Health Benefits or Population Control???

Cosmopolitan "6 reasons to have sex TONIGHT"



"From this it follows that they are not free to act as they choose in the service of transmitting life, as if it were wholly up to them to decide what is the right course to follow. On the contrary, they are bound to ensure that what they do corresponds to the will of God the Creator. The very nature of marriage and its use makes His will clear, while the constant teaching of the Church spells it out"

This comes from claim #10, in which the Pope defines Responsible Parenthood and the nature of marriage. I take issue with this final paragraph in which the Pope claims that two married partners are not free to act of their own accord in choosing right from wrong. The Pope claims that the couple should be serving God in every action, and in this case it means choosing not to have sex unless life is meant to be created.

I find this VERY troubling, as a distant memory of mine reminds me that God made man with free will, and this is a central teaching in the Catholic religion. As a woman of faith, I feel unhappy to know that my God doesn't trust me to use personal discretion in my actions. In the very first paragraph of the document, the Pope briefly asserts several relevant issues with population density. To manage these, the Pope simply claims that men and women should be competent enough to control their own "natural urges". Aka, choose not to fornicate.

However, one issue I believe that the Pope did not discuss is the multitude of health benefits of a healthy sex life. There is vast research explaining physical, physiological, psychological, and emotional benefits. I just heard a statistic two nights ago that women who orgasm three times per week add three years onto their life! Stress management, physical therapy, and household stability can be results of this habitual participation in this act. Is a person meant to sacrifice their bodily and family health unnecessarily to manage population when there are countless safe and effective methods to all BOTH??

Marriage vs. Divorce

Sect. 9: Married Love // Married love is also faithful and exclusive of all other, and this until death. This is how husband and wife understood it on the day on which, fully aware of what they were doing, they freely vowed themselves to one another in marriage. Though this fidelity of husband and wife sometimes presents difficulties, no one has the right to assert that it is impossible; it is, on the contrary, always honorable and meritorious. The example of countless married couples proves not only that fidelity is in accord with the nature of marriage, but also that it is the source of profound and enduring happiness.

In this section, the pope is challenging the issue of divorce. The church clearly defines marriage as a lifelong commitment, only broken by death. The pope recognizes that life "presents difficulties," but that no matter what, the husband and wife can work through it. Divorce - or any type of separation between two married people - is unacceptable in the eyes of the Church and the pope. 


This issue can be clearly identified by the rising percentage of marriages that end in divorce. Roughly half of all marriages end in divorce in today's American culture. Although this statistic may not be 100% accurate, it still proves a point - tons of people are getting divorced. Additionally, a study from the University of Iowa found that there is a correlation between loss of virginity before age 18 and a greater occurrences of divorce within the first 10 years of marriage. Americans today have a very different view on marriage and divorce than the pope. 


In my opinion, the issue lies not with the rate of divorce but with the rate of marriage. Couples in today's culture will get married after a few months - then after a year or two, discover that things aren't so great. Then comes divorce, to save the day! 


I think the pope was hinting at this in the quoted statement. "This is how husband and wife understood it on the day on which, fully aware of what they were doing, they freely vowed themselves to one another in marriage." Herein lies the issue - a majority of couples that get married don't understand, and are not fully aware of what they are doing. Marriage is the "right" thing to do - it's a cultural norm and the proverbial "next step" in many relationships. 


The introduction of divorce to the legal system represents the first opposition to the "lifelong marriage" concept put forth by the church. It's subsequent popularity and acceptance into American culture caused the importance of marriage to be severely diminished. What makes a commitment so serious if it can easily be undone and negated? With an easy exit strategy, many couples will get married to "see if it works," and move on to the next partner when it doesn't. 


It's my belief that marriage is intended to be between two people, and for life. I agree with the pope on this topic. However, the American culture-opinion of marriage is vastly different than the pope's version. I think couples should get to know eachother for a few years before getting married - you can't choose to spend the rest of your life with someone without knowing who they truly are. You also must really know someone in order to work through issues that arise during marriage. 


Divorce will always be a big issue - it will most likely never go away, and will only increase in popularity. Popularity doesn't equal righteousness, and therefore it is my opinion that the Church and the pope are correct in their beliefs on the topic of marriage and divorce. 

what exactly is responsible parenthood?

http://chicklitplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/birth-control.jpg

Responsible Parenthood

10. Married love, therefore, requires of husband and wife the full awareness of their obligations in the matter of responsible parenthood, which today, rightly enough, is much insisted upon, but which at the same time should be rightly understood. Thus, we do well to consider responsible parenthood in the light of its varied legitimate and interrelated aspects.

[...]

From this it follows that they are not free to act as they choose in the service of transmitting life, as if it were wholly up to them to decide what is the right course to follow. On the contrary, they are bound to ensure that what they do corresponds to the will of God the Creator. The very nature of marriage and its use makes His will clear, while the constant teaching of the Church spells it out. (10)

I chose to highlight the end of part 10 because of what exactly i thought it meant. It seems to spell out that we do not have the right to act freely when dealing with the creation of our own children, it entails that we have responsibilities and that we are bound to certain religious guidelines. It ends with addressing the nature of marriage and basically summarizing that when it comes to children, the catholic church knows best. It seems to me that it is speaking out against abortion and birth control and trying to assert an amount of control over the very private action of childbearing.

