Children born of adultery

[petrel]

From the Catholic Encyclopedia on illegitimacy.
newadvent.org/cathen/07650a.htm
*illegitimacy denotes the condition of children born out of wedlock. It should be noted, however, that, according to the Roman law and the canon law, an illegitimate child becomes legitimate by the subsequent marriage of its parents. *

The Encyclopedia reports some shocking statistics (this was back in 19010 What would they say now?) They then say "These figures are sufficiently disturbing, and yet they do not exhibit the full extent of the evil. "

And also in conclusion:
“The most important factors which tend to increase illegitimacy are, therefore,** bad laws bad economic conditions, lax public opinion**, lax customs of social intercourse, late marriages, and lack of sound moral and religious convictions. The most important influences that tend to lessen and check it are religion, especially, the true religion, immoral practices, and marriage between the conception and birth of the first child.”

Read the whole article, clearly illegitimacy is both a legal and social problem.

 

[Allegra]

It is true that the word “illegitimate” is a legal word and comes from the root of the word legal. When used to describe a child born out of wedlock then there are legal ramifications in that in the past the illegitimate child did not have the same legal rights as a legitimate child. But in the case of children born out of wedlock the word “Illegitimate” is a direct reference to their state within the context of society.
Here is the dictionary definition
il·le·git·i·mate/ˌiləˈjitəmit/
1.Not authorized by the law; not in accordance with accepted standards or rules: “an illegitimate exercise of power by the military”.
2.(of a child) Born of parents not lawfully married to each other.

So I am just advocating a basic use of a word out of the dictionary and am getting howled down about it. Why? because we have a social stigma against those who advocate social stigma’s. We have an absurdly politically correct society with a large proportion being Catholic.

The absence of social stigma towards illegitimate children is a relatively new phenomen developing as late as the 1960’s. In all previous generations it was the norm. And are our marriages and societies better for it. I think not?

Wikipedia has a fantastic article on this subject
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legitimacy_(law

Notice this comment from wikipedia. "A contribution to the decline of the concept of illegitimacy had been made by increased ease of obtaining divorce. Prior to this, the mother and father of many a child had been unable to marry each other because one or the other was already legally bound, by civil or canon law, in a non-viable earlier marriage that did not admit of divorce. "

So the concept of opposing illegitimacy through laws of the land and social stigma’ goes hand in hand with opposing divorce. It also is the flip side of the coin to encouraging legitimate children and monogomous marriage.

This is the problem I’m having with your posts. It sounds like you are advocating treating children born out of wedlock with scorn. If this is the case, it seems obvious to me this is wrong. It is so wrong, I don’t know how anyone can even think otherwise. I think we all agree that fornication is evil and that adultery is double evil. I don’t think being kind to children who have sinful parents extends to condoning that sin, if that is what you are suggesting. One can say that what their parents have done is wrong, without shunning the child themself.

 

[chevalier]

From the Catholic Encyclopedia on illegitimacy.
newadvent.org/cathen/07650a.htm
*illegitimacy denotes the condition of children born out of wedlock. It should be noted, however, that, according to the Roman law and the canon law, an illegitimate child becomes legitimate by the subsequent marriage of its parents. *

The Encyclopedia reports some shocking statistics (this was back in 19010 What would they say now?) They then say "These figures are sufficiently disturbing, and yet they do not exhibit the full extent of the evil. "

And also in conclusion:
“The most important factors which tend to increase illegitimacy are, therefore,** bad laws bad economic conditions, lax public opinion**, lax customs of social intercourse, late marriages, and lack of sound moral and religious convictions. The most important influences that tend to lessen and check it are religion, especially, the true religion, immoral practices, and marriage between the conception and birth of the first child.”

Read the whole article, clearly illegitimacy is both a legal and social problem.

Clearly, you aren’t grasping the problem. What is evil is that people fornicate and that children are born without the benefit of a full, normal family to take care of them and give them the proper example. It is not an evil that children are born per se, even if the intercourse in which they were conceived was not lawful. I invite you to stretch your imagination harder and put more load on the intelligence that you clearly have.

 

[LightBound]

It is true that the word “illegitimate” is a legal word and comes from the root of the word legal. When used to describe a child born out of wedlock then there are legal ramifications in that in the past the illegitimate child did not have the same legal rights as a legitimate child. But in the case of children born out of wedlock the word “Illegitimate” is a direct reference to their state within the context of society.
Here is the dictionary definition
il·le·git·i·mate/ˌiləˈjitəmit/
1.Not authorized by the law; not in accordance with accepted standards or rules: “an illegitimate exercise of power by the military”.
2.(of a child) Born of parents not lawfully married to each other.

So I am just advocating a basic use of a word out of the dictionary and am getting howled down about it. Why? because we have a social stigma against those who advocate social stigma’s. We have an absurdly politically correct society with a large proportion being Catholic.

The absence of social stigma towards illegitimate children is a relatively new phenomen developing as late as the 1960’s. In all previous generations it was the norm. And are our marriages and societies better for it. I think not?

Wikipedia has a fantastic article on this subject
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legitimacy_(law

Notice this comment from wikipedia. "A contribution to the decline of the concept of illegitimacy had been made by increased ease of obtaining divorce. Prior to this, the mother and father of many a child had been unable to marry each other because one or the other was already legally bound, by civil or canon law, in a non-viable earlier marriage that did not admit of divorce. "

So the concept of opposing illegitimacy through laws of the land and social stigma’ goes hand in hand with opposing divorce. It also is the flip side of the coin to encouraging legitimate children and monogomous marriage.

Did it ever occur to you that abortion was most likely used to hide from the scorn of having an out of wedlock child in the past? While abortion may not have been legal in the past, it most certainly took place, with many failed attempts causing damage to the mom and baby…all to hide from the wrath of those who view illegitimacy the way you are advocating…

 

[Robert_Bay]

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