Why is contraception wrong, given so many people have used it for a great majority of human history?
Doesn’t the popularity of it in so many different cultures and time periods prove its moral licitness?
No and no. And here’s why.
THE MAJORITY CAN BE WRONG
Even if a majority of people do something that is not proof in itself that the action is morally permitted.
The rightness or wrongness of an action is not dependent upon how many people do it.
Morality is not determinable by a democratic process.
A great number of people can be doing something morally reprehensible. The popularity of the action does not offset its ethical implications. A majority, by simply being the majority, does not automatically earn themselves impeccability.
EXAMPLES ABOUND
Let’s give two quick examples to illustrate this.
A majority of the Supreme Court justices of the United States once determined that black persons—slave or free—could not have be considered citizens of the US. What do we make of the 7-2 majority of the Supreme Court justices in this infamous Dred Scott case? Did people of African descent suddenly lose dignity and value because a majority of judges in the US Supreme Court said they did?
Another instance would be the segregation of schools in the South decades ago. African-American children were not permitted to go to the same schools as white children. Were the school officials and the people of the South who upheld those prejudices morally correct? After all, their viewpoint seemed to predominate the South.
APPLYING THIS TO THE USE OF BIRTH CONTROL
This appeal to majority, as it is called in philosophical lingo, remains a faulty use of logic or reasoning. Yet, I see many defenders of birth control use deploying it.
They cite numerous examples of birth control use over the history of mankind. They seem to think this means anyone and everyone ought to be allowed to use it.
I am reminded from time to time that people throughout human history have made use of (bizarre) birth control methods.
Crocodile Dung
For instance, the alkaline properties of crocodile dung supposedly made it useful for a barrier method and possible spermicide. All a woman of ancient Egypt had to do was stick a ball of it up you-know-where.
Mercury
Ancient Chinese women would drink mercury to try to prevent becoming pregnant. Little did they know back then, in all likelihood, the brain and kidney damage they were causing!
Condoms
Who is credited with inventing the condom is debatable. What isn’t disputed is that men used many different (odd) materials to capture their semen. Examples include goat bladders, sausage casings, and other materials to create sheaths.
Innumerable concoctions of herbs, jellies, and the like have also served as contraceptives or abortifacients.
Such birth control methods were used to prevent conception and/or birth in human history. But so what?
That alone does not give modern people moral permission to use birth control.
Otherwise, someone could argue the existence of segregation in the past gives them the right to be racially discriminant today.
Besides, disobeying morality has been the norm for humans throughout history. That doesn’t negate morality as a bunch of hogwash. Rather, it means it’s hard to live up to, but not impossible.
BIRTH CONTROL USE DEFIES HUMAN NATURE
Birth control use rebels against human nature and the Natural Law. Every human being in human history is subject to human nature and the Natural Law. Therefore, anyone who ever made use of birth control committed an unnatural and immoral act.
Let’s explain.
Just by looking at the parts of the human body, we can deduce their meaning.
The mouth has teeth for mashing food and is connected to the throat. It must be there to help us eat.
Feet help us to stand up, to keep our balance and to move us. They must be there to help us to walk. You get the idea.
Well, the same logic needs to be applied to the reproductive organs. It is how we can answer the question, “why is contraception wrong?”
A male’s parts and a female’s parts complement each other. When used together, they can produce children. Voila! We can reason to the conclusion that human sexuality exists primarily to produce children.
It’s not rocket science.
By definition, birth control use attempts to prevent children from coming into existence and/or from being born. Thus, this is why contraception is wrong: it is unnatural and morally illicit.
Birth control use rebels against human nature and the Natural Law. Every human being in human history is subject to human nature and the Natural Law. Therefore, anyone who ever made use of birth control committed an unnatural and immoral act.
How else do we know birth control use is not compatible with human sexuality? Just look at the Law of Natural Consequences.
If a person drinks gasoline or snorts Draino, that person’s body is going to have a serious adverse reaction. The body would be telling the person they made a terrible choice in using their drinking or breathing capabilities.
Similarly, for a couple to use birth control, adverse natural consequences can follow.
Would anyone suggest to a modern woman she drink mercury to prevent pregnancy? No? Too many bad health consequences?
Then why do so many people find the health risks associated with the birth control pill any better?
Moreover, the birth control pill can act as an abortifacient, causing the death to their unborn child. And if they waste their seed using a barrier method, then they incur God’s wrath.
In conclusion, just because a certain action is popular in human history, like using contraception, does not make it morally permissible.
YOUR TURN
Do you have more examples of people falling into the logical fallacy of the Appeal to the Majority?
Please leave your thoughts on this article below!