I feel that this has bad economic, political, social, relationship, and identity consequences which run both deep and are far reaching within our society. To begin with though i would like to first say that i am a christian, but i also think that "the will of God the Creator" does not always translate to benefiting the economy, politics, society, and so on. The pill and abortion have had a huge benefit for the economy as well for crime control. To begin with they have sprouted a multi-million dollar market which ranges from contraceptives to plan b. At the same time a decrease in crime has been accredited to abortion... wait what? Yep that's right, experts believe that abortion has lessened crime because the majority of abortions occur in low income, high crime areas, with mothers who are unable/unwilling to care for there child, if a child is born into these circumstances there likely hood of becoming involved in criminal activities is multiplied drastically, having obvious positive implications for our society. I also believe that birth control and other non catholic sanctioned sexual practices are healthy for relationships as well as ones individual identity. A relationship that one is forced into based on a shared child/pregnancy in my opinion would be a very unhappy one. Just because the Church seems to believe that sex can only happen in marriage it does not mean this is the case, if there was no way of dealing with unplanned pregnancy's and all pregnancy's were only sanctioned within marriage i can almost guarantee that our already massive divorce rate would increase. I also believe that our personal identity should be our own to shape (as much as that is possible in the culture we are raised with) and i personally don't think i would want all of mine tied to a child. But as Andrea Tone said "the outcomes are not always what we expect", so keep in mind this could all be a rant from a guy who will never have to experience the full effect, both emotional and physical that come with children. As always i want to acknowledge that i am obviously shaped by me own cultural upbringing and in no way mean to insult anyone's faith or beliefs.

From a efficient/ McWorld perspective which is so common in our culture i have to say that i view what the pope said in this particular part as "nonsense". I feel that he lacks to account for anything more than old catholic tradition and a one sided christian view of morality, completely ignoring social, economic, and psychological consequences that can accompany it.

Birth Control: Is it Really Intrinsically Wrong?

Pope Paul VI argues that any form of birth control is intrinsically wrong in paragraph 14 of Humanae Vitae. Below are some specific excerpts that I found to be particularly interesting.

14. Equally to be condemned, as the magisterium of the Church has affirmed on many occasions, is direct sterilization, whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary. (15)

Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means. (16)

" it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it (18)—in other words, to intend directly something which of its very nature contradicts the moral order, and which must therefore be judged unworthy of man, even though the intention is to protect or promote the welfare of an individual, of a family or of society in general. Consequently, it is a serious error to think that a whole married life of otherwise normal relations can justify sexual intercourse which is deliberately contraceptive and so intrinsically wrong.

Clearly it is the argument of the Pope that any form of contraception, be it before, during, or after intercourse is never lawful and contradicts the moral order. He even condemns contraception that is used in good intention because "its very nature contradicts moral order...and thus must be judged unworthy of man".

This position that the pope is taking, if strictly followed by society, would result in negative consequences. Sure it may be believable and in some cases supported that contraception may, or already has, changed man's view of women (making them more materialistic and degrading their value), but the idea that contraception in any situation is unlawful is unrealistic. This is because society has constructed conscious politics in which "the greater good" path or option is typically followed. For instance, the two child rule in China. They implemented the law to control the population in order to increase the well being of the existing population. If the population grew or became to large there would not be sufficient resources (food, water, space, money) to provide a "humane" existence. There would be a portion of that population that would die due things such as disease and starvation.

Society is constantly in conflict with the 'natural law' because human intelligence has created a means for us to engage in such acts, because of natural instinct (desire to mate), without consequence(no pregnancy). Despite what the pope preaches about contraception the U.S education system constantly teaches various contraception methods. The American society has a view that forms of contraception are means of "safe sex". These views go against what the pope believes in a "fixed" human nature when in fact human nature is very much shaped by society and its constructions. The political, economical, and psychological constructs of society argue against a fixed human nature. We as humans are much different after the invention of birth control and in a good way. We can control when we have offspring to ensure that we are ready to provide for them, to give them every advantage possible, to protect the stability of society. Without contraception society would be strained by unplanned pregnancies, further spread of STDS's, and overpopulation.

Ehh What's up, Doc?

To Doctors and Medical Personnel

27. We hold those physicians and medical personnel in the highest esteem who, in the exercise of their profession, value above every human interest the superior demands of their Christian vocation. Let them persevere, therefore, in promoting on every occasion the discovery of solutions inspired by faith and right reason, let them strive to arouse this conviction and this respect in their associates. Let them also consider as their proper professional duty the task of acquiring all the knowledge needed in this delicate sector, so as to be able to give to those married persons who consult them wise counsel and healthy direction, such as they have a right to expect.

To me, this sounds like the Catholic Church is giving Doctors and Medical Personnel the freedom to make their own decisions. The Catholic Church wants Doctors and Medical Personnel to keep their faith in mind but isn't necessarily restricting them on their actions. Which is very interesting. The Catholic Church is VERY Pro-Life. There are not many Priests or other religious figures that are Pro-Choice in the Catholic Church. So why didn't Pope Paul VI make a stronger statement against abortion regarding those who perform them?

