Back to Home > News > Thursday, Jul 20, 2006 Local Posted on Thu, Jul. 20, 2006 email this print ... Church teaching not modern
One of the most controversial teachings of the Catholic church is its condemnation of artificial birth control. For many, it seems to be a remnant of a medieval way of thinking, an indication that the church is stuck in the past and has not kept up with changing times.
While I can't discuss all the complex and sensitive issues that this topic raises, I do want to suggest that church teaching should be taken more seriously in our public debates on sexuality. It offers an alternative to modern sexual attitudes, which are often very unhealthy and unbalanced.
Like all Catholic moral teaching, the church's teaching on sexuality is based on "natural law." Simply put, this is the belief that God has implanted certain natural laws in all creation, including within human nature. Obedience to these natural laws leads to true happiness for the individual and for society as a whole; disobedience to these laws may lead to short-term pleasure, but in the end results in unhappiness.
For decades now, our society has regularly and systematically denied the procreative aspect of sexual intercourse through the widespread use of artificial birth control. Of course, some good has come from this practice. It has prevented unwanted pregnancies and allowed women much more freedom and flexibility in planning families and careers. But granted that it can be used for good, is our society willing to consider some of its negative effects?
Once we systematically deny the procreative meaning of sexual intercourse, it becomes much easier to treat sex "casually" and "recreationally." Can anyone seriously believe that the sexual revolution of the 1960s would have occurred without the easy access to artificial birth control? (Remember that "the Pill" first became widely available in 1960s.) But the question is: Has the sexual revolution led to a happier or an unhappier society?
Just consider some of the revolution's consequences. Sexual relations, intended to be a sacred bond between husband and wife, have become degraded into just another pleasurable commodity. If you want evidence, just think of how we use the term. Sex is almost completely synonymous with pleasure and attractiveness: Clothes can be sexy, cars can be sexy, political campaigns can be sexy. Long-term commitment and openness to having children? Definitely not sexy.
Casual sex provides a short-term thrill, but it comes at a cost. Denying the procreative purpose easily moves into denying the unitive aspect: We have sex with no love, sex with no commitment, sex with no meaning but short-term pleasure. We have people using each other as sexual objects. And, in the end, we have people who are sad and unfulfilled.
Pope John Paul II pointed to another consequence: our society's contraceptive mentality. This is the tendency to view children not as a natural result of the union of husband and wife, but as an unwanted burden. Children are seen as a threat to the couple's ability to live a free and unhampered lifestyle.
Again our common vocabulary is revealing: a pregnancy is unplanned or the birth of a child is an accident. Obviously, we have lost the sense that intercourse naturally leads to birth. The routine, uncritical use of artificial birth control makes it much easier for us to regard life as an accident and a burden, and makes it much easier to accept "solutions" such as abortion to remedy the accident.
Now I'm not blaming all of our social ills on birth control; obviously many other factors are involved. But I am suggesting church teaching can help us open our eyes to some of the harmful effects of a practice that most people take for granted as normal and healthy.
So it's quite true that the Catholic church has not kept up with the times on the issue of artificial birth control. But the real question is whether it's the church or the times that is right.
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