That’s right.
God is not calling us to have sex everyday. But God is calling us in the sacrament of marriage to be a witness to the that holy marriage between the Groom Jesus and His Bride The Church.
This is eugenics at it’s worst. Let’s prevent anyone who will or may be born “poor” from being born, either by preventing their conception or slaughtering them before birth (both methods of “birth control”. Spiritmeadow’s argument parallels Ebineezer Scrooge’s “decrease the surplus (poor) population” on the front end Show me one. Just ONE study or even a single instance where abstinance resulted in a pregnancy. Perhaps you meant to say that getting kids to practice abstinance has failed?? 
This is the best post I have seen on this topic so far! I have a deep respect for your convictions about the morality of using another form of birth control. NFP can be used selfishly, and strictly as a birth control, and that is just as sinful, as using artificial contraceptives, like the pill, or condoms. If a newly married couple decides that they don’t ever want to have children, but they will use NFP strictly as a method of birth control …that is sinful. But really, what is the difference using NFP as strictly a method of birth control by a couple who don’t have ANY children…or say, a couple who have 2 children, and decided that is what they wanted all along, and from now on they will do exactly the same thing the couple is doing who have no children?? From morality’s standpoint there is no difference whatsoever! If the couple did the right thing, and kept their activities open to life, but later they reverted back to a selfish position, just as the couple who have no children, then how do they follow the Church’s teachings, when in fact they are closed from procreating life??
NFP use CAN be sinful if the reason you use it is for selfish reasons… But that is a slightly different situation… let’s hold off for a min on that.
Ahh, many people who use contraceptives and have them fail often conclude that God chose otherwise. I see no need to go the distance to a virgin birth to get there.
Human nature is what it is. Contraception is as old as recorded history. It was used in the OT. Now you can take a position that it is evil if you desire, and I don’t quibble with your choice. However, abstinence is a failure. There are studies that make that quite clear. It is something the present administration tries to keep quiet since it promotes this kind of programming to pander to the reactionary right. Pregnancy rates are highest in the bible belt.Contraception, since it avoids that pregnancy directly and statistically reduces the number of abortions. It reduces the number of STD’s as well. Every study on abstinence shows that it accomplishes nothing but raise pregnancy rates and untilmately abortion rates. Since we are supposed to be limiting abortions, abstinence would seem not the way to go about it. The church has argued itself into a box on this issue. I can appreciate the logic of their argument as it goes, however the reality of things is still that those who promote full sex education and availabilty to contraception account for a lowering of abortion rates and teen pregnancy much more effectively than abstitence which simply sends the numbers in the opposite direction. Sorry as I am that that is the case, it is. One must face the facts even if one desire to continue to argue that such behavior is wrong.
The problem is I see the pharisees as those that continue to support a practice that has no practical purpose to it, and is contrary to rational evidence. I thought Jesus was remarking that Pharisees insisted on observing the letter of the law even when the purpose of the law was not met. I think that is essentially the issue with contraception, and frankly with a good deal of ultra orthodox Catholicism.
Boy that is a mis-statement if ever there was one. Contraception allows the poor to avoid pregnancies THEY DO NOT WANT because they cannot afford to raise additional children. There is utterly nothing sinister about such a practice. You act like someone wants to kill poor people. Unless you suscribe to the idea tha all children are good even if they starve to death, then helping the poor reduce their risk of pregnancy is universally considered a good thing. No one is required to use contraception for goodness sake.
Show me one. Just ONE study or even a single instance where abstinance resulted in a pregnancy. Perhaps you meant to say that getting kids to practice abstinance has failed?? Abstinence surely has failed for some people, or rather, some people have failed to abstain. But for some people it has been a success. It isn’t right to make blanket statements about abstinence being a failure in general. For some people it works, for others it doesn’t.
Can you quote some of these studies? Or even just name one of them that can be found online?
The best thing would be to help those who are capable of it abstain, and help those who aren’t capable to avoid unwanted pregnancies in other ways. Unfortunately, I think that promoting contraception actually makes it harder for the people who would otherwise be successful abstaining.
Isn’t it a bit disengenuous to hail NFP as having such a high success rate of preventing pregnancy and then turn around and say it is sinful if the only purpose of the usage is to prevent pregnacy? As I continue to say, the hoops being jumped through to justify this is telling. And correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t this whole concept developed because people were so up in arms at having NO alternative but abstinence within marriage to avoid additional children? Seems to be what I recall as when this whole new thing of NFP came along. Course it had to wait for the science to make it even remotely viable as an option. I don’t argue with your numbers, I never have been interested in NFP as a method of contraception to investigate its efficacy. I doubt it works well for a large percentage of women, expecially those with abnormal and irratic cycles.
NFP to delay pregnancy is abstinence (thats why it works so well when used properly) and yes it does work with abnormal or erratic cycles. It is really nothing more than a far more scientific expansion on the calender method the Church has ALWAYS allowed. You apparently have never even taken the time to educate yourself on the ends outs of the process. You also completely ignore the fact the Church as ALWAYS condemned ABC, its in the bible for goodness sakes. There are no loops here but consistent Church teaching.
I believe abstinence is refraining from sex.
Isn’t NFP an “action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible”?
No, because its not an action, it is no action. There is nothing that says spouse must have sex. They are free to choose when they want to enjoy sex or conversely when they would rather abstain form it.
This of course is a strawman argument. Of course there is no prenancy by anyone practicing abstinence. That is not the point at all. Abstinence fails because kids don’t practice it, they become pregnant and either abort, raise it or give the child up for adoption. Kids presented with full sex-educaiton programs simply get pregnant less often that abstinence only kids (what they are taught) thus there are less pregnancies to abort, raise or give up for adoption. Since both options one and two are not suggested as good, then the folks who promote full sex education actually prevent more abortions than do those that promote abstinence.Boy that is a mis-statement if ever there was one. Contraception allows the poor to avoid pregnancies THEY DO NOT WANT because they cannot afford to raise additional children. There is utterly nothing sinister about such a practice. You act like someone wants to kill poor people. Unless you suscribe to the idea tha all children are good even if they starve to death, then helping the poor reduce their risk of pregnancy is universally considered a good thing. No one is required to use contraception for goodness sake.
Marriage exists for having children, for populating the world with more Catholics. NFP, which is not total abstinence, is contrary to this.