The bible charges man to go forth and multiply the species, etc. However, this planet is now in some dire straits due to the vast number of people living upon it. Instead of recognizing and accepting modern inventions to help counteract the problem and still keep the act of love as an important part of a marriage, the Catholic church forbids it. If it is againsgt a natural order, why are priests not permitted to marry - mental self-castration also goes against such a natural order. And furthermore - if we are all made in God's image and we have to capacity to enjoy love-making with our life-partner (whom we also love with all our hearts), why does the Catholic church urge us to spurn that image of God in favor of making people feel guilty about their own God-given bodies?

-- Russell Haynes (r-haynes@students.uiuc.edu), March 10, 1998

Answers

Russell,

You ask a lot of important questions. You will not get answers that do you justice in a forum like this.

To start with, why not read some of the articles on contraception and overpopulation at The Catholic Pages and then if you want to discuss this further, send me email: mclachlan@bigfoot.com.

-- Paul McLachlan (mclachlan@bigfoot.com), April 01, 1998.

The Catholic Church doesn't forbid the act of love because she knows it's good for the union of the marriage. She suggests the birth control with natural ways and NOT with artificial ways. The Church doesn't want to make bad anyone, she just wants to preserve the family, the marriage fidelity and enforce the love forever (not for sometimes). The Church recognize the importance of the marriage and she declares it as sacrament, and if the act of love is for the good of the family (not like a game or something temporal), it recognize it as sacred.

-- Carmen (cpineda@banamex.com), April 07, 1998.

Dear Russ

This is a very blunt way to put this and is not very much in detail but you are not aloud to use contraception because it closes the sexual act to Pro-Creation.

-- E.H.Weiss (weisse@urgentmail.com), March 05, 1999.

Jmj

Hello, "skeptic."
Let's take your statements one at a time, OK?

"Who cares what the catholic church thinks???????"
The Catholic Church [upper case, as you will notice in your phone book, history books, etc.] does not "think." She teaches, by command of her founder, Jesus. And "who cares what she teaches?"
First and foremost, God, who teaches through her, cares.
Next, the one billion members of the Church care.
Next, countless millions of non-Catholics care. Even Gorbachev, who visited the Pope before Communism fell, cared.
And last but not least, you care what she teaches. Otherwise, you would not have come here to complain.

"You are not going to stand in judgement to them on judgement day!"
If you are speaking to and about Catholics, then you are right. Catholics teach that God will judge all people then. Is it perhaps true that the Church teaches that something you like to do is mortally sinful? Is it troubling your conscience, because you recall that Jesus told his apostles (from whom today's Catholic bishops descend), "He you hears you, hears me."

"Where in the BIBLE does it mention birth control? I really wanna know this?"
Before answering, I have to ask you to see if you can find, in the BIBLE, where it says that we must provide explicit scriptural verses to you to support what the Catholic Church teaches. I can assure you that that Bible does not require it. Nevertheless, I will help you obtain the information you seek ... Please obtain a copy of (Protestant) Charles Provan's book, "The Bible and Birth Control." This anti-contraception, non-Catholic author will provide you with all the pertinent verses. Until you get the book, you can start with Onan being struck dead by God for his sin of "withdrawal" (in Genesis 38).

"Jesus did NOT leave the Catholic church in charge!"
Since you are a "sola scriptura" man (or woman) ... Where in the BIBLE does it say that? It doesn't seem that you can find it at 1 Tim 3:15, where St. Paul says, "If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the living God's church, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

"I hate to burst the bubble, but he's [Jesus is] still captain of the ship!"
No bubble burst, since Catholics believe that Jesus has always been and always will be the Head of his Church -- but he is now the invisible head, who left a "vicar" to be our visible head, St. Peter and his successors. It must have been the Holy Spirit that moved you to refer to "captain of the ship," since the popes have always metaphorically been described as skippering the "bark of Peter," a fisherman on whose ship Jesus rode.

God bless you.
John
PS: It seems a bit odd that you are agitating for a non-Catholic Christian sect, since you seem to be involved in Buddhism ("zen master" e-mail address).

-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), September 09, 2000.

An afterthought, on the subject of God judging all on judgment day ...
Actually the Bible teaches that God already now permits, and on judgment day will permit, his "saints" (holy people of his Church), in a subordinate way, to participate in judging with him. Here is what St. Paul told the Corinthians (1 Cor 6):
2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases [now]?
3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, matters pertaining to this life!

JFG

-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), September 09, 2000.

Does the Bible say anything about birth control? Mr. Camping: The Bible does not use the phrase "birth control," but the Bible has a lot to say about the subject. God gives the command in Genesis 1:27-28 : "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: ..."

