Comments on: Humanae Vitae, 40 years later http://www.anamchara.com/2008/07/25/humanae-vitae-40-years-later/ Carl McColman ~ The Fullness of Joy is to Behold God in All Tue, 22 May 2012 04:20:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: dovesandpomegranates http://www.anamchara.com/2008/07/25/humanae-vitae-40-years-later/#comment-4028 dovesandpomegranates Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:19:26 +0000 http://mccolman.wordpress.com/?p=1001#comment-4028 As the old saying goes, when you’re in a hole the best thing to do is to stop digging. I do think the the RCs need to stop digging this particular hole for a while. It’s getting somewhat ridiculous that they condone Natural Family Planning whilst forbidding other things which, although surprisingly not always more effective, all in all make people feel much safer and are safer for women whose husbands may not be understanding. When I was a student nurse back in Gomorrah General we used to have a joke, “What do you call people who use NFP?” and the answer was, “Mummy and Daddy” but now it’s become so sophisticated that we even use it to pinpoint ovulation for those wanting to become pregnant. The “wing and a prayer” aspect of the old thermometer days is long gone and with it the all-important (to the Church) aspect of faith and being open to God (although if God wants someone pregnant a little ol’ chemical won’t stop Him!). When NFP can tell a woman when to conceive and the Pill can be thrown off kilter by a tummy bug or a dodgy tuna casserole there’s definitely space for thought. In my nasty moments, of which I have several a day, I suspect the ban on contraception to be a form of pest control. If we all have ten or more kiddies then we’re not going to do anything except work and work and work to feed them: we’re definitely not going to be sitting around getting all eddicated and questioning our “betters”. The long-smothered socialist in me says that the ruling class, which includes the hierarchy of the church, has never wanted birth control because until recently they needed bodies for mills and trenches and they still need bottoms on pews and the less questioning the cannon fodder and collection-money fodder is the better. Now where did I put my prescription for those cynicism control pills? Margi As the old saying goes, when you’re in a hole the best thing to do is to stop digging. I do think the the RCs need to stop digging this particular hole for a while. It’s getting somewhat ridiculous that they condone Natural Family Planning whilst forbidding other things which, although surprisingly not always more effective, all in all make people feel much safer and are safer for women whose husbands may not be understanding. When I was a student nurse back in Gomorrah General we used to have a joke, “What do you call people who use NFP?” and the answer was, “Mummy and Daddy” but now it’s become so sophisticated that we even use it to pinpoint ovulation for those wanting to become pregnant. The “wing and a prayer” aspect of the old thermometer days is long gone and with it the all-important (to the Church) aspect of faith and being open to God (although if God wants someone pregnant a little ol’ chemical won’t stop Him!). When NFP can tell a woman when to conceive and the Pill can be thrown off kilter by a tummy bug or a dodgy tuna casserole there’s definitely space for thought.

In my nasty moments, of which I have several a day, I suspect the ban on contraception to be a form of pest control. If we all have ten or more kiddies then we’re not going to do anything except work and work and work to feed them: we’re definitely not going to be sitting around getting all eddicated and questioning our “betters”. The long-smothered socialist in me says that the ruling class, which includes the hierarchy of the church, has never wanted birth control because until recently they needed bodies for mills and trenches and they still need bottoms on pews and the less questioning the cannon fodder and collection-money fodder is the better.

Now where did I put my prescription for those cynicism control pills?

Margi

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