I accept Birth Control, and that's not gonna change!

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noma

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To all:

After serious consideration into the moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, I find that the only consistent position to accept is that the Church would support artificial contraception for the purposes of regulating pregnancies, even though certain papal documents, etc., declare other matters of discipline.

But to the final point: I do not, nor can I reasonably accept that artificial contraception for the sake of regulating marriages is intrinsically sinful.

I consider myself a Roman Catholic. Should I?

Am I really Catholic anymore?

Soma the confused
 
noma said:
After serious consideration into the moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, I find that the only consistent position to accept is that the Church would support artificial contraception for the purposes of regulating pregnancies, even though certain papal documents, etc., declare other matters of discipline.
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Hi, and welcome to the forums. That is quite a first post. About 15 years ago, I might have said something very similar. I would like to ask about the part I bolded. ‘serious consideration.’ What exactly (or loosely) does that mean?

You are Catholic by your baptism. If by using contraception one has knowingly separated from Christ’s Church, then that must be confessed and reconciled. If you seek unity with the Church, there are many people here who would be happy to help with your understanding and acceptance of Church teaching. I will pray for you if that is okay with you.

Again, welcome! 👋 I hope we can help bring you in union with the Church. Contraception is not a happy place to be. God wants something much more beautiful for all of us.
 
noma said:
But to the final point: I do not, nor can I reasonably accept that artificial contraception for the sake of regulating marriages is intrinsically sinful.

I consider myself a Roman Catholic. Should I?

Am I really Catholic anymore?

Soma the confused
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Yes, you are still Catholic. However, if you are participating in the use of contraception, you should refrain from receiving Holy Communion, until such time as you come to your senses and seek reconciliation via the Confessional. Otherwise, you’d be committing yet another mortal sin… that of receiving Holy Communion unworthily. But my question would then be why would you want to remain a Catholic? I mean, it’s obvious that you don’t believe that the Catholic Church is the true Church founded by Christ. The one inwhich Christ gave authority to bind and loose, to teach and instruct, and is looked after by the Holy Spirit. If you did, you would realize that what YOU want should be taking a backseat to those things that God wants. But, I’m not picking on you. You’re just one more example of what soceity by enlarge encourages. I think it’s sad though. God bless.
 
If you mean the Pill, here is one reason I can think of off hand as to why it is not acceptable for Catholics.

The Pill does cause abortions. The Pill works in 2 ways - by a) preventing the fertilisation of the ovum by creating an environment hostile to sperm and b) by causing changes in the womb that prevent implantation of the living human embryo in the uterus. Sometimes, the ovum is not fertilised, and sometimes it is but is prevented from implanting in the womb. If you are taking the Pill, you will never know if you prevented the sperm from reaching the egg and thereby prevented conception in the first place or if you prevented the implantation of the living human embryo and thereby had a chemical abortion - every month.

We know that women do fall pregnant while taking the Pill, which means that in those cases, both the effects failed. An article I read said, using information from research on the Pill and publicised failure rates (I’m not sure but I think it is around 4%), that the average woman taking the Pill could reasonably expect to have aborted at least 4 to 5 children during her reproductive years. This is not acceptable for a Catholic and is what makes it intrinsically evil.

Natural Family Planning for the purpose of regulating pregnancies in a marriage works. There have been great advances in the science of the natural method that make it just as effective as the Pill nowadays. It just takes a bit more effort and requires periods of abstinence. We all know that abstinence makes the heart grow fonder. 😃 Take a course and learn more about it before rejecting it out of hand. It can be a great way for the both of you to grow closer since you both participate in the family planning and it is not the responsibility of just one of you.
 
Linda_Marie said:
**The Pill does cause abortions. **The Pill works in 2 ways - by a) preventing the fertilisation of the ovum by creating an environment hostile to sperm and b) by causing changes in the womb that prevent implantation of the living human embryo in the uterus. Sometimes, the ovum is not fertilised, and sometimes it is but is prevented from implanting in the womb. If you are taking the Pill, you will never know if you prevented the sperm from reaching the egg and thereby prevented conception in the first place or if you prevented the implantation of the living human embryo and thereby had a chemical abortion - every month.
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A simple google search would bring up the medical data to support this. To the OP (original poster), do the research on what the pill ACTUALLY does.

Also here is a link to a thread that was already started on this topic: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=119565

In this thread there are 2 links to help prove this point.
You can use these links as starting point… you of course could do more searching. God Bless.
 
Linda_Marie said:
Natural Family Planning for the purpose of regulating pregnancies in a marriage works. There have been great advances in the science of the natural method that make it just as effective as the Pill nowadays. It just takes a bit more effort and requires periods of abstinence. We all know that abstinence makes the heart grow fonder. 😃 Take a course and learn more about it before rejecting it out of hand. It can be a great way for the both of you to grow closer since you both participate in the family planning and it is not the responsibility of just one of you.
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Here is a link to what is NFP? How does it work? Do couples that use NFP have less sex then couples that don’t? etc.

