For what was said in the second post to be true, our generation would have to be economically worse off and more poor than all previous generations of people. That is clearly false. We can see that people who live in “third world” countries often have many children. It is the industrialized nations where birth rates are often near or below sustainable levels. What is more likely to be true is that people living in industrialized nations want to collect more stuff and spend their money on unneeded luxuries. This is known as “selfishness”. This is not a new thing.
I am from a “thrid world” country and i can assure you that people here do not have many children because they want to, infact generally they are more desperate not to have many children than the “industrialised nations”. Other factors like ineffective knowledge of birth countrol, early marriage and having more hands to help on the farms or beg in the streets come to play.
I really try not to say much on this NFP issue. I dont expect everybody here to understand the effect of “economically unable to cater for one more child”.
I donot use contraceptive for one and only one reason, the church says it is a sin! period. I keep my sanity by frequent holy communions and I dont believe that any form of contraception is worth taking away the joy of my communion. I however do not have any comments for those who say that a delibrate attempt at having a small family is sinful. As far as i am concerned, the only sin i recognise here is the sin of using artificial contraception. I will use NFP to plan my family to three or four children like i would love to have, it will take the heavens to convince me that it is a sin.
Children from very large homes in this part of the world unfortunately do not prove to be morally better than those from smaller families. My nanny has to work, she has 8 kids, catholic too, but she has to work. In some part of this earth, i will like some of us to know that poverty and stravation has a more complex reality, that it will rather be sinful to have so many kids you can’t feed, they beg, become pick pockets, theifs, crooks in some countries, university graduates cannot find good jobs speak little of people who could not go to school cause their parents could not send them to school. Here in my country, most of the social vices are perpetuated by the poor unfortunately. If you have 8 kids and can only afford public schools, you had better not send you child to school cause the public schools teach almost nothing but form criminal of your children. If you dont send your child to school, you have as well put the death sentence on the child’s future or lack of it really. What some of you consider poverty there is luxury here.
I believe that 50 faithfuls really serving God in truth and in spirit are worth more than a thousand loofers (sorry to use the word).
This is just my opinion. I believe it is sinful to use artificial contraception, but i don’t believe it is sinful to plan the size of your family.
So I would at least strike those off of your list
