Am I sinning by working in a store that sells condoms?

[lilly_rose]

First, I’d like to ask for answers from the Catholic perspective only. Please do not make this thread into a debate about whether birth control is right or wrong and keep comments relevant to my question, I only want a simple answer. Thank you.

I work as a cashier, and I am a little uneasy about potentially having to scan purchases of any kind of birth control. I need this job and I haven’t been able to find work elsewhere, so getting another job isn’t an option for me. I don’t want to bring up the issue with management if I don’t have to because I don’t want to cause them any grief, as I have only worked there for a couple weeks.

I guess I just feel like I am enabling people to sin by selling condoms to them. Luckily, I haven’t had this problem quite yet, but I am anticipating it happening soon because the store sells them and keeps them in stock regularly.

My question is, Is it a sin for me to help people purchase condoms by ringing them up? And, if so, is it mortal or venial?

I would appreciate any information from Church documents or personal opinions relevant to my question on this issue. Thank you.

 

[M249]

no its not a sin stop being paranoid keep on this path and you will be seperating yourself from society because you’re scared to pay taxes since they fund federal abortion programs

 

[Wirraway]

I keep a condom with my hunting gear, to use as a rain cover for my shotgun if I’m caught out in the wet.

 

[Ruthie]

It’s a matter of whether you are materially cooperating in a sin, and whether your cooperation is remote or proximate.

Here is a very good article, by our chief Apologist, Jimmy Akin. It should be a big help!

God bless you,

Ruthie

 

[Newbie2]

I keep a condom with my hunting gear, to use as a rain cover for my shotgun if I’m caught out in the wet.

Regular size, or Magnum?



I guess it depends on whether it’s a 12 or 20ga.

But seriously, to the OP’s question, the answer is no, unless you happen to be working in a store like “Condoms 101”, which was in East Lansing a while back and pretty much just sold condoms and sex toys.

 

[Wirraway]

Regular size, or Magnum?



I guess it depends on whether it’s a 12 or 20ga.

But seriously, to the OP’s question, the answer is no, unless you happen to be working in a store like “Condoms 101”, which was in East Lansing a while back and pretty much just sold condoms and sex toys.

its a 10 gauge. thanks for asking.

I’d add to your response, the OP would then have to figure out where the causal link becomes too tenous when chasing back the interrelated companies and products to determine who its safe to work for.

 

[lilly_rose]

Thanks for all the answers.

I’d just like to mention that the reason I’m asking this question is because there was a thread a few weeks ago while I was only lurking on these forums about someone who quit their job because they had to sell condoms. Because of the way they handled the situation, I’m wondering if its a sin for me to keep myself in that situation.

Here’s a link to the thread that got me thinking about this issue:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=267810

I guess what I’m really asking is how far to take the Church’s teachings about birth control and if those teachings should impact my job.

 

[Newbie2]

Thanks for all the answers.

I’d just like to mention that the reason I’m asking this question is because there was a thread a few weeks ago while I was only lurking on these forums about someone who quit their job because they had to sell condoms. Because of the way they handled the situation, I’m wondering if its a sin for me to keep myself in that situation.

Here’s a link to the thread that got me thinking about this issue:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=267810

I guess what I’m really asking is how far to take the Church’s teachings about birth control and if those teachings should impact my job.

Well, you aren’t using or supporting ABC by selling it as an employee at a store. I guess it’s up to you how far you’d want to take it, but it’s not a sin.

 

[Highwayhound]

Someone posted a link to an article. While reading the article this bit jumped out at me:

if you refuse to sell the condoms then you’re out of work and a whole host of bad consequences may follow (like losing your apartment, your car, having bad things go on your credit report

Jesus was willing to suffer for worse consequences when he was nailed to the cross.

Lilly, from reading your post it seems you are in a tough spot. One way to help yourself is to reduce your spending and then put the money saved into a savings account. When you have several months worth of money saved then you have flexibility in how you conduct your life. This past August I walked out of a job without any regrets or worry because I had saved up some extra $$. It was my birthday and a heck of a birthday present.

One thought is that you mentally say a short prayer at the moment you ring up the item.

May God bless you.

 

[Jeanne_dArc]

Actually, this is cooperation in a sin. I heard this from a reliable Catholic theology professor, that unless you will starve without this job and you can’t find a job anywhere else, it is sinful to be working at a store that sells condoms/ artificial birth-control pills. A person in my class even asked “Well how do you know that that’s what they are being used for, maybe people want to make balloons with condoms?” He basically said this was irrelevant because the purpose of condoms and birth control is as a contraceptive and most of the people buying them are buying them for sinful purposes. (Just like if someone was working at a store that sold pornographic magazines and said “how do I know people aren’t buying them to burn them in a bonfire?”) Silence indicates consent, by silently selling them you are cooperating, and sharing in their sin. I would recommend looking for a new job.