Use this link as a starting point to learn about NFP: usccb.org/prolife/issues/nfp/information.shtml

For the answers to some of the question you will have to click on the menu bar on the left hand side. Click on the words: “What is NFP?”. Once you do that you will see sub-headings. Review those sub-headings too.
 
It seems that issues concerning reproduction are really being stirred up these days even moreso than previous years. (eg, contraception, homosexuality, abortion, pornography)

Jesus commanded us to do to others as we ourselves would like others to do to us. To endulge in contraception, homosexuality, abortion, etc, we are saying that we would rather have had our parents not give us a chance to be concieved. Basically, it’s the idea that their pleasure was more important than our life. As Christians, this is a direct disobediance to the One we confess to serve.
Not to mention the side effects that the mainline media fails to tell us about the pill, IUD, surgical procedures, and the like. You’d think they want us all to endulge our passions and “drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.”

I would recommend this be kept in mind and much time be spent in prayer before further use of a contraceptive. Go to Jesus in Confession. He’s ready to embrace and accept us when we turn from wrong and to Him. (See 1 John 1:8-9. It’s a promise and a covenant).

Peace,
A fellow Catholic on the journey Home
 
noma said:
To all:

After serious consideration into the moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, I find that the only consistent position to accept is that the Church would support artificial contraception for the purposes of regulating pregnancies, even though certain papal documents, etc., declare other matters of discipline.
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you actaully think that the Church supports ABC…we are talking about the Catholic Church right?
May I suggest that you rethink your statement as it is VERY innaccurate!
 
noma said:
To all:

After serious consideration into the moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, I find that the only consistent position to accept is that the Church would support artificial contraception for the purposes of regulating pregnancies, even though certain papal documents, etc., declare other matters of discipline.

But to the final point: I do not, nor can I reasonably accept that artificial contraception for the sake of regulating marriages is intrinsically sinful.

I consider myself a Roman Catholic. Should I?

Am I really Catholic anymore?

Soma the confused
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The US Bishops just approved a new document this week. It may help you better understand the Church’s thinking. It will eventually be published as a pretty booklet

usccb.org/laity/marriage/MarriedLove.pdf
 
noma said:
To all:

After serious consideration into the moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, I find that the only consistent position to accept is that the Church would support artificial contraception for the purposes of regulating pregnancies, even though certain papal documents, etc., declare other matters of discipline.

But to the final point: I do not, nor can I reasonably accept that artificial contraception for the sake of regulating marriages is intrinsically sinful.

I consider myself a Roman Catholic. Should I?

Am I really Catholic anymore?

Soma the confused
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You are still catholic, but I guess there is nothing to discuss on the contraception thing, since you have made up your mind on the subject. How would it be if every OP said, here is what it is and that’s that!
 
noma said:
To all:

After serious consideration into the moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, I find that the only consistent position to accept is that the Church would support artificial contraception for the purposes of regulating pregnancies, even though certain papal documents, etc., declare other matters of discipline.

But to the final point: I do not, nor can I reasonably accept that artificial contraception for the sake of regulating marriages is intrinsically sinful.

I consider myself a Roman Catholic. Should I?

Am I really Catholic anymore?

Soma the confused
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Well, you’re definitely not in full communion with the Church any more. Contraception is not a matter of discipline but doctrine, so it cannot change. Do you know the history of the modern contraceptive movement? Did you know that ALL Christian churches condemned contraception until 1930, when the Anglican church broke with 1,900 years of Christian teaching and approved contraception for married couples in difficult circumstances. That opened contraception to an ever-widening circle of acceptance so that today the Catholic Church remains the only Christian church to maintain historic Christian teaching. I would highly recommend you read George Grant’s book (who is not Catholic, by the way), Grand Illusions: the Legacy of Planned Parenthood, that gives a documented history of the original founders and their philosophies of the modern contraceptive movement. It was enough to convince me, then a Protestant, of the immorality of contraceptives. I would also recommend *Theology of the Body for Beginners *by Christopher West, which beautifully explains the Church’s teaching on sexuality – to borrow an analogy from Christopher West – when you see the banquet you won’t want to eat out of the dumpster any more 👍
 
It may seem odd, but it is not the “I accept Birth Control” that worries me, but the “and that’s not going to change!” part. You are setting yourself up for final impenitence which will be disasterous. I will pray for your conversion. Make this a great sacrifice and humbly submit to the Church Our Lord founded and commanded us to obey.

Scott
 
Hi & Welcome to the forums.

I’m curious as to why you believe, after careful considersation, that the Church “would” accept Artificial Contraception??

What makes you think that?
 
noma said:
But to the final point: I do not, nor can I reasonably accept that artificial contraception for the sake of regulating marriages is intrinsically sinful.
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There is a similarity between using ABC to avoid pregnancy after intercourse and purging yourself to avoid gaining weight after eating. If you can see that the latter (purging) is a disordered behavior, you should be able to see that the former (contracepting) is also disordered.
 
Did you arrive at your decision in good conscience?

