After all, the church is not against the practice on practical grounds, it is the very concept of contraception which is “frowned upon”, even if it is 100% foolproof, has no side effects, and it is much more “unitive” than the “usual” encounters.
The churches teaching on contraception stems from an understanding of sexuality as being a Gift from God, which has a 2-fold function (some say 3-fold). The aspects of that function should not be separated.
From basic natural observation, in Humans the purpose of Sex is
- Biological. It is the method by which new human beings are formed.
A stable committed family is the best environement in which to raise children. all other methods put the children at significant dissadvantage, and when widespread cause severe damamge to society as a whole. Therefore Sex should only be carried out inside Marriage, which is the instution by which new families are formed. (Family does not need to be restricted to the post industrial western concept of the nuclear family. That model has significant dissadvantages for the individuals involved due to lack of support from a wider family)
- Phsycological. Within a Loving relationship, the sexual act can and does strengthen the relationship between the spouses.
- Recreational. Sex is Fun. It’s meant to be fun and enjoyable. It brings pleasure to both partners, if not, someone’s doing something wrong.
The traditional teachings of the church implicitly include aspect 3) as part of aspect 2). but I’ve seen criticism by people who did not see this implicit assumption, therefore I list it seperately
You asked for arguments which do not rely on “Theology”. I am therefore avoiding reference to theology, or divine revelation in all of this.
When Aspect 1 and aspect 2 above become dissentangled or separated there are significant bad consequences:
- people start to think of sex purely in terms of it’s recreational / pleasurable function.
they start to totally divorce the idea of sex and the fact that sex makes babies. the result is people try to contracept. Ignore the dangers of unplanned pregnancies and std’s and start to promote a promiscuous lifestyle.
This turns women into sex objects for men, and vice-versa.
This destroys importance of Family in Society.
The function of Marriage in society has been masked, and is now seen as nothing more than an acknowledgement of a romantic attraction between 2 people.
Unplanned pregnancies. teen pregnancies. single parent families. Divorce rates all sky-rocket. This has massive damaging consequences for the individuals involved and for society as a whole.
All of this is very visible in our western society. yet our politicians think the fix is to provide younger and younger children (and adults) with easier access to Contraception, easier access to STD tests, and easier access to Abortion. - The results of these changes is inevitable: the numbers of unplanned pregnancies goes up. and the numbers of single mothers increases.
The church teaches that it is sinful to engage in any form of sex outside marriage. This is to protect the individual and society from the very malady that is rampant across the western world now.
The church teaches that within marriage sex should not have its functions separated. To do so does not build up respect between the spouses, but encourages one to use the other as little more than an aid to mutual masterbation.
She teaches us that if you have family planning needs that require you to delay having a child (or another child) you should abstain from sex. it is quite ok to identify the wife’s fertile periods in her cycle, and continue to enjoy the marital embrace during other times in her cycle. - This is a natural part of human biology. This does not miss-use the multiple functions of the sexual act, or attempt to artificially frustrate one of those functions. It fully respects the natural functions of the healthy human body, and encourages both spouses to treat each other with love and respect for each others physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs.
So:
The church does not teach that it is wrong to plan your family. on the contrary, her latest documents make it clear that rational deliberate decisions about family are a moral obligation on spouses.
The church teaches that sex outside marriage is wrong. this can be seen from Natural Law without recourse to theology.
The church teaches that using artificial forms of contraception (barriers, chemical or surgery) causes harm to the spouses, and separates the functions of the sexual act. Widespread promotion of these methods and availablity outside marriage has caused a “Sexual revoloution” which has indeed transformed our society - and not for the better. the single parents and children raised in defective families that abound throughout our society need not great skill to spot.
The church teaches that family planning can (and in some cases should) be carried out using methods of natural family planning that work in harmony with a woman’s biology.
The church has funded research into refining the methods available. the methods now available are as effective as “The pill” at delaying pregnancy when a couple are committed to doing so.
These methods are now being able to be pushed further. the same techniques can be used to assist conception when it is desired, and used as a diagnostic tool to identify the causes of infirtiltiy and fix those problems instead of using the expensive and intrusive methods of IVF which attempt to force a pregnancy on a womans body without identifying and treating the underlying casues of the couples fertility problems. This branch of medicine is called NaPRO and was developed using Vatican Funding at Creighton.
). And it can also to be used - quite naturally! - to caress someone, all the way to give wonderful pleasure. So I suspect that trying to argue what is “natural” and what is “unnatural”, you have a tough nut to crack… but, by all means, go ahead and do it.