 

[larsegarots]

No, it is not a sin. You are doing your job. You are selling a ‘legal’ item, and the church says that all authority comes from God.

 

[newbetx]

Thanks for all the answers.

I’d just like to mention that the reason I’m asking this question is because there was a thread a few weeks ago while I was only lurking on these forums about someone who quit their job because they had to sell condoms. Because of the way they handled the situation, I’m wondering if its a sin for me to keep myself in that situation.

Here’s a link to the thread that got me thinking about this issue:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=267810

I guess what I’m really asking is how far to take the Church’s teachings about birth control and if those teachings should impact my job.

I saw that and I thought it was a bit extreme. But we all have to do what we think is right when it comes to aiding in sin.

Another post had an interesting side to it that is worth considering here. And this was a real situation in a rape case in Texas. If a woman who is going to be raped asks the rapist to wear a condom, is it a sin? The thought was no, since the woman wasn’t willing to have sex, the condom became a method of protection from the rapist not a form of contraception. If the woman couldn’t buy a condom for protection (and honestly, I don’t know if anyone would) then she couldn’t be protected.

Now I don’t have the official church position on that. But that’s another side of the coin to consider.

LIke the pharmasists that refused to fill BC prescrips… and got fired. The pill by itself is not evil. It enables sinful activities, but it can be medical. Other than the rape angle (and the shotgun) I don’t know what else a condom might be used for that isn’t a sinful activity, but then, I don’t have the imagination to use them on shotguns either.

 

[blessedtoo]

Thanks for all the answers.

I’d just like to mention that the reason I’m asking this question is because there was a thread a few weeks ago while I was only lurking on these forums about someone who quit their job because they had to sell condoms. Because of the way they handled the situation, I’m wondering if its a sin for me to keep myself in that situation.

Here’s a link to the thread that got me thinking about this issue:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=267810

I guess what I’m really asking is how far to take the Church’s teachings about birth control and if those teachings should impact my job.

That person on that thread did not HAVE to quit his job - he CHOSE to quit. If you read the entire thread you probably saw that quite a few posters stated that he did not have to take such extreme measures.

From the Aikin link:

To help illustrate this point, let’s look at an example. Suppose you’re a supermarket checker and a customer plops a pack of condoms down on the conveyor belt. You pick the object up and slide it across the scanner and hand it to the bagger. Is there anything wrong in your actions themselves? No. You do these same actions for every other item you scan: bread, butter, hamburger, whatever. (Okay, the bread has lots of evil carbs in it, but that’ll get taken care of in the same cooperation with evil considrations we’re delving into.)
None of the actions you are performing are wrong. It’s what the customer is going to do with the condoms once he gets home that is wrong.
Or maybe not.** For all you know, the customer may be a pro-life scientist who is buying the condoms so he can test them in the lab and prove that they aren’t effective at stopping the AIDS virus and so “safe sex” is bogus.** Or perhaps he’s a Hollywood prop guy who wants to use them to generate the scales for a giant sandworm in a remake of Dune (that’s what they did for sandworm scales in the first version of Dune). Or who knows what! The fact that the most common use of these things is evil doesn’t mean that that’s their only use (however uncommon some of the others may be).

 

[yellowbicycle]

It is up to you to decide if you want to keep working there, but it is not a sin. Maybe next time you go to confession, you could just ask?
I’m an accountant for a cable company.
We sell pornography (and make a fat lot of cash on it, might I add)
So, money spent on pornography is actually helping to pay my bills.
Should I quit?
I don’t think so…we also carry EWTN!!

 

[The_Dude]

I also agree with most of the posters here that it’s not a sin (but a good opportunity to pray for those you have to sell it to). What if your employer didn’t sell condoms, but one of their business partners did or your employer supported many charities including planned parenthood? Your productivity contributes to the employer’s success/revenue and funds for donations, so should you then quit? Or what if their retirement plan or board of directors invests in pharma companies that support contraceptive programs/products? When you go shopping, do you research every company whose products you buy or retailer/store you visit beforehand to make sure they have no link to immoral business/programs/groups whatsoever? Do you refuse to pay taxes since they fund federal programs that can be considered immoral or sinful? And so on. We live in 2 kingdoms right now; this line of thinking can quickly make you a frozen island. This is not to say you should just make your morals an afterthought, just that it isn’t an easy binary system in our daily interactions with others.

