My first NFP class

[Dan_Daly]

Absolutely. All women should learn to chart, and the younger the better. There’s no reason in the world any women shouldn’t have all the information about her body she can get her hands on.

By charting and self-examining women can uncover issues before they impact their fertility or before they become a bigger health problems. I know two women, who - while still teenagers - used NFP to uncover hormonal problems that could have impacted their fertility if left untreated.

But even if a woman is perfectly healthy, using NFP is incredibly empowering. And I think that’s what some folks take issue with when you get right down to it.

Luna

How does NFP empower a single woman who is not using charting for health reasons?

I strongly disagree on the “younger the better” comment. Sex-ed whether it’s called NFP or something else is something should be discussed by parents with their children, at the age the parents, using their reason in accordance with the Faith, deem appropriate for that particular child. The idea that knowing more is always better and knowing it sooner is better than knowing it later is a very dangerous one. Sex-ed quite often robs children of their innocence and modesty.

Pax Christi

 

[Pink_Lemonade]

I think you missed my point. On one hand you are saying that charting can yield useful information that can aid a single woman in dealing with health issues. I agree.

On the other hand, you are saying that it’s important for a single woman to learn how increase or decrease the chances of becoming pregnant through charting. I disagree. If a single woman is being chaste she has 0% chance of becoming a mother no matter what day of the month it is. Just as a chaste single man has a 0% chance of becoming father.

Pax

It may not be important in terms of immediate practical use if a woman isn’t married, but I don’t really understand why anyone would see medical knowledge as wrong. You can’t really separate the two- charting and “chance of becoming pregnant”. They’re the same thing- fertility. The changes observed over the menstrual cycle are a result of fertility, so knowing at which point in the month a woman is fertile is really the same thing as knowing which signs point it out- regardless of whether it’s used in the context of a marriage or not.

 

[agapewolf]

How does NFP empower a single woman who is not using charting for health reasons?

I strongly disagree on the “younger the better” comment. Sex-ed whether it’s called NFP or something else is something should be discussed by parents with their children, at the age the parents, using their reason in accordance with the Faith, deem appropriate for that particular child. The idea that knowing more is always better and knowing it sooner is better than knowing it later is a very dangerous one. Sex-ed quite often robs children of their innocence and modesty.

Pax Christi

No, it doesn’t. Charting NFP is basic health and hygiene. Just like it’s taught to children to go to the bathroom, girls should be taught “wipe before and after”.

You are really stretching this to make it more about “causes” you are taking up rather than what the basic idea is.

After I had some health issues figured out and treated, I had normal charts. NFP was still VERY empowering to me to know about my health-- its basic stuff. It made me in awe of God’s design.

 

[Luna_Lovecraft]

How does NFP empower a single woman who is not using charting for health reasons?

I strongly disagree on the “younger the better” comment. Sex-ed whether it’s called NFP or something else is something should be discussed by parents with their children, at the age the parents, using their reason in accordance with the Faith, deem appropriate for that particular child. The idea that knowing more is always better and knowing it sooner is better than knowing it later is a very dangerous one. Sex-ed quite often robs children of their innocence and modesty.

Pax Christi

The ideas presented here are just so beyond my frame of reference - as a woman and as a parent of two daughters who will be reaching menarche soon - that there’s not enough common ground for us to continue this conversation.

Luna

 

[Dan_Daly]

I was about to say something similar. I think we do have some fundamental disagreements that are unlikely to be reconciled through an internet forum.

The idea that sexuality can be discussed in a “morality neutral” manner is not something I think can be possibly true. If morality is excluded, there is indeed a moral lesson imparted, namely that sexuality has nothing to do with morality.

Pax Christi

 

[catholicanne]

Trust in God. He has a perfect plan for you. Someone will come along and will be worth the wait. :grouphug: