Contraception paper

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I am writing a 15-20 pp(!) paper on artificial contraception for a moral theology class. Anyone have any ideas for good sources? This is what I am using so far:

Humanae Vitae, Paul VI
Evangelium Vitae, John Paul II
Theology of the Body, John Paul II
Why Humanae Vitae Was Right: A Reader, Janet Smith, ed.
Morality: the Catholic View, Servais Pinckaers, OP

I am also looking as contemporary magazine articles in response to Humanae Vitae, but what I would really be interested in is where to even begin looking for sources before Vatican II, to establish that it is an old teaching of the Church. Any advice would be helpful. Tahnak you in advance.
 
CWBetts:

Casti Conubii was promulgated 12/31/1930.

Madame Butterfly
 
If you are going to also include dangers to the body you can include the fact the WHO has listed the pill as a carcinogen.
 
Another angle to consider would be the impact ABC has on the enviroment. The Pope mentioned how a good Catholic cares for the enviroment, it all ties in. The hormones in the pill stay in the water longer and are more abundant then the naturaly expelled hormones. There was a study done in Denver on the Platte river and Boulder creek were scientist found that the high hormone levels in the water were causing strange mutations in the fish. I could find a few links if your interested.
Good luck with your paper!
 
sherimarie said:
Another angle to consider would be the impact ABC has on the enviroment. The Pope mentioned how a good Catholic cares for the enviroment, it all ties in. The hormones in the pill stay in the water longer and are more abundant then the naturaly expelled hormones. There was a study done in Denver on the Platte river and Boulder creek were scientist found that the high hormone levels in the water were causing strange mutations in the fish. I could find a few links if your interested.
Good luck with your paper!
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That is an interesting tack, but I think I am going with the approach that ABC violates every aspect of the spousal union, acts as an aid to adultery and fornication, and resultes in attitude shifts about the end purpose of the union.
 
I think the most important thing to mention is that it is an abortifacient.
 
sherimarie said:
I think the most important thing to mention is that it is an abortifacient.
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Contraception is not abortion. These are two different things.

Now, specific *methods *that claim to be contraceptive are really implantation inhibitors, which makes them abortifacients rather than contraceptives in the proper sense of the term.

But, this has nothing to do with why contraception transgresses the moral law.
 
CWBetts said:
That is an interesting tack, but I think I am going with the approach that ABC violates every aspect of the spousal union, acts as an aid to adultery and fornication, and resultes in attitude shifts about the end purpose of the union.
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Hey, do we all share your grade for helping out ??:dts:

Man, I wish I had forums and computers back in the Jurassic era of college in the late 70’s.

Seriously, consider Janet Smith’s, Humanae Vitae, A Generation Later.

Now, for the tack you wish to take. I respond as a Ph.D. in Microbiology who is ardently Pro-life and with the Magsterium all the way. Do you have empirical data to support the assertion that ABC acts as an aid to adultery? That’s a serious charge. If we are sitting around the parish house or coffee shop informally kicking ideas about, that would be an interesting topic to explore. But you are writing an academic paper. If you made that assertion in one of my courses without backing it with evidence, I would nail you heavily on points. Simply because bishops or even popes opine on this does not necessarily make it so. You need to flesh out the assertion with proof. Assertions of bishops and popes in high level documents are good primary source material for church opinion, but do not rise to the level of proof of the assertion.

I know many, many people who use ABC and who have never committed adultery. I know people who have used NFP who have committed adultery. What is it about ABC that provides the necessary causal conditions for adultery? Why don’t most people who use ABC commit adultery? Clearly, there must be something else afoot here. God gave that commandment to Moses some 3,500 years ago, long before most ABC.

In science we have a saying. “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.”

Love the pro-life community as I do, as with any other community of ardent believers, it can become an echo chamber. The constant reverberations around the chamber do not constitute empiric evidence. I’m slamming this one hard, because it’s good for us all to check our assertions and make sure that we are not getting carried away with ourselves. The pure and tenacious pursuit of truth, through evidence, can only strengthen the credibility of our message, whereas reckless and unfounded allegations are immediately seized upon by our opposition to discredit us and our message.

If anyone knows of such studies, I would love to see them. If you do get your hands on such studies, carefully analyze the methods used to conduct the study.

Good luck with your paper. If I may be of any assistance, don’t hesitate to let me know.
 
