to condomized sex. It is by no means a silver bullet. On the other hand, emergency triage scenarios do not always permit the luxury of optimal choices. But we must be very careful what habits we establish, and the long-term repercussions thereof.

Then there are the moral repercussions of immorality: guilt, increased rates of unfaithfulness, distrust of partners, divorce. All because biblical morality has been abandoned in our culture and “free” sex has been promulgated by the media – along with birth control mechanisms, which have negative risk-factors even within marriage. The optimal MO is to adhere faithfully to divine moral principles, honor marriage, and have children according to God’s will. When we depart from God’s moral and spiritual laws and refuse his model of marriage and family, we reap the terrible consequences. These groups putting pressure on the Vatican are simply religious counterparts of the anti-biblical liberal elites who think they know better than God how to run a universe.

Caving to free sex with condoms is NOT an option for committed Catholics OR Evangelicals: the by-products being too negative and counterproductive. Cleaving to high biblical morality is the only hope for mankind’s ultimate success and happiness. The world will do what it must do within its sinful and fallen parameters; but the Church must “obey God rather than men.”

"Are you suggesting that church teachings regarding condom use among members is somehow responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS?"

No, not at all; I'm simply saying that condom use, in particular, is ipso facto for the purpose of preventing STDs and pregnancy: the obvious results of copulation. Fear of these repercussions has, since time immemorial, caused a certain measure of restraint and abstinence among peoples. Now that we have condoms, et al. to greatly allay these concerns, people have naturally been inclined to have sex more freely. And since condom failure does occur, pregnancies also occur. And, if the habit of promiscuous sex is established, “careful” non-use of condoms, for greater freedom and pleasure, is also bound to occur; greatly increasing the chance of disease and conception.

We want sexual license without its consequences, and the terrible fact is that common people world-wide do not cotton to condomized sex. It is by no means a silver bullet. On the other hand, emergency triage scenarios do not always permit the luxury of optimal choices. But we must be very careful what habits we establish, and the long-term repercussions thereof.

Then there are the moral repercussions of immorality: guilt, increased rates of unfaithfulness, distrust of partners, divorce. All because biblical morality has been abandoned in our culture and “free” sex has been promulgated by the media – along with birth control mechanisms, which have negative risk-factors even within marriage. The optimal MO is to adhere faithfully to divine moral principles, honor marriage, and have children according to God’s will. When we depart from God’s moral and spiritual laws and refuse his model of marriage and family, we reap the terrible consequences. These groups putting pressure on the Vatican are simply religious counterparts of the anti-biblical liberal elites who think they know better than God how to run a universe.

Caving to free sex with condoms is NOT an option for committed Catholics OR Evangelicals: the by-products being too negative and counterproductive. Cleaving to high biblical morality is the only hope for mankind’s ultimate success and happiness. The world will do what it must do within its sinful and fallen parameters; but the Church must “obey God rather than men.”

No, I'm saying that people have already used the condom argument to try to persuade the pope and popes before him.