That command has never been rescinded. In Psalm 104, for instance, God indicates that babies are created in the womb by the action of God the Holy Spirit. Psalm 104:30 says:

"Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth."

Of course, there is a biological union, but the biological union does not create the baby. God creates the baby and gives the baby an eternal soul. God is in charge of when a baby is to be conceived. Ultimately, conception is God's business. The Bible says in Psalm 127 and Psalm 128 that children are a blessing of the Lord. We read in Psalm 127:3-5 : "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."

In the life of the believer, the more children, the greater the blessing. At times, it might be difficult, but over the long haul, there will be great blessing.

In the matter of birth control, we must remember that we are the first generation in 6,000 years of history who are able to stop conception. Prior to our generation, that is, prior to about 50 years ago, the way to stop conception was by abstinence or spilling the semen on the ground. Today, there are many ways: birth control pills, wire devises, and condoms, and so on, all utilized to prevent the birth of a child.

Effectively, man is saying, "We do not trust God. We know best; we know when we should have a child. We are busy finishing our education, or we are busy building a business, or whatever, and so, in our own time, we will decide when we want to have a baby." The true believers, those who rest in the Lord, know that God knows precisely how many children we should have because He creates the baby.

When we study the Bible, we see that Satan worked out a plan to kill children. Satan killed children in Egypt during the days of Moses when he killed all the male children. Satan killed children when he tried to kill Jesus; at that time, he killed children around Bethlehem who were up to two years of age. Today, Satan is having a field day. Not only is he stopping the birth of children, but he is killing millions of unborn children. All over the world, millions of abortions kill children in the womb. Why does Satan want to do this?

The reason he wants to do this is because the elect of God come into existence through the birth of children. God's plan is for children to be born. Theoretically, if Satan could stop the birth of all children, there would be no more elect, and so Satan is trying to control this matter, and he is working very successfully. Of course, God is still in charge; God is in control, and nothing can frustrate God's plan to bring the elect into existence. Nevertheless, the intent is deadly; it is altogether wrong.

-- Yarick (yozuk2001@yahoo.com), August 04, 2003.

As someone who has great difficulty with Church teachings on contraception I have found the following articles helpful in understanding the Catholic position.

Contraception: Why Not? Author: Janet Smith Title: Contraception: Why Not? Publisher & Date: Janet Smith, May, 1994

Description: An excellent article by Janet Smith which explains why the Catholic Church keeps insisting that contraception is one of the worst inventions of our time. She demonstrates the devastating effects on marriage, the family and society caused by the widespread use of contraception. She also shows that the Pope's predictions in Humanae Vitae make him a modern day prophet.

To read the article go here:

http://www.petersnet.net/browse/4420.htm

ALso I was given a hard copy of a pastoral letter from Denver's Archbishop Charles Chaput OMF Cap. from CWN WORld News... a quick google search should turn it up I think it was written in 1998.

For those wishing to read theologians(Baum, Haring, Noonan, Draper, Ryan, Novak, Curran) arguing the case FOR contraception I found the book "The Catholic Case for Contraception" edited by Daniel Callahan and published in 1969 by Arlington Books interesting reading. I in no way support this book but it raises some intresting questions. ANyone read it?

God Bless

-- Kiwi (csisherwood@hotmail.com), August 05, 2003.

Co-author Michael Novak has repented of his serious error in publicly dissenting from the infallible Catholic teaching against contraception. No doubt, he'd like to see his name taken off every existing copy of that book. No doubt, he'd say that Catholics ought not to bother reading that trash.

Every argument in the book has been refuted many times by popes and other orthodox Catholic writers in the past 30 years. That's why people should read THEIR words instead of this bad book -- to avoid being deceived by guys like co-author "Father" Charles Curran, who was kicked out of Catholic University of America. The very title of the book is a demonic deception, since there IS no "Catholic case" for contraception, as Dr. Janet Smith and others prove.

A.

-- Art (ars@gratia.artis), August 05, 2003.

oh boy, Kiwi, you're right, Janet Smith {Contraception, why not?} goes to great length to speak clearly and to lay it all out there; the evil and anti-God mentality of contraception. The Church carries the Truth to the End, to the fullness, the question is : are we willing to go to the end, to the fullness? It's a hard question!! But in our dying we come to LIFE! Are we ready to put to death our misunderstanding, our prejudice, our argumentations, our denials! Let's go the length and read Pope JP's "theology of the Body", we celebrate our sexuality, our love-making with our spouses, we don't suppress it. But all in God's order, in the freedom of the knowledge of our bodies, in co-operation with Him, the CREATOR. That's what the Catholic Church consistently promotes.

-- Theresa Huether (Rodntee4Jesus@aol.com), August 05, 2003.