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.
I also used this paragraph for my blog and discussed God's supposed plan for us and how it contradicts with things like birth control. But your points were addressing different aspects. I thought it was weird how at first the Pope says that it is okay to have intercourse even if the woman is infertile (therefore could not conceive fro mthis sex) because they should not suppress this important part of marriage. But then later in the paragraph it says that we should only mate for procreation so which one is it?! Maybe writings like these contribute to why people are hazy on their belief systems.
ReplyDeleteI like your blog post because you talk of everything in God's plan. I am Christian and I feel that sometimes we just don't know God's plan so it is hard for me to agree with the Pope sometimes, (also it might be easier to do so because I am not Catholic). I am actually Lutheran and we are taught that yes, it is God's plan for us to procreate but we can still have birth control and long as we do eventually mean to have children. I find it really interesting how different dominations and people interpret God's plan. It is hard to say who is right.
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