Regions Hospital, a large hospital in St. Paul, MN, has been dealing with many protesters over abortion. Well, starting December 9th, 2011, Regions Hospital will close the GYN Special Services clinic. Regions Hospital noted that 'it was part of the clinic's overall approach as of late, moving certain medical care services to non-hospital settings'. There are many community based providers that women seeking abortions can go to.

Linnea House, the executive director for NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota said "I respect the decision made by Regions, I do not think it highlights the need for making sure that women have access to safe care." If Pro-Choice is semi-happy and Pro-Life is happy, then everybody wins. Right? I mean it will be harder to get an abortion but you can still get one. Also, abortion is being taken out of big hospitals all across the nation.

Lets look at the good the Catholic Church has cause with being Pro-Life: Many babies lives have been saved. Lets look at all of the bad the Catholic Church has caused with being Pro-Life: Many rape victims are reminded every day of what happened to them.

In the 50's, if a young girl got pregnant, she was sent off to 'camp' until the baby was born. This way no one outside of the family knew about the 'mistake' she made. Now, women have the option to kill their baby. I know I do not understand the connection a Mother makes with her child but I feel it would be difficult to know that you are killing something inside of you. Abortion is a very large factor in politics in the US. Many candidates either make or break their campaign with their opinions on abortion (and gay marriage but that's a whole different blog).

The United States of America was a place that started as a place one can go for religious freedom. Today's staticists shows that people are moving farther away from the idea of religion. This makes room for science to come in. Science fills many of the theories of religion. Science and Religion conflict on many topics while also giving reasoning to similar topics.
This comes back to a question of standards. Do we let Doctors and Medical Personnel make their own decisions? or do we hold all Doctors and Medical Personnel a set line of standards and guide lines? I think people should be able to make their own decisions when it comes to their morals. Hopefully people stand up for what the believe in and have a strong back bone to stand firm. But this conflicts in my mind because I am Pro-Life. Interesting how on one topic we want people to do what they believe is right but on another we want people to listen to us. Damn this has caused a headache...

Till Death Do Us Part

9. Married Love. The Pope explains the design of marriage and the outcomes that it should yield:

“Married love is also faithful and exclusive of all other, and this until death. This is how husband and wife understood it on the day on which, fully aware of what they were doing, they freely vowed themselves to one another in marriage. Though this fidelity of husband and wife sometimes presents difficulties, no one has the right to assert that it is impossible; it is, on the contrary, always honorable and meritorious. The example of countless married couples proves not only that fidelity is in accord with the nature of marriage, but also that it is the source of profound and enduring happiness.

Finally, this love is fecund. It is not confined wholly to the loving interchange of husband and wife; it also contrives to go beyond this to bring new life into being. "Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the procreation and education of children. Children are really the supreme gift of marriage and contribute in the highest degree to their parents' welfare."

The Issue: Marriages are failing, and in the United States the divorce rate is at 51%. Many people today are incapable of being “faithful and exclusive” to just one person and for that reason, people aren’t even getting married! Physiologically we can’t be satisfied with just one person anymore because most people don’t even understand what marriage is anymore. When a couple is married their goal is obviously to be enduringly happy, but lets be real what marriage is like this all the time? The Pope is stating that procreation is a necessity and that all married couple need to strive to have children. Lets face it, we are in the technology age where our generation is so consumed by their own wants and needs they don’t want to think about having children and concerning themselves with having the responsibility of raising another human being. Children will never lose their charm or cuteness, but the desire for conceiving children is not on the top of everyone’s to-do list.

Taking a Position: Where to begin? Marriage is a beautiful thing but it can be very ugly when done the wrong way. When one is married they are saying they will forever stay faithful to that one person. Referring back to a historical text from the Bible, “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.” Proverbs 5:27-29. God also designed men and women so they could be together in marriage, Matthew 19:4-6 States, Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." As far as procreation God wants us to reproduce, “And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28.

My historical beliefs have carried on since the life of Christ and I have adopted these beliefs for myself and I believe the Bible and its claims. When most other cultures are telling me not to think this way, I stay firm in God’s word. 

"Married" Love

Paragraph 8 begins with the phrase "married love" which to Pope Paul VI means a man and a woman marry to have children and start a family. It is natural, it is right, it is fixed-all because God has a well thought-out plan. God made man in his image so it is our duty to him as humans if we marry (and only to the opposite sex) start popping out kids.

"husband and wife, through that mutual gift of themselves, which is specific and exclusive to them alone, develop that union of two persons in which they perfect one another, cooperating with God in the generation and rearing of new lives."

Fact: the Pope does not have a wife and the pope does not have sex. I believe that because he has no experience with "married love" he does not have the authority to speak to this issue. Even after typing this, my Catholic guilt kicked in. Pope comes from the Latin word papa, and Catholics look to him as the father of the church. So much like with my own father's rules about curfew, what that father of the church says, goes. And just like with my own biological parents, I don't have to believe what the pope believes, but I have to respect him.

