“Certainly, from the moral point of view contraception and abortion are specifically different evils: the former contradicts the full truth of the sexual act as the proper expression of conjugal love, while the latter destroys the life of a human being; the former is opposed to the virtue of chastity in matrimony, the latter is opposed to the virtue of justice and directly violates the divine commandment ‘You shall not kill.’ But despite their differences of nature and moral gravity, contraception and abortion are often closely connected, as fruits of the same tree” (Evangelium Vitae, 13, March 25, 1995, emphasis added).
[click to continue...]Should Natural Family Planning Be Required for Every Married Couple? Certainly Not!
One prominent Catholic author and speaker recently took the extreme position of calling for the debate to be over: all Catholics ought to be practicing NFP, he claims.
[click to continue...]What Does It Mean to Give Oneself Away?
If marital intercourse, therefore, expresses a unique relationship and union, this derives not from the sharing of a sensation but from the sharing of a power – of a sexual power that is complementary and extraordinary, and which is extraordinary precisely in virtue of its life-relatedness.
[click to continue...]Catholic Priest: Family Planning Efforts Coincide with “Anti-Values”
, “One frequently comes across statements to the effect that ‘family planning or limitation is more easily accepted by people as they get better educated.’ Whether we realize it or not, to admit such statements unquestionably is to concede a whole philosophy of life.
“A very particular type of education thoroughly imbued with a very particular kind of values (or rather of anti-values), is necessary before people are brought to the point of easily accepting family limitation.
“Can such education be regarded as Christian education? Can it be regarded as true education at all?”
[click to continue...]Should You Get Married If You Are Not Ready to Start a Family?
Instead, the culture has convinced multiple generations in a row now that limited family size is best for all involved. It is supposed to lead to more personal happiness for all couples, too. After all, with few or zero kids around, couples can more easily afford fancier vehicles, a bigger house, more technological gadgets, more vacations, and so forth.
But does it? Does getting married without being ready to start a family lead to personal happiness and fulfillment?
[click to continue...]Are Children the Enemy of Marital Happiness?
We all must agree that this has become a dogmatic belief of pop culture. Each child a couple adds after their initial two or three becomes a drain on their happiness—and even a strain on society.
[click to continue...]Report: “61-year-old grandmother carries a baby for her son and his husband”
Baby Uma has come into this world with a preconceived notion of what a family ought to be. It is written into our human nature: children have a right to be raised by their own mother and father. And all these adults in this baby’s life have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure this child is depraved her right.
[click to continue...]Why is the Catholic Church Against Contraception? Look No Further Than the First Commandment
Irreligion can be broken down into three categories. I will attempt to show how using contraception violates each subcategory of irreligion. In effect, I will show how using contraception violates the First Commandment, as a result. Hopefully this will help answer the question why is the Catholic Church against contraception.
[click to continue...]Bug Chasers and Gift Givers: Purposeful HIV Contraction among Gays
Hitzel describes why he did so in the film. He describes the thought of becoming infected with HIV as a “gift.” He says it seemed like the biggest prize, wrapped with the biggest bow.
Only, in the end, he realizes how empty the promise was. He concludes the documentary saying, “I just can’t believe that it seemed like a livable thing to me—there was no benefit in this (bug chasing)—and that’s just what really needs to be said.”
[click to continue...]Is Making Out Before Marriage a Sin?
On the question, is making out before marriage a sin, the answer would appear to be in the negative. After all, no intercourse is taking place, and so it would seem as though it does not violate the Sixth Commandment (“Thou shall not commit adultery” [Ex 20:14]).
[click to continue...]