Anti-contraception resource thread

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StephanieC

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I’d like to ask for your help in gathering powerful apologetic tools that are *primarily *against contraception and sterilization and secondarily in favor of Natural Family Planning.

I am blessed to know several women who have confided in me that they & their husbands are in varying stages of the process of struggling to let go of contraception, reject sterilization and be open to God’s plan for life. (They are open to & have asked for information from me; otherwise I wouldn’t dream of sending them info unsolicited.)

Are there any specific articles, tapes or CDs of talks or testimonies, or videos that really clarified things for you, or presented the compelling argument that finally changed your mind?

For example, I know that the talk by Janet Smith Contraception: Why Not is very compelling.

If you wish, you could share a key line or concept that the resource helped illuminate for you.

:gopray: Please, let’s not debate the issues in this thread; let’s just compile resources, okay? Thanks for your help, everybody!
 
Pax tecum!

Check out Jason Evert’s website, Pure Love Club. pureloveclub.com/research/index.php?id=41

Listen to the Catholic Answers show from last Friday (Oct. 27) where Jason Evert was the guest. It’s in the archives and called “Why NFP?” You might also want to do a search of the archives for other shows dealing with the issue of contraception.

In Christ,
Rand
 
That’s good for starters!

A plus is that since that website is geared for a younger audience & is therefor more simple & straightforward; but a negative is that an older, married couple might be looking for a little more “meat.”

Definitely a keeper, though!👍
 
StephanieC said:
Are there any specific articles, tapes or CDs of talks or testimonies, or videos that really clarified things for you, or presented the compelling argument that finally changed your mind?
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This is going to sound pretty simplistic but the honest truth is that what did it for me was Humanae Vitae. I was blown away by the respect for women in that document. It was the last thing I expected to see in it. So Humanae Vitae is first, I’d say.

Another document that was quite influential on me was Familiaris Consortio, in particular these portions of paragraph 32:
*
"When couples, by means of recourse to contraception, separate these two meanings that God the Creator has inscribed in the being of man and woman and in the dynamism of their sexual communion,they act as ‘arbiters’ of the divine plan and they ‘manipulate’ and degrade human sexuality - and with it themselves and their married partner - by altering its value of ‘total’ self-giving. **Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. **This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality…

…the difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cyle: it is a difference which is much wider and deeper than is usually thought, **one which involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality. The choice of the natural rhythms involves accepting the cycle of the person, that is the woman, and thereby accepting dialogue, reciprocal respect, shared responsibility and self-control." ***(emphasis mine)

I could go on but I should probably stop now. I saw no videos and heard no other talks or CDs that brought me to the truth about this teaching. Humanae Vitae did it, and then many other books and church documents brought me the rest of the way. FC was very formative for me. At that time of my life I fancied myself to be something of a wholistically-inclined woman. To have the un-wholistic nature of contraception pointed out to me - by my (as I saw it at the time) beloved yet-somewhat-fuddy-duddy Church was a mind-blowing experience. It was the Church that pointed out what now seems obvious to me - that contraception allows a man to use me and treat me as an object. It was also the Church that pointed out to me that if a man truly respects me, loves me, and wants me, then he has to accept ALL of me. All of who I am, today. And today I am a fertile woman. Don’t like it? Well, too bad. That’s who I am. To reject my fertility is to reject a really lovely part of myself.

Turns out the Church knew a whole lot more about the language of love and living a wholistic life than I did. Praise God!
 
Pretty much all the resources at www.omsoul.com fit that bill. I suggest you order some of their materials. You can get the books Open Embrace and Life Giving Love from them too.
 
PrayTwice said:
This is going to sound pretty simplistic but the honest truth is that what did it for me was Humanae Vitae. I was blown away by the respect for women in that document. It was the last thing I expected to see in it. So Humanae Vitae is first, I’d say.

Another document that was quite influential on me was Familiaris Consortio, in particular these portions of paragraph 32:
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No, it doesn’t sound simplistic–just the simple truth!
Thanks, Regina. “New and improved” approaches to the subject sometimes have got nothing on the basic, straightforward truth.

I guess these 2 documents belong right there at the top of any list!
 
1ke said:
Pretty much all the resources at www.omsoul.com fit that bill. I suggest you order some of their materials. You can get the books Open Embrace and Life Giving Love from them too.
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Definitely a treasure chest there!
You’re right, 1ke; there’s probably no substitute for just working my way through the resources there myself.

Money’s a bit tight right now, though, so I thought that I’d enlist the forum’s help to point me to the documents/tapes/cds/books that stand out in our mind as very powerful/convincing from our own experience.
 
StephanieC said:
Are there any specific articles, tapes or CDs of talks or testimonies, or videos that really clarified things for you, or presented the compelling argument that finally changed your mind?
Click to expand...
The Bible and the **Catechism of the Catholic Church **section on marriage. Begining at section 1601, the Catechism explains the Christian understanding of marriage and the blessing of children, with numerous Biblical references. I cross checked every single Bible reference, reading directly from the Word of God.

Once my mind was changed, we still struggled to practice it. Kimberly Hahn’s personal testimony and her book** Life Giving Love** helped a lot.

Also, the papal document Muleris Dignitatem, (On the Dignity of Women) writes deep and profound thoughts on the call to motherhood.
Beyond those resources, I recently read a couple of books on marriage: Covenant Happiness and another called Marriage: A Path to Sanctity. Both of these books discuss the vocation of marriage in detail and mention chastity beyond family planning. (As does the Bible, the Catechism and other Magesterial documents.)