The Pope believes God's plan had led him away from married life and into the priesthood. We as Catholics were raised to believe in the "Divine Plan" which means we were taught that there is an order in the universe already created by God, as he knows each man and woman and their divine plan before they are even born. He foresees each person in their invidulaity and interrelationship and how they will serve their purpose according to God's will. So before you were born, you were chosen to marry or not and if you do find a husband or wife, guess what? You're having babies.

To the average American, this may seem absurd but this is a perfect example of Catholic Romance. It encompasses fate and destiny, your one true soul mate. Your partner is exclusive to you and your sex life is a "mutual gift" to each other.

But there is separation of church and state. And Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, and DC.

Politics of a legal marriage threaten the church's power and ideal of "marriage" and consequently, "married love". If two men or two women marry they are incapable of reproducing naturally with each other. The consequences of believing in a fixed marriage of one man and one woman, which results in offspring, deeply excludes many of God's children, whom he has known before they were born. It is not only gay and lesbian couples which Humanae Vitae isolates, but any couple who chooses that marriage and children are not a package deal.

The Reality of Birth Control

After reading Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, I decided to choose a section from #11 dealing with Observing the Natural Law.  The specific paragraph is:

“The fact is, as experience shows, that new life is not the result of each and every act of sexual intercourse. God has wisely ordered laws of nature and the incidence of fertility in such a way that successive births are already naturally spaced through the inherent operation of these laws. The Church, nevertheless, in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law, which it interprets by its constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life.”

In my opinion, I feel as though this paragraph is indirectly telling people that it is unjust and “against god” to use sexual intercourse for reasons other than the procreation of life. As it states in the first sentence, it is believed that the use of sexual intercourse, known to us as sex, should only be used for the procreation of human life because of the clearly stated laws of nature that God “ordered”.  The Pope does not specifically reference birth control in this section but it can easily be inferred by stating that men must insure the preservation of the constitutional relationship and obligations of reproduction. The image above states how in today’s world, birth control is not just used preventing reproduction, but for other means such as women’s health, medical applications such as acne treatment, and relieving pain.  As the world grows older, our views regarding the social construction of birth control have expanded to a world outside of “just for procreation”.

            After studying this specific section for a long time, I came up with the conclusion that the Pope has used the form of Natural Law in order to shape his argument into a social construction.  As discussed with my neighbor in class, the Pope is using pathos which is the installation of fear into others in order to achieve a specific result.  The Pope is forming his words and phrases around the idea of scaring people into conforming to “Gods way”.  But what is “Gods way”?  In the context of this article, Gods way is using sex for the sole purpose of reproduction. All other forms and reasoning’s of sexual intercourse are strictly against Gods plan/way.  The Pope also installs fear into people with the use of psychology means by inferring that people will be deemed sinful if the preform acts of intercourse without the purpose of precreation. The Pope never specifically mentions birth control as a means of going for or against Gods way.  He does not state that by using birth control will help regulate the reproduction within the world, and he does not state that birth control is the perfect solution.  He does not want people to think that by using birth control you can have sex without abandoning Gods plan.

            The Pope intertwines social construction throughout this section by using ideas from both the past social constructions and the present constructions.  He understands that times have changed and there are many means of how religion is viewed such as different religions and different forms of respecting the path chosen for each individual.  In my opinion, I feel as though birth control is the new social construct used to help people find a way in life.  The way sex was used back in the early days of creation and how it is used now have very different definitions.  One is used for the sole purpose of sex which has evolved into the use of things such as relaxation and showing someone you love them.  Many are not ready to become committed parents which is where the new technology of birth control becomes a women’s daily practice.  Women do not soley use birth control for the prevention of sex by many new advancements it can be used as a pain reliever, an acne treatment, and more.  By placing all of these concepts together gives me a stronger understanding of religion vs. science and how they work together to form new constructions of life such as birth control for other means then sex.  Scientific advancements have evolved rapidly over the years and the Pope is using the advancements to show both those of the religious faith and those of any faith that sex is not just a way of reproduction but a way of life.

A Plan for -Every- Child?

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2440412/U-turn-by-Maisies-REAL-teenage-dad.html

"The fact is, as experience shows, that new life is not the result of each and every act of sexual intercourse. God has wisely ordered laws of nature and the incidence of fertility in such a way that successive births are already naturally spaced through the inherent operation of these laws."

How I interpret these words is that no matter the situation or outcome, what happens is under God's purview and if he wanted it to be, it will be. While I don't believe in God personally (I fancy myself agnostic), I can understand the belief and faith people have. I don't discourage it and I don't look down upon it, but there are times like these where I question the interpretation people have. The Pope states that the Lord Almighty has a plan for each and every time someone has sexual intercourse. People will state that "God wanted this," or "It wasn't meant to be," in certain situations that involve birth, which always makes me wonder if that actually gives people faith or if it's just a blameless direction. In the instance of the article I linked above, there was a girl who had (apparently) slept with other underage boys her age (of 15). Although there were multiple... boys, it only took one to get her pregnant. Was that part of the plan?

