Catholic Church Birth Control

[natina]

Catholic Church Birth ControlHistory of Birth Control Ban

The Catholic Church has said since its very beginning that using any form of birth control was wrong. Birth control was known at least since the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans. During these days birth control came in the form of animal skin condoms and various poisons to be used as spermicides.

The first mention of the ban on birth control was in Genesis 38:8-10. In this story, Onan is ordered to sleep with his brother's widow. He "pulled out" to not get her pregnant. Poor Onan was slain as a result. Death is a pretty serious penalty, there isn't much more aggressive you could get in the prevention of birth control.

The next mention of birth control being wrong is in Deuteronomy 23:1. It says "He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the Lord." Both crushing testicles and cutting off a male's private parts were effective ways of sterilization. Luckily we don't do things like that any more. Still, the Bible is making it clear that a male who tries to practice birth control can't get into Heaven, period. There's no asking for forgiveness.

This anti birth control message is reiterated many times in subsequent years by Catholic church leaders. Clement of Alexandria (AD195) says, "Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted". This brings to mind the "Every Sperm is Sacred" song from Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" movie. You can find the messages against birth control over and over again through the Catholic Church's history. Believers are told to receive every new life as a gift from God. They should not abstain, they should not withdraw, they should not take other preventative measures. They should actively seek to have as many children as possible.

This of course makes sense from a logical point of view. The more children that Catholic families have, the more Catholics there are to spread that way of life and to pay the church's tithes.

Over the centuries, all groups that broke off of the church agreed with the birth control ban as a normal part of life. It was never even thought of to change this mandate against birth control.

The Industrial Revolution
It was only in 1930 that the Anglicans began to weaken in this steady statement for "have as many children as possible." Remember, until the industrial revolution, children were workers. Children went right to work tending chickens, feeding cows, and seeding crops. Children were built in employees. It was only as we approach modern times that children began to be anything but built in labor. Even as our society approached this incredible change in attitude, churches were very careful to say that birth control could only be used for family planning. That is, perhaps birth control could help you slow down after you had three kids if you were already starving. The idea was introduced that billions of children was not necessarily a good thing.

But with this minor change, the floodgates had been opened. Soon all 'reform' religions said birth control in general was acceptable. Keep in mind that this change in message came very quickly after almost 2,000 years of solid belief.

Pope Pius XI was quite upset by this growing acceptance of birth control. He put out a Casti Connubii on December 31, 1930 that said:

"Since, therefore, openly departing from the uninterrupted Christian tradition some recently have judged it possible solemnly to declare another doctrine regarding this question, the Catholic Church, ... in order that she may preserve the chastity of the nuptial union from being defiled by this foul stain, ... proclaims anew: any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin."

So Pope Pius XI explicitly said that married people should have sex with the full expectation that children could result each time. A married couple should in no way interrupt God's plan for them to have lots of children. To do anything else is a grave sin.

Modern Times
In 1966 the Catholic Church held a Papal Commission on Birth Control. This Commission voted 30-5 to relax the concerns on birth control. Despite that, in 1968 Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae reiterated the anti-birth-control stance. He said this was necessary for several reasons:





http://www.lisashea.com/lisabase/abo...thcontrol.html

[russtafa]

there are far to many people in this world but the religions of this world are into a numbers game

[hippifried]

There's no conspiracy to overpopulate or take control through high birth rates. All this bullsht is about controlling people by controlling their libido. The whole idea is that sex isn't supposed to be for pleasure. Well, not for women anyway. This isn't about Catholicism. It's about total male dominance. It predates any current religion (except wiccan maybe), & can be dated to the discovery of paternity. That's when the really big changes in cultural attitudes happened. That's when "God" changed genders.

[russtafa]

male ,female it's all the same as long as the one in control can use the religion