Many good and loyal Catholics use NFP for just reasons, but not all couples are called to monitor and regulate their fertility so closely. If some couples find NFP a huge struggle, perhaps you may remind them that God deos not call every couple try to regulate birth. This is a possibility that few consider, but good Catholics don’t have to use NFP. The compelling argument that changed my mind about contraception was the concept that children are blessings.
 
The basic starting point for anti-contraception arguments is a positive statement of what the marriage act ought to be. I suggest this: “Sexual intercourse is intended by God to be at least implicitly a renewal of the marriage covenant.” That’s the theology that helped Scott and Kimberly Hahn accept Catholic teaching on birth control while they were still Protestants. You can find articles on this at www.NFPandmore.org. Also, my book, “Sex and the Marriage Covenant,” (Ignatius, 2005). 👍
 
Pax vobiscum!

That Crisis article is HORRIBLE. Who does that person think they are? They said that the only reason that there are only 2% divorces from NFP couples is because they “don’t communicate”. The author doesn’t just attack NFP, but also those who use it. Again, who in the world does he think he is to make that judgement on someone else? Wow, I was considering a subscription to Crisis, but not anymore.

In Christ,
Rand
 
I remember reading that article in Crisis by Mr. Crocker. It launched a boatload of editorials in response, as I recall. Let’s just leave it as is, shall we?

Also, one provocative article in a magazine does not necessarily mean that the whole thing is rubbish.

We now resume our regularly scheduled resource compiling thread!*😛

I do think it’s important to regularly frequent / review the arguments against NFP. Sometimes, I forget, and it’s easy for me to feel safe & insulated in my Catholic marriage & family, where contraception use is preposterous. There’s a whole world out there that fervently believes otherwise, and I want to learn how to reach them!
 
John_Kippley said:
The basic starting point for anti-contraception arguments is a positive statement of what the marriage act ought to be. I suggest this: “Sexual intercourse is intended by God to be at least implicitly a renewal of the marriage covenant.” That’s the theology that helped Scott and Kimberly Hahn accept Catholic teaching on birth control while they were still Protestants. You can find articles on this at www.NFPandmore.org. Also, my book, “Sex and the Marriage Covenant,” (Ignatius, 2005). 👍
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Thanks, Mr. Kippley, and welcome to the forums!
I agree: the “renewal of the marriage covenant” is one important starting point. Everybody comes to the issue from different backgrounds, though, and at different stages of their journeys (I am thinking of myself here, and what would have worked for me when I was once a supporter of contraception)…I guess we can’t expect to have the “perfect” persuasive argument for everyone at every stage, but the more resources we have to try, the better!😃
 
gardenswithkids said:
Many good and loyal Catholics use NFP for just reasons, but not all couples are called to monitor and regulate their fertility so closely. If some couples find NFP a huge struggle, perhaps you may remind them that God deos not call every couple try to regulate birth. This is a possibility that few consider, but good Catholics don’t have to use NFP. The compelling argument that changed my mind about contraception was the concept that children are blessings.
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I totally agree here. That’s the main reason I asked that the source be primarily anti-contraception in scope, and only secondarily pro-NFP. Otherwise the line gets “blurry” (to my thinking) when explaining it to someone who is hearing it for the first time, and NFP becomes just a substitute for contraception, which is *not *what I want to convey at all…

Looks like I can get a used “Life giving Love” at Amazon for a good price…looks like I’m going to be doing some online shopping soon!🙂
 
Scottgun said:
envoymagazine.com/familyplanning.htm

catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0002.html

crisismagazine.com/december2004/crocker.htm (WARNING! Controversial take on NFP that upsets some NFP users.)

ccli.org/
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Thanks, Scott. I hadn’t read that Envoy article before, and I think it’ll come in handy with one couple in particular.

This may sound sneaky, but I am especially interested in the best way to reach a *man’*s heart / mind on the issue. Or rather, ways to help the wife reach him, since it is usually (actually, always) a wife who befriends & confides in me, and either asks for help or is open to further discussion.
 
StephanieC said:
This may sound sneaky, but I am especially interested in the best way to reach a *man’*s heart / mind on the issue. Or rather, ways to help the wife reach him, since it is usually (actually, always) a wife who befriends & confides in me, and either asks for help or is open to further discussion.
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That’s the real trick isn’t it? Men tend to expect women to handle the contraception, but mention NFP and all of a sudden they get interested–against it that is. It takes true conversion I think. Frankly, a women’s best bet is to find a man up front before marriage that intends to be loyal to Church teaching, but I guess one has to work with what they get. I will keep my eye peeled for anti-contraception material directed at men. Perhaps Jason Everett has something. Scott Hahn would be another one to check out as his conversion starting with agreeing with the Church on contraception.
 
Of the three conversion stories related to me by mail and one in person, all were told by men. Apparently the covenant theology of sexuality helped them to see real meaining in the marriage act.

Regarding the non-need of NFP, please see nfpandmore.org/Part%201%20Oct%2006.pdf That will put you into our online NFP manual. Then page through Part One to Section 3 “Who should use it?” I certainly agree that not everyone is called to practice systematic NFP. But few are the parents today who can take a new baby every 15 months. That’s why it is so important that all parents should do their best to practice ecological breastfeeding, God’s own plan that spaces babies.
 
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