I don't think that this is appropriate to say to anyone for any reason. To women or men who are infertile for whatever reason, are they being punished by God to live a life without children? Is this some grand punishment? Being unable to enact a holy and virtuous act, despite their belief and faith in God? If so, then what about the women that are raped, or this fifteen year old girl. I'm not saying that they're aren't worthy of God's love or anything like that, but there's the whole (slightly animated comedy style) scenario running through my head.

God: "Y'know, that couple really, really believes in me and my teachings. Let's give them a kid."

Random... ethereal being?: "What about that fifteen year old girl that keeps sleeping around with other fifteen year old boys?"

God: "Yeah. Let's make them sterile." - snaps fingers -

Random Ethereal being: "I think you've made a mistake... that girl is pregnant now."
God: "Oops."

My poor satire aside, this can really mess with a person's identity. Having faith in Christ for so long, only to be met with such sorrow. I don't know anyone personally who have encountered this issue, but I can't imagine there isn't a couple like this somewhere. To me, having something so ingrained and attached to who you are and what you are, such as religion, and being told that good things to happen to those who are faithful and respectful, only to have something like infertility present itself. I couldn't imagine the repercussions this could have on a person. If someone came up to me and told me that my father isn't my father (which is the closest thing I could empathize with), I would be crippled emotionally and mentally. I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I wouldn't know who I was anymore. It would be as if everyone had just lied to me my whole life and I wouldn't know what to believe. In the case of religion, belief is the most powerful thing you can have. You've been taught to believe from (conceivably) birth to revere a mighty Lord, going to church and performing activities such as praying. You're creating docile bodies to belief and cherish and worship. Then in the case of infertility, and maybe even the case I've linked to above, these beliefs just shatter because they are completely opposite of what you've been told. Not only would this effect you on a personal and emotional level, this could irreparably effect you psychologically.

I just don't think that going around saying that if you do or don't have children, it is God's way or punishing/praising you for all of your (lack) of faith. There are just too many things that make the notion of religion contrived and could break the faith of many people who have had faith all their lives.

Artificial Methods

Humanae Vitae - Consequences of Artificial Methods - Number 17

Pope Paul talks about the consequences of artificial methods. He says, "Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law." I believe the pope is trying to say how young people are so easily tempted and persuaded by contraceptives. Society is at a place now where we have so many resources for young girls to have access to contraceptives which is ultimately a bad thing. I believe Pope Paul is right - to an extent. Twelve year old girls should not be able to have access to contraceptives like Plan B.

If all twelve year old girls knew about this, it would make many of them believe they should try sex. If contraceptives like Plan B would be readily available for them, then why wouldn't they? In their mindset, if anything went wrong they could swallow a pill the next morning and be carefree. Twelve year olds are not old enough to understand the full use of contraceptives and young boys would forget about respecting girls and just want to have sex. Again the pope writes, "Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection." My fear would be having young boys not respecting women at all by their teenage/college years.

I believe sex is supposed to be an act between two people that care deeply about each other. It is not supposed to be something that is taken lightly -- although the age of people having sex has dropped significantly. If Plan B was offered to such a young audience, girls would not know their relationship role. I mean, they are supposed to have children, but with so many different, accessibly contraceptives, I can see many more girls having self esteem issues. Boys would use them and girls would let them. At such a young age, they do not know any better. I believe this would lead to body issues. With constant pressure to be having sex, girls would want to look their best -- better than all the other girls.

The young boys and girls will eventually grow up and find their lifelong partner. My question is, will sex still mean the same thing for them? If they have been having sex since they were 12, sex probably wouldn't feel like the same thing. It wouldn't be new and exciting. I feel like some of the intimacy would be absent, but I could be wrong. However, if young girls are deciding to have sex, ultimately, it is a good thing that we could have contraceptives available to them. I would much rather have a twelve year old girl swallow a pill then having the same twelve year old be a mother at such a young age.

Interpreting The Moral Law

4. "This kind of question requires from the teaching authority of the Church a new and deeper reflection on the principles of the moral teaching on marriage—a teaching which is based on the natural law as illuminated and enriched by divine Revelation.

No member of the faithful could possibly deny that the Church is competent in her magisterium to interpret the natural moral law.

It is in fact indisputable, as Our predecessors have many times declared, (l) that Jesus Christ, when He communicated His divine power to Peter and the other Apostles and sent them to teach all nations His commandments, (2) constituted them as the authentic guardians and interpreters of the whole moral law, not only, that is, of the law of the Gospel but also of the natural law. For the natural law, too, declares the will of God, and its faithful observance is necessary for men's eternal salvation. (3)

In carrying out this mandate, the Church has always issued appropriate documents on the nature of marriage, the correct use of conjugal rights, and the duties of spouses. These documents have been more copious in recent times. (4)"

This is a very large assumption/claim that is made by the Pope. By assuming that the Church has the ability or the RIGHT to interpret the Moral Law, every idea that Christianity aligns itself with is given credibility. Odd, considering that, although Christianity is the leading world religion, it does not represent the majority and that only a small percentage of the people who practice the religion adhere to the authority of the Pope. Also interesting is that the four reasons stated for why the Church is considered competent to interpret moral law are merely claims to authority and do not provide support for the authority. It is pure rhetoric, plain and simple, and for you to accept the claim he is making, you must have faith in a God that gives no proof and no fact. Religion is based on faith, authority rests on faith and faith is, in turn, dependent on the rhetoric of the people who believe. There is no proof. Only claims.