Gerard_Nadal said:
Hey, do we all share your grade for helping out ??:dts:

Man, I wish I had forums and computers back in the Jurassic era of college in the late 70’s.

Seriously, consider Janet Smith’s, Humanae Vitae, A Generation Later.

Now, for the tack you wish to take. I respond as a Ph.D. in Microbiology who is ardently Pro-life and with the Magsterium all the way. Do you have empirical data to support the assertion that ABC acts as an aid to adultery? That’s a serious charge. If we are sitting around the parish house or coffee shop informally kicking ideas about, that would be an interesting topic to explore. But you are writing an academic paper. If you made that assertion in one of my courses without backing it with evidence, I would nail you heavily on points. Simply because bishops or even popes opine on this does not necessarily make it so. You need to flesh out the assertion with proof. Assertions of bishops and popes in high level documents are good primary source material for church opinion, but do not rise to the level of proof of the assertion.

I know many, many people who use ABC and who have never committed adultery. I know people who have used NFP who have committed adultery. What is it about ABC that provides the necessary causal conditions for adultery? Why don’t most people who use ABC commit adultery? Clearly, there must be something else afoot here. God gave that commandment to Moses some 3,500 years ago, long before most ABC.

In science we have a saying. “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.”

Love the pro-life community as I do, as with any other community of ardent believers, it can become an echo chamber. The constant reverberations around the chamber do not constitute empiric evidence. I’m slamming this one hard, because it’s good for us all to check our assertions and make sure that we are not getting carried away with ourselves. The pure and tenacious pursuit of truth, through evidence, can only strengthen the credibility of our message, whereas reckless and unfounded allegations are immediately seized upon by our opposition to discredit us and our message.

If anyone knows of such studies, I would love to see them. If you do get your hands on such studies, carefully analyze the methods used to conduct the study.

Good luck with your paper. If I may be of any assistance, don’t hesitate to let me know.
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The course is in Moral Theology. I would agree with your insistence on empirical data makes a lot of sense if it were a sociology paper. I am defending the Church position. I do see your point though. If I cannot find the evidence, I will reexamine the claim. As always thanks for all of the (name removed by moderator)ut.
 
Contraception: a history of its treatment by the Catholic theologians and Canonists by John Thomas Noonan

The Catholic Church on Marital Intercourse: From St. Paul to Pope John Paul II by Robert Obach

The concept of sexual pleasure in the Catholic moral tradition by Shaji George Kochuthara
 
CWBetts said:
The course is in Moral Theology. I would agree with your insistence on empirical data makes a lot of sense if it were a sociology paper. I am defending the Church position. I do see your point though. If I cannot find the evidence, I will reexamine the claim. As always thanks for all of the (name removed by moderator)ut.
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Are you at Franciscan University? I noticed Steubenville on your info. I’m in the distance learning M.A. Theology there.
 
CWBetts said:
Yes, I am. It is an amazing place.
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I see you are up late as well. Yes it is an amazing place. I attend the Applied Biblical Studies and Defending the Faith Conferences each year, as well as the Bioethics Conferences each Fall and Spring. I’ll be on campus for the Bioethics Conference on Personhood on Oct 25.

Even though you are in a moral theology course, my concerns are still to the point. Does ABC cause adultery in some way, or is the use of ABC merely a diagnostic indicator of a rebelliousness that feeds narcissism? In a sense, because this is a moral course, you have an obligation to substantiate claims and demonstrate the effects of sin in some mechanistic fashion. It’s an invaluable tool in evangelization.

Peace
 
Gerard_Nadal said:
I see you are up late as well. Yes it is an amazing place. I attend the Applied Biblical Studies and Defending the Faith Conferences each year, as well as the Bioethics Conferences each Fall and Spring. I’ll be on campus for the Bioethics Conference on Personhood on Oct 25.

Even though you are in a moral theology course, my concerns are still to the point. Does ABC cause adultery in some way, or is the use of ABC merely a diagnostic indicator of a rebelliousness that feeds narcissism? In a sense, because this is a moral course, you have an obligation to substantiate claims and demonstrate the effects of sin in some mechanistic fashion. It’s an invaluable tool in evangelization.

Peace
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Maybe I misstated what I meant. Contraception is not a direct cause of adultery and fornication, but can act as an enabler by reducing the chances of pregnancy. Its interesting, really. The world refers to sexual activity without using contraception as “irresponsible” when in truth, contraception is an effort to remove responsibility.
 
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