contraceptive
I started writing a post about abortion and then realised I actually needed to deal with this one first. See, while I agree that abortion is indeed contentious, I really don't think this issue is. Religious proscription against contraceptive basically seems to swing entirely on the idea that sex can only ever be used if procreation is your aim- or at least you would not be displeased if such a thing happened.The bizzare thing about is that the rythmn method is allowed, which, for the uninitiated, is having sex as far as possible from when the woman is ovulating, and thus reducing the odds of pregnancy (but coming nowhere near to removing them, because the body isn't necessarily the most regular and predictible thing at all). I don't understand this at all... how can it be wrong to kill the sperm by trapping them in rubber, but not wrong to kill the sperm by sending them to an empty womb? To be honest, if you're happy about using this method, I don't see why you don't use others....
It's a subject which, to me, there is no defence of being against these things. It takes an EXTREMELY bizzare reading of the bible to squeeze out opposition to contraception out of it, and if you do, you have to be opposed to masturbation as well. Well, male masturbation, I suppose woman come across ok. Never mind, of course, that the sperm dies anyway- it has a life span of 24 hours (ish), and is always being replenished, so whether you "waste it" or not, unless you are having an exceedingly large amount of sex, that's a lot of sperm that goes to waste. It's madness I tell you, as are the opposition to the pill, and the emergency pill (which does NOT kill anything. It merely prevents an ova from being released- if you are already pregnant it is far too late), because even if one was to become permenantly pregnant from the age of about 12, there'd still be eggs going to waste- I forget the actual figure of eggs sitting there waiting, but it's quite a few. We could, I suppose, extract and store them, but that's just insane.
The sad thing is that these objections cost lives in places where AIDS is prevelant (and yes, if people lived by true christian values they would not sleep around at all, but A- what humans have you been living with? and B- Why SHOULDN'T someone be allowed to sleep around if they want to? and C- misinformation is spread by some, and the access to condoms nowhere as near as good as it should be), and certainly cost a lot of unwanted pregnancy. Ironically, as has been pointed out by some, the effect of good sexual education and provision of contraceptive would be a fall in abortions.... but what the hell.
[please note, while I attack religious beliefs here, this is by no means an attack on all religon, or those with religious beliefs. I merely am attacking a contradictory belief that appears to have no basis either in logic, morality, or even the bible itself.....]
posted by Mr K @ 4:31 pm
4 Comments:
In parts of South America there are women who are forced to go through illegegal abortions, because there simply isn't enough food for them to be able to feed another child. It's heart breaking, and it's impossible to get any kind of contraception. Bearing in mind these are married women with husbands, it's outrageous. On top of that, the most commonly known abortion method is a kind of massage which causes pain and can kill the mother as well as the baby. I cried when I found that out. If a woman dies she leaves all her children with no one to protect them.
well of course they'd be married with husbands you silly moo. It's time for me to sleep.... :o)
actually, just a point of clarification: the reason Christian religions oppose artificial contraception (I tried to type "artificial" FIVE TIMES before I got it right...honestly), is because it contravenes natural law as defined by Thomas Aquinas. That's why the rhythm method is okay--it doesn't interfere with nature. In the Catholic Church, the teachings on birth control are not actually philosophically linked to the teachings on sex and its purpose; rather, the dual purpose of sex is to express the sacrament of marriage (i.e., coz you love each other), and secondarily, as a means of procreation. The Church doesn't intend to force people to have to children; rather, they insist that a couple must be OPEN to having children.
oh, and I should note: while the Bible may not say much about condoms, etc., the Catholic Church believes strongly in the idea that revelation is through time, and as a result, it takes into account the writings of theologians and philosophers that are not in the bible, such as Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, Thomas Aquinas, Teresa of Avila, Thomas More, Erasmus (FINALLY, really, coz he was on the Index for ages...), and John XXIII, etc.
Post a Comment
<< Home