Additionally, any claims made by faithless people should be disregarded because they do not have the claim of authority that the Pope has. You may have all the social evidence to support your claim to authority (professional authority, success, education, knowledge about the subject) but it will mean less than nothing compared to the authority claimed by the church....even though it offers no such proof.

"When the evidence of the experts had been received, as well as the opinions and advice of a considerable number of Our brethren in the episcopate—some of whom sent their views spontaneously, while others were requested by Us to do so—We were in a position to weigh with more precision all the aspects of this complex subject. Hence We are deeply grateful to all those concerned.

The Magisterium's Reply

6. However, the conclusions arrived at by the commission could not be considered by Us as definitive and absolutely certain, dispensing Us from the duty of examining personally this serious question."

The claims and authority of these experts, no matter how diverse the opinion, is put under the scrutiny of this proof-less claim.

God's plan....for abortion?

God has wisely ordered laws of nature and the incidence of fertility in such a way that successive births are already naturally spaced through the inherent operation of these laws.

As explained in Observing the Law, paragraph 11, the Pope discusses that intercourse between a husband and wife, regardless of whether or not conception occurs, is noble and important for a marriage. They justify this by saying that obvioulsy not every act of sex results in a pregnancy because, and here's the kicker, God has already planned which acts of intercourse will end in conception as a part of His master plan. If this is true, why would he make babies come from rape and incest incidents? Why would he give infertility troubles to women who are in sturdy relationships and praying to be mothers? Why would human kind have invented abortions? If there really is some set plan, abortion is a good way of showing that it must not hold much weight compared to the power of human science discovery. If someone is "destined" to conceive at a certain point, say out of wedlock, she can easily erase it and go on with her plan of how life should be. I believe this to be proof of the fact that, even if there is some greater power, the amount that our culture and innovation has grown exceeds whatever is "in store for us." The whole idea that God has a plan already devised for our lives completely goes against all I've learned in cultural studies. Cultural studies claims that what we believe, enjoy, hate, and love is based on what is around us and labels we have constructed. The things I enjoy are part of my life because of where I live, who raised me, and where I go to school. If we move, we may become different "types" of people because we will have new friends and new environments. I God has some plan for who we are and what we will be, then none of these surroundings would be afffecting us and I just can't see how that is possible.

Consequences of Artificial Methods

Pope Paul’s Humanae Vitae-#17 Consequences of Artificial Methods.

In Pope Paul’s Humanae Vitae he lists many severe consequences that result because of the use of contraceptives. For example he says that the usage of contraceptives lead to greater temptation because the stakes of having sex is not as high. Also, he says that contraceptives will cause people to view women more as sex objects and forget about the love that is supposed to be shared between two people engaged in a sexual relationship.

I do agree with his ideas for several reasons:

Greater Temptation

The pope says that the availability of contraceptives is not a good thing because it causes temptation for people to have sex. Logically what he is saying is true. Because there is less at stake, (the chances of you having a child is less), than more people will be willing to have sex. Studies have also shown that sexuality has increased in the last couple of years and there is no doubt that this is due to the recent promotion of contraceptives and sexuality in the media. People are also more likely to cheat because of contraceptives because there is a lower chance for them getting caught due to the lowering of the chance of getting pregnant or impregnating the person they are cheating with. Again, it is all about what you could lose and the lower the stakes are for doing something, the more people will do it.

Causes People to View Women has Sex Object

The pope says that when men use contraceptives it might lead them not into respecting sex and its main purpose and instead causes them to view women more as sex objects. I think that the Pope is right in this explanation except for his lack of mentioning that women can view men as sex objects too. Because sexuality has increased due to the usage of contraceptives, so has our views of sexuality changed. With the increase of sexuality, sex has become less “special” and more of a common occurrence. Now days more and more people are “hooking up” just for the sex and forgetting about the love and the feelings that is supposed to be felt between two individuals before they have sex.

Governments will Use and

The Pope says that when the government is given a chance to utilize contraceptives, they will use that power and the power they already have to impose birth control on people. I agree with the Pope’s opinion of this because it has already happened. The government, when given tools that could promote a better economy or country, will go to any measure to do so. Take for example the Eugenicist Movement. The government had thousands of people sterilized in order to stop “bad genes” in our society. The Chinese government has also promoted contraceptives and harsh punishments in their society in order to control its population.

However I do Disagree the Pope on Somethings........

Despite me agreeing with the Pope about the consequence of contraceptives, I still believe that contraceptives are morally correct before God. Being a part of the Lutheran Missouri Synod faith, I have been taught that birth control is not sinful as long as you already have children or will eventually “be fruitful and multiply” (aka have children). With all religion aside, contraceptives do exist, (it is not like we can un-invent them), and they have change our whole perspective of sex and prevention. Like mentioned before, sexuality has become more common ever since the promotion of contraceptives and sex in the media, which is something that won’t probably change unless something drastically happens in our culture. Because of this increase in sexuality, the outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases, and the ever growing world population, contraceptives have become a necessity in our culture like it wasn’t previously. Today if one doesn’t use contraceptives they potentially expose themselves to death or extreme sickness due to sexually transmitted diseases. Also, now days because of the invention of efficient abortion, women with unwanted pregnancies will sometimes resort to abortion which, in my opinion, is worst than using contraceptives.