 

[Jeanne_dArc]

I also agree with most of the posters here that it’s not a sin (but a good opportunity to pray for those you have to sell it to)…

I don’t mean to be rude, but a lot of people are flat out saying it’s not a sin, which is wrong. While it might not be a mortal sin to sell condoms (etc) as a cashier, you are definitely cooperating in their sin (even though it might be remotely.) I’m not saying this because it’s my opinion but because this is what I was taught by a cannon lawyer and faithful Catholic professor/ theologian.

 

[The_Dude]

J_d,
You’re not being rude, and determining morality of certain acts in certain situations can be murky - I don’t claim I am definitely right, but I’m betting there are quite a few RC theologians/ethicists who might disagree with the one you met with.

It seems you agree he is not engaging in formal or immediate material cooperation since you think it’s likely he’s not mortally sinning. Now if the poster was volunteering and handing out condoms to couples for free, then that would be formal cooperation - he has a sole intent and is providing the means for the couple to engage in contraception (even if they end up using other means for contraception - his intent matters).

I would say the poster is engaging in remote non-necessary mediate material cooperation. This is like a liquor store owner. He is supplying them with an occasion for sin (possibly). But this is mediate material cooperation since he’s not a clerk only to sell condoms just for contraceptive purposes; that is not his intent, and he is performing many other good services. It’s non-necessary since there are other clerks and stores around which will sell the condoms if he doesn’t. And it is remote because there are a lot of intervening circumstances in time and space between his selling and the customer’s immoral use of the product (again, some customers might not be using it for contraception, and even if they did not buy it, there are other means to engage in contraception - his selling it is not essential to the act). And the principle of double effect should be engaged (when not formal or immediate material cooperation) to determine if the proportion of the degree of good achieved outweighs the degree of potential evil, i.e. that there is sufficient reason to permit the evil effect (still presuming always of course the poster does not intend the evil effect, and also that the good effect results from the licit selling, not the sinful act - ends still do not justify the means for evil acts); the advantages of employment, responsibility, environment, coworkers, and income (to support the poster and perhaps others) constitute a reasonable cause to permit the cooperation since it is remote and non-necessary cooperation. I will say that if the poster is just a high-school kid in a prosperous city or something, then obviously his case in evaluating double effect is not quite as strong as a single mother with few options in a poor neighborhood (but I still say the act in both cases is morally licit).

Again, think of the tax example. If you are against abortion (intent), and your taxpayer money is used for abortion, that would be remote material cooperation which is morally licit. Your refusing to pay taxes will not prevent any abortions. And taxes serve the common good of society (double effect).

But I’m no expert on moral theology (have not read Grisez or Finnis), so certainly open to correction or other perspectives.

 

[colliric]

You need to raise it with your employer somehow. If you need the Job and can’t find another job(which can be the case sometimes) it is possibly not sinful to sell them, so long and you do not use them yourself.

If your intention is to work for a living, and not for luxury, it is not nessecerily a sin as you clearly do not endorse it and simply need the money to live. Just dont do it yourself and voice your issue with your employer so that they can possibly help you do your job better.

If we argued it was sin in such a fundamental manner, for that matter we should close all milk bars and convienience stores for contributing to the deaths of people because of Lung Cancer…

 

[The_Dude]

To the OP,
Here’s an ewtn link I found that addresses your case - ewtn.com/library/THEOLOGY/COOPRTN.htm - scroll to the bottom - “The Sale Of Contraceptives”. It is a little more narrow/conservative than my view, but does agree that selling can still be licit in some cases (and that employees in your position are generally less culpable and less proximate in their cooperation than others). But if you search around you’ll see there’s a variety of views on similar situations as yours, it’s not a clear-cut deal. I’d be interested in what your priest says if you end up asking him.

 

[Mea_Culpa]

In Luke 3:12-14, John the Baptist is asked what a tax collector and a soldier should do:

12] Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
[13] And he said to them, “Collect no more than is appointed you.”
[14] Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

Tax collectors and soldiers were tools of the Roman occupation. John didn’t tell them to quit their jobs - he said do your job as justly as possible.

This relates to the OP’s question. By no means is she obligated to quit her job. She, like the tax collectors and soldiers, is to do her job as justly as possible. If she were urging customers to buy condoms, that would not be right.

If all of us had to quit jobs that had any connection to sin, there wouldn’t be many of us with jobs.