Is This Appropriate On a Catholic Campus?

[Isilzha]

I attend a small liberal arts Catholic University. Today on my way out I noticed a sign and stopped to read it. Admittedly I don’t often read the signs on campus, but this one I stopped to read because it had a cute theme to it.
SPF and it stands for self protection force or something like that. It was all about protecting yourself during spring break and it had a list of things you can do to keep yourself safe. I started reading them and one of the things was that abstinence is the best way to protect yourself. The one directly after that was about how if you are going to have sex to use a condom or a barrier.

Is this appropriate to have on a Catholic campus? I was heartened that it mentioned abstinence, but then it does tell you to use contraception something the church is strongly opposed to. 

 
Am I overreacting or not?

 

[1ke]

Isilzha:

I attend a small liberal arts Catholic University. Today on my way out I noticed a sign and stopped to read it. Admittedly I don’t often read the signs on campus, but this one I stopped to read because it had a cute theme to it.
SPF and it stands for self protection force or something like that. It was all about protecting yourself during spring break and it had a list of things you can do to keep yourself safe. I started reading them and one of the things was that abstinence is the best way to protect yourself. The one directly after that was about how if you are going to have sex to use a condom or a barrier.

Is this appropriate to have on a Catholic campus? I was heartened that it mentioned abstinence, but then it does tell you to use contraception something the church is strongly opposed to. 

 
Am I overreacting or not?

No, it is not appropriate. You should complain to the administration and request the signs be taken down.

 

[Aureole]

No, you aren’t overreacting at all. The abstinence signs are perfectly fine, it’s the one’s saying that “if you’re going to have sex to wear a condom.” that are the problem. Bring it up to the administration, don’t let those non-Catholic signs hang in a Catholic school.

 

[Maureen_Fiore]

I would find the author of that sign to see why they posted this on a Catholic Campus.

 

[cheese_sdc]

I have gone back and forth on this issue. At one point I would have whole heartedly endorsed taking the reference to a condom out. But now I now wonder at the wisdom of assuming that 100% of the people out there will behave in a responsible manner. A majority will not. This is pure reality. I question the attitude that says “Don’t tell them about condoms - they don’t help anyway”. This tastes like a person setting a moral bobby trap - “it will serve them right if they get AIDs or pregnant or herpes or whatever”.

Moreover, by not telling a person about condoms or other methods of “safer” (whatever that means) sex, then it seems we are increasing the chances of these things happening. We all know that for a women to get pregnant outside of wedlock is the quickest path to poverty. Society itself suffers then.

 

[St.Sharky]

I think its fine. The message is a good one. It encourages abstinence (which it should being in a catholic campus) but then says that if you are to engage on sexual activity use protection. Or if a young couple was to engage in sexual acts would they be doubly condemned for using protection?

Or do the couple deserve to chance catching STDs or having an unwanted child if they do choose to go down this path?

 

[BlindSheep]

Sharky, what about this angle: if having sex outside marriage while using protection is even a somewhat acceptable or “second best” option, human nature being what it is, far fewer people will abstain.

 

[St.Sharky]

BlindSheep:

Sharky, what about this angle: if having sex outside marriage while using protection is even a somewhat acceptable or “second best” option, human nature being what it is, far fewer people will abstain.

Im sorry if this ruffles some feathers, but having sex inside or outside marriage while using protection is acceptable. Protection in generals is acceptable. This is becase the end product is the same as if you were to use NFP.

So we are to believe that God, the Creator, gave us this great gift that we can only enjoy at certain times of the month?

 

[fix]

St.Sharky:

Im sorry if this ruffles some feathers, but having sex inside or outside marriage while using protection is acceptable. Protection in generals is acceptable. This is becase the end product is the same as if you were to use NFP.

I am sorry, but that is false. Contraception is intrinsically evil and this we know from the natural law and from the authentic teacher of the faith.

So we are to believe that God, the Creator, gave us this great gift that we can only enjoy at certain times of the month?

One may have relations as often as one wants. If one wants to space births, then one would follow the cycle as ordained by God.

 

[Scott_Waddell]

St.Sharky:

So we are to believe that God, the Creator, gave us this great gift that we can only enjoy at certain times of the month?

Married folk may enjoy sex during any time of the month. It is sinful when married folk try to enjoy sex and deliberately attempt to thwart the God-ordained purpose of it, which is unity and procreation. So-called protection is in the first place an illusion and in the second place, reduces sex to mutual masturbation. Yuk!

 

[trustmc]

St.Sharky:

Im sorry if this ruffles some feathers, but having sex inside or outside marriage while using protection is acceptable. Protection in generals is acceptable. This is because the end product is the same as if you were to use NFP.

So we are to believe that God, the Creator, gave us this great gift that we can only enjoy at certain times of the month?

The end product is not the same. St. Paul warns us in 1 Cor 7:4-5 that sex even within marriage can be an occasion for sin and idolatry:

“A wife does not have authority over her own body, but rather her husband, and similarly a husband does not have authority over his own body, but rather his wife. Do not deprive each other, except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, to be free for prayer, but then return to one another, so that Satan may not tempt you through your lack of self-control.”

Artificial birth control, which allows for sex without any of the built-in responsibilities (when sex is separated from the possibility of procreation and hence a true one-flesh union), reinforces that idolatrous approach towards sex Paul warns us about. But notice that Paul’s antidote to this sinful mentality is periodic abstinence. While he was not speaking on the subject of family planning, NFP still offers at once the benefits of both “birth control” and a spiritual sanctification that reorients one’s desire for and towards the Lord without transforming sex into a barrier between the couple and God the way artificial contraception does. Moreover, NFP mentally and spiritually restores the true nature of sex, and conforms to the ethic of premarital chastity.

Admittedly, the consequences of artificial birth control are incremental, subtle and difficult to discern through all the physical and emotional pleasure it allows for, but is nonetheless spiritually fatal. A celibate magisterium, far removed from the subjective pleasures of marriage, has thankfully sustained its objective perspective on sex and procreation that clearly shows us the way.

Mike

 

[Tietjen]

St.Sharky:

Im sorry if this ruffles some feathers, but having sex inside or outside marriage while using protection is acceptable. Protection in generals is acceptable. This is becase the end product is the same as if you were to use NFP.

So we are to believe that God, the Creator, gave us this great gift that we can only enjoy at certain times of the month?

With all due respect, the Catholic Church disagrees. That may or may not mean much to you; however, for true Catholics there is a deep desire to be in accord with God’s Church.:tsktsk:

 

[Maureen_Fiore]

There are many cafeteria Catholics who decide to pick and choose while going down the buffet table what best suits them. If we follow the teachings of the church we must be true to all of the teachings.

 

[BlindSheep]

St.Sharky:

Im sorry if this ruffles some feathers, but having sex inside or outside marriage while using protection is acceptable. Protection in generals is acceptable. This is becase the end product is the same as if you were to use NFP.

So we are to believe that God, the Creator, gave us this great gift that we can only enjoy at certain times of the month?

Not according to Catholicism, and we are talking about a Catholic college.

 

[trustmc]

St.Sharky:

So we are to believe that God, the Creator, gave us this great gift that we can only enjoy at certain times of the month?

Not only can we not enjoy this gift at certain times of the month, but also throughout certain times of our lives – even years if necessary. If you’re not married, God does not allow us to abuse this gift. And when you’re ordained or take religious vows, God calls you to give up the gift entirely. Kind of makes complaining about a few days a month seem petty.

Mike