Deal with the Pope: Promotion of Chastity

In point number twenty-two, the Pope talks about the promotion of chastity. He mentions that it’s to regards to teachers and leaders in authority to make a atmosphere that promotes chastity. He says that in this way liberty will prevail and the norms of the “moral law” will be safe. It also says that things in social communications that arouses men and encourages low moral standards such as music, words written, and film should be rid of in order to protect a clean mind.

Many people read this and disagree with the Pope. No way would I give up music, movies with sex scenes, trash talk...ect. It’s normal now Pope, get with it, everyone is having sex, no way will I be chastised.
It’s interesting because he is not exactly addressing people to be condemned of their sins of sexual promiscuity but instead is addressing the leaders and telling them to get their act together. The leaders are the people making the hegemony of how this should be. How the girl you have sex with should look like, how love will make you feel, that your man should have a 6-pack...ect. I feel like the Pope is asking the question, what if we created a world around us that recognized chastity and withholding sexual desires for that right person, instead of freely sharing it to anyone.
I agree with this idea and what he’s saying. Sex, lust, and promiscuity is so easy to come by in our culture. Almost every movie is bound to have a sex scene now-a-days. Music talks about making love and sexy someone looks. You can find just about anything you want on the internet by typing in one word. He says that this social communications needs to limit it for men but why not women? Women, just as easy as men, can fall into the same behaviors and actions. Even chick flicks can leave girls longing for that same type of love as the main characters in the movie. Girls will flirt, wear reveling clothes, and search for attention in order to find this love. It’s obvious that everyone needs and wants to be loved but is there something wrong with the way our society makes it it to be like?

I don’t have science or history to back this up, it’s only my reading and interpretations of the Popes words. My last point is this: Sex is all around us, but if we choose to do what the Pope says, we will limit what we see, hear, and say and put our focus on other things. No condemnation, no conversions, just an idea to let flow in our mind that it may move to our actions.

So much for free will

While reading through Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae, I found one thing that seemed to nicely sum up everything that the Pope is trying to say and I thought this picture, which I found on a website for Christians in New Zealand, could pretty much replace his whole vitae. Only, of course, if there was an added line that said, "Don't use birth control." Pope Paul VI's 11 paragraph, aptly titled "Observing the Natural Law", basically states that the act of procreation, or, as the rest of us call it, sex, is "noble and worthy" even if it does not result in conception as long as it was an unforeseeable result. It states that, however, it is not okay to have sex if you know that it will not result in conception because then man has deviated from God's plan. Now, the argument that the Pope is making here seems to be a little bit out of touch with society today and, from my point of view, may have some pretty serious consequences.

First, the Pope's claim seems to be more than a little out of touch with society. The Pope's ability to twist the act of sex to fit his ideology is the perfect example of social construction, but he's presenting it as "natural law". Either knowingly or not, the Pope is attempting to construct sex as something that God created only as a way to procreate. The Pope is pretending to construct the act of sex as "natural law" through logos, but really the Pope is using pathos. The Pope is clearly playing on the fears of his followers that if they do not view sex as he has constructed it for them then they are going against God's plan for them and we all know that that leads to. No, not an unhappy life, but hell.

Perhaps even more interestingly, is the fact that the Pope does not mention once in this paragraph birth control, but is clearly lobbying against it. In the same paragraph that the Pope is constructing sex to be something that God planned to be for procreational purposes only, he is also constructing birth control to be something that is going against God's plan. The Pope is very clever in his wording in this chapter because before he started to construct birth control as something negative, he made sure to not isolate his followers by saying that having "fun" sex is okay as long as you don't know that it's just for "fun". The Pope seems to be rejecting how society has changed through his words, but at the same time succumbing to how society has changed. Really what the Pope would have liked to say here was that you can't have sex if you may not get a child out of it, so therefore birth control, and homosexual sex, and pre-marital sex is sinful and will land you in hell. However, the Pope has learned how important social construction is and how he can simply twist the discourse of certain objects, i.e. birth control, and practices, i.e. homosexual and pre-marital sex, to be something to suit his needs. The Pope is by no means stupid and words his discourse in this paragraph extremely well and if you don't look closely you can't see how he is attempting to put the reader in the subject position of a would be sinner and construct for them how they can adjust their body practices and the objects that they use in those body practices to stay in a life without sin; in a life that goes according to God's plan.

Marriage and Love

Pope Paul : Doctrinal Principals - Married Love # 9

Pope Paul talks about marriage and love in his order and structure of life. Pope Paul states that within a marriage, both couples must work together regardless of how they feel during their marriage to seek a "profound and enduring happiness". Finding happiness in a relationship between the two couples is not the only mission in a marriage but also to fecund, produce offsprings. Pope Paul claims that within marriage, there are two things that the couples must face and go through together. Love and reproduction.