People here like to say other people aren’t “in full communion with the Church”. But the Church itself didn’t seem to have any problem paying off pedophile Priests’ victims in many different countries so they would keep quiet and then keeping the offending Priests “in communion with the Church” by simply assigning them to one parish after another where they continued to abuse young people sexually. There are literally hundreds of such cases. I guess using a condom or the pill is a graver sin than child molestation.

I wonder how many of the strict rigorist doctrinaires in the forum are off the hook as far as contraception goes because they don’t have to worry about it anymore. It’s easy to be a doctrinaire if the tubes are already tied or the vasectomy already done, or one of the spouses is past reproduction age.
 
starling said:
Did you arrive at your decision in good conscience?

People here like to say other people aren’t “in full communion with the Church”. But the Church itself didn’t seem to have any problem paying off pedophile Priests’ victims in many different countries so they would keep quiet and then keeping the offending Priests “in communion with the Church” by simply assigning them to one parish after another where they continued to abuse young people sexually. There are literally hundreds of such cases. I guess using a condom or the pill is a graver sin than child molestation.

.
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Didn’t your mother ever tell you that two wrongs don’t make a right?
 
starling said:
Did you arrive at your decision in good conscience?
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How does someone receive the knowledge to have good conscience?
starling said:
People here like to say other people aren’t “in full communion with the Church”. But the Church itself didn’t seem to have any problem paying off pedophile Priests’ victims in many different countries so they would keep quiet and then keeping the offending Priests “in communion with the Church” by simply assigning them to one parish after another where they continued to abuse young people sexually. There are literally hundreds of such cases.
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The “Church” is made up of people. People make mistakes, people are sinners, people have free-will etc. What the priest (the person) did was wrong? What his superiors (more people) did is wrong. That is without a doubt.

Now if you want to claim that the CHURCH did this then you will have to shows us documents, “canon law” that tells priest to “cover-up” these actions. Thanks!
starling said:
I guess using a condom or the pill is a graver sin than child molestation.
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In my opinion one isn’t graver then the other. Especially when it comes to the use of the pill. The pill destroys the life of an innocent person. Child molestation destroys the life of an innocent person. They are both grave sins and crimes against the innocent.
I wonder how many of the strict rigorist doctrinaires in the forum are off the hook as far as contraception goes because they don’t have to worry about it anymore. It’s easy to be a doctrinaire if the tubes are already tied or the vasectomy already done, or one of the spouses is past reproduction age.
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Nothing in this life is easy. Christ said to follow him would be a hard road; we all have our crosses to bare. I would read up on NFP.

God Bless
M2G
 
First, I would like to thank everyone for their imput, varied as it is. I am especially impressed by the love I have found on these forums, and the lack of condemnation. Most people on this forum seem to stand for strong moral principles, while also showing an exceptional love.

I find this very impressive.

Though I believe that the Church Militant’s teaching concerning contraception can change, because it is not an infallible matter of faith and morals, I am a lay person. More so, I am a lay person who assists in teaching catechism.

Though I may hold these personal beliefs which are at odds with the teaching of the Church, I do not find it responsible to share my reasons with anyone, at risk of heresy.

For maybe I am wrong, and if I am, but if my reasons are found to be good reasons by someone, or if I scandalize the faith to someone curious about the faith, or if I misrepresent the Church either here or, even worse, to those in the classes I help teach, and lead them into error, I would be responsible for both deceiving myself and deceiving them.

As a responsible lay-person, I will not outright defend contraception at this time, nor will I identify myself in my support of contraception.

But I still practice contraception with my wife, and I find nothing wrong with doing so, even after reading “Theology of the Body”, and also St. Augustine who has said:

“Of all sins belonging to lust, that which is against nature (contracepting) is the worst.”

And St. Thomas Aquinas, agreeing with St. Augustine, who also said(Q 154, Art. 12, Rep. Obj. 2):

“Vices against nature are also against God… and are so much more grievous than the depravity of sacrilege, as the order impressed on human nature is prior to and more firm than any subsequently established order.”

Though I know and understand this, I still find no real sin in contracepting. I am speaking with a strong Dominican Priest about it in private (I am in the Fraternity of St. Dominic, called once the Third Order) so as to be able to share my reasons, find them challenged, and still not risk accidentally leading one of God’s Own away from Him, as is a real risk. But as for a forum accessible by laity, I cannot in good conscience share my reasons with you all.

So I will state that I contracept, and should this not change, is it honest of me to still share Catholic teaching to others? Is it honest of me to even still consider myself a Catholic?

The responses to these questions thus far have been mixed. So have they been from the Dominicans, who though they agree I am Roman Catholic, and should be allowed to teach RCIA so long as I keep my personal and erroneous views to myself, are not certain among themselves that I should continue to participate in RCIA, or that I should consider myself Catholic, since what I believe is at odds with what the Church teaches.

These Dominicans also do not agree entirely among themselves that the Church’s teaching concerning contraception is truly infallible teaching, though all of them say they have little doubt as to its being correct teaching.

Again, I open it up to you, as I would like to hear more. Should I continue with RCIA, do you think? Should I continue to consider myself, and to call myself, Catholic? Or, if my beliefs concerning contraception are not to change at all, would the Anglican Church be better for me?

I am interested in your views.
 
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