Birth Control

[OhioBob]

crazyage3:

For Chole , ohio bob and anyone else who could answer;
What happens if for some reason the male doesnt “finish inside”? Like You were disrupted,youre allergic to semen or some other reason. Cause you are open to life everytime you have sex no matter when or how it finishes.

I admit that this whole inside/outside thing is confusing (I’m also amazed that this thread hasn’t triggered some moderator alarm somewhere ). I go back to the Jason Evert quote that Marcellinus put up earlier:

“But what about oral sex within marriage? Provided the spouses use it as foreplay leading to intercourse, it is allowed. But it is never to be used as an alternative to intercourse. Sex between a husband and wife is supposed to involve a total gift of self that is open to life.”

I agree with that sentiment that whatever methods a married couple employs as part of their sex life, the important thing is that each act ultimately ends up in intercourse. It seems that whatever might occur between the beginning and end has a certain degree of flexibility (no pun intended).

crazyage3:

Or what if your partner has an std or hiv. Should you abstain from sex your whole married life or do you pass the disease on? (which both i thought those were sins)…Please answer!!
adrienne

I’m afraid that I am not learned enough to offer an opinion on that question. My limited reading would suggest that in such a situation the parties would be called to abstinence - periodic or otherwise. But that is just my opinion.

 

[OhioBob]

crazyage3:

For Chole , ohio bob and anyone else who could answer;
What happens if for some reason the male doesnt “finish inside”? Like You were disrupted,youre allergic to semen or some other reason. Cause you are open to life everytime you have sex no matter when or how it finishes.

I admit that this whole inside/outside thing is confusing (I’m also amazed that this thread hasn’t triggered some moderator alarm somewhere ). I go back to the Jason Evert quote that Marcellinus put up earlier:

“But what about oral sex within marriage? Provided the spouses use it as foreplay leading to intercourse, it is allowed. But it is never to be used as an alternative to intercourse. Sex between a husband and wife is supposed to involve a total gift of self that is open to life.”

I agree with that sentiment that whatever methods a married couple employs as part of their sex life, the important thing is that each occasion ultimately ends up with intercourse. Whether that occasion lasts 3 minutes or 3 hours would be up to the individuals (I should be so lucky). It seems that whatever might occur between the beginning and end has a certain degree of flexibility (no pun intended).

crazyage3:

Or what if your partner has an std or hiv. Should you abstain from sex your whole married life or do you pass the disease on? (which both i thought those were sins)…Please answer!!
adrienne

I’m afraid that I am not learned enough to offer a definitive answer on that question. My limited reading would suggest that in such a situation the parties would be called to abstinence - periodic or otherwise. But that is just my opinion.

 

[Scout]

Well, I’ve come to my own personal conclusion. I’ve decided that since my tubes have been tied and there is absolutely no chance “of life” being created inside me again, then it doesn’t matter how my husband and I choose to be intimate. No matter what we do, life is not going to exist beyond ourselves again.

Scout :tiphat:

 

[Spatulate]

Two comments not directed to anyone in particular but to everyone in general :

1. Read Good News About Sex and Marriage: Answers to Your Honest Questions About Catholic Teachingby Christopher West. amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1569552142/103-6409565-4033442?v=glance
2. Many who have been sterilized practice NFP as a penance for having had the surgery Some even go the extra step of having a reversal, but the Church certainly does not require this.
   omsoul.com/sreversalbook.html talks about a book on this topic: ***Sterilization Reversal - A Generous Act of Love ***
   **The Theme of the Book

** Sterilization Reversal – A Generous Act of Love is a compilation of 20 stories of couples who were sterilized and then sought sterilization reversal. It is the first book that discusses, from a Roman Catholic perspective, the destructive impact that sterilization has on marriage and the joyous spiritual and marital renewal experienced by couples after reversal. As such,* Sterilization Reversal – A Generous Act of Love* is a unique resource for clergy, religious educators and laypeople. It is especially useful tool for the pastoral counseling of persons who have repented their sterilization. It is also a particularly effective means of informing people who are considering sterilization of the emptiness and heartbreak that often follow as well as the NFP alternative that nourishes the marital relationship rather than attacks it.

 

[Scout]

2) Many who have been sterilized practice NFP as a penance for having had the surgery Some even go the extra step of having a reversal, but the Church certainly does not require this.%between%

I’ve already been to Confession and done Penace for it before I converted. I see no sense in practicing NFP for something I’ve already been forgiven for.

Scout :tiphat:

 

[RosieGirl]

Hello, I’m new here…but I found this thread really interesting.

A little background on myself…I’m dating a catholic (2.5 years now) and I never had a desire to really learn about his faith until I attended a seminar on tape that Christopher West had. Being protestant myself and never even knowing that people didn’t believe in contraception, I was floored. Mainly because I had always felt it wasn’t right and I didn’t know why, it just didn’t sit well with me. After that seminar, I have learned soooo much…anyways, I’m attending RCIA now and am planning to join the Church this Easter!

Anyways, from Christopher West’s books and reading “The theology of the body for beginners” (really good, since the TOTB is really heavy reading)…anyways, I noticed that no one commented on how sex in a marriage is a renewal of your wedding vows. If you were married in the catholic church, your wedding vows should all be the same: to freely, totally, faithfully and fruitfully love your spouse. You can’t have one without the other.

Artificial or natural contraception isn’t the issue. Any contracetive mentality is taking away from those wedding vows that you promised. NFP used with a contraceptive mentalilty is the same as using a condom in my opinion.

I also don’t think that I’ve heard anyone talk about how a couple needs a to have a just reason to avoid pregnancy, because if you don’t have a just reason to avoid it, than even NFP is contraceptive. Christopher West says that “NFP is acceptable not because it’s ‘natural’ as oppsed to ‘artificial’, but because it is in keeping with the nature of tsexual intercourse as a renewal of the couple’s wedding vows”

He gives an analogy of a wedding invitation. I don’t remember how he put it exactly, but I think it was something like this… If you didn’t want someone to come to your wedding and send them a “dis-invitation” and then they still showed up, you would be pretty peeved and angry with them. But if you knew that someone wouldn’t be able to make it, maybe because they lived far away and couldn’t afford it, and you sent them an invitation, knowing they wouldnt be there, if they did end up coming you could have no reason to be resentful.

If you invite God to your act at an infertile time, knowing full well your most likely will not get pregnant, you are still keeping his will in mind, and if he comes and creates that new being, you would know that it was his will. But if you specifically sent him a message saying you didn’t want him to come by using a condom, or such, then you would be pretty unhappy if pregnancy was a reasult.

It’s like the difference between a miscarriage (God’s will) and an abortion (your will). If you can’t see the severity in that, then I think you really do need to pray about it.

Concerning people who can no longer have children for whatever reason, I don’t think practicing NFP is completely nessecary, but I do think that it is benefical. It’s like fasting from food. Take that time to abstain, to strengthen your marriage in other ways, and to pray and meditate with God.

Anyways, it’s late and I’ve probably become completely incoherant

 

[johnq]

RosieGirl

Beautiful, awsome, wow



:yup: :clapping: :bounce:





Best first post ever! Keep em coming.