The problem with this statement is that...

1. Not every married couple is be happy but are still together. Not every marriage is perfect. There are flaws, arguments, and happy moments. However, we just cannot think about a regular couple consisting of a male and female. We must consider that there are gay couples out there that are married or plan on marrying one another. Today's society and culture is different from the past. There are rights and privileges for the gays, lesbians, bisexual, and trans. They are just as human as any original normal human being. This is something that the Pope does not mention and take into consideration. In modern time, there are legislative laws that allow for gay marriage. There are organizations in communities and college campuses that unite and allow the gays to express their emotions and feel they belong somewhere. The gays had to work for their love in order to make it a 'free love'. They were discriminated because many non-gay people followed the traditional way of married and dating. Male and female in a relationship was the social norm.

2. Not every couple wants to have a child/children in their marriage. There are people like that in this world that just wants to be in a married relationship with no kids. Or maybe there are parents that have children and are stressed about their life and wants out. Susan Bordo would say that a women's body is to reproduce and make babies. However, because today's society and culture is so much different from the past, there are new beliefs, values, and new traditions that are followed in modern time. Young children's future are the first to go down when it comes to reproduction because of modern time. Adults seem all to busy to be making babies even though they are sexually active. They're using protection/birth pills to prevent fertilization. Adults just don't have time with all the technology and time that slips away from them.

3. Interestingly enough, Pope Paul promotes reproduction and at the same time allows birth pills to be used with an exception of doing evil for a good cause. This corresponds and goes hand-in-hand with my number 2. Modern technology and time commitments are shaping our future and the way we live our lives. We make our decisions based on our society and the culture that is created from all the new gadgets and trends. Technology is the new culture, the new generation of what many adults will follow in the future.

The point to take home Pope Paul, is that we are the new society. We all have developed and changed the past to what we see fit with our modern time and culture. Martial love is not free. We all have to work for it. There are choices that we all have to make in marriage and these choices have effects on our future. Women can take birth control pills that can prevent them from having children and men can get themselves sterilized thanks to stem cell researches and experiments. Moreover, even when families are having issues, there are programs such as family planning and counseling that allows for another chance if both couple allows and cooperates. So what if today's society is not perfect, we changed it to see fit for our busy and chaotic lives and for our survival.

Posting Assignment #9 (due Sunday 12/11, 11:59 P.M.; comment by 11:59 Monday, 12/12) Talk to the Pope—well, anyway, talk about and around what the Pope says about reproduction and the Universe

 [last post; read it carefully]

It seemed we were unanimous that technologies like hormone birth control ('the pill') necessarily change us.  We didn't get too far into defining how, to what extent and with what outcomes—individually and collectively. 

Pope Paul VI (whose ideas align with many other religious thinkers of many creeds and denominations in the case he makes in Humanae Vitae) does not agree with some of the basic assumptions of Cultural Studies.  He believes in a fixed and unchanging 'human nature' (rather than human subjectivities that are constructed, historical and contingent).  He believes in absolute right and wrong (rather than some degree of variation relative to history and culture).  And—the central topic—he believes that love, sexuality, and family relationships should (must?) have a fixed structure.  Or we will suffer—on earth for sure, and for him: forever after.  He certainly believes in a 'forever after.'  We defined the Pope's position as anchored in Natural Law.  We suspect that many of us share some or all of these beliefs.  We suspect that many of us find them impossible—or as Robin writes: 'nonsense.' We also suspect that many of us are pretty confused, conflicted and incoherent in what we believe about these issues, trying to believe on both sides.  And if Susan Bordo is right (which she is), 'our conscious politics, social commitments, strivings for change may be undermined and betrayed by the life of our bodies' (165).

High stakes.  Clear distinctions.  Incompatible positions.  Big political consequences.  Ugly 'culture wars.'

Deal with the Pope (and all the Pope's Peeps):

1. Carve out an issue: select one claim Paul VI makes in Humanae Vitae.  Identify the paragraph (by number); quote the relevant text; explain what it means in everyday language (as if you were giving a fellow student friend a fast overview); anchor it with an illustration you create or find. 
2. Take a position on the issue: make the case for why what the Pope (and all others who share this view of things) argues has good or bad social, political, psychological, relationship, identity—and, and, and—consequences 
3. Talk to our theory and work: make sure that your post comes from, links to, uses the methods of, and generally advances the work we've done all semester. To the extent that you can use the 'history and science presented in our readings, do it.

So like what? (as anchoring illustrations)  This post engages all matters of 'human life,' 'human rights,' and 'human sexuality' even though it's based on a close, careful reading of a single anchoring philosophical document.  You'll want to work from specifics, and there are lots going around: 

• Mississippi's  'Personhood' amendment

• Ohio's 'fetal heartbeat' law

• MCCL's case against Margaret Sanger

• The U's Stem Cell Institute (and the press about it)

• Plan B (no over-the-counter for 12 year olds)

• every gay / bi / trans issue in the world

• Regions Hospital ceasing to provide abortions

• the 'gay marriage' amendment (and the press about it)

• 'rights' (gay, religious, privacy, human…)

• the 'establishment clause' (church and state)

• '2 child law' in China