Received this link from a colleague: a medical doctor blames contraception for all societal ills

[Maddy McCall]

Evidently, the newspaper takes comments, but those have to be
approved by the editor before they appear on the newspaper's
website...so if you would like to respond, please copy/paste
the link below into your browser to read the article at the
newspaper and to respond.

http://www.enterprise-journal.com/articles/2008/07/28/opinion/03.txt

******************************

Forty years ago this month Pope Paul VI released his
encyclical letter entitled Humana Vitae. Though it simply
supported the 2,000-year history of Christian teaching
regarding marriage and the marital act, its release during a
time of sexual license in the developed world has made it
both controversial and, in the end, prophetic.
While emphasizing the fact that marriage requires a man and
woman to give of each other freely, totally and faithfully,
it also pointed out the likely consequences of a society that
embraced contraception: a general lowering of moral standards;
a rise in infidelity; a lessening of respect for women by men;
and the coercive use of reproductive technologies by
governments.

Though proponents of contraception promised a virtual
paradise on earth due to happier marriages, less unwanted
children and female independence, the actual results have
been quite the opposite: A dramatic increase in divorce, not
incidentally related to marital infidelity resulting from a
decreased fear of out-of-wedlock pregnancies; a significant
increase in abortion with at least half of all women entering
an abortion clinic claiming contraceptive failure; and a
pornography-drenched society where women are marketed as sex
objects created simply for the gratification of men. Some
paradise.

Unfortunately, the Christian community has fallen under the
spell of this contraceptive mentality ever since the early
20th century.

Despite this collapse into modernism, the Catholic Church has
continued to promote the sanctity of the marriage act. With
the release of Humana Vitae and subsequent letters by Pope
John Paul II — especially his Theology of the Body — and the
U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops, the importance of
preserving both the unitive and procreative aspect of marital
love continues to be promoted.

Modern methods of Natural Family Planning are effective for
both avoiding and achieving pregnancy, and most couples using
the method express greater satisfaction with the level of
intimacy in their marriage when compared with contracepting
couples. Most importantly, however, as opposed to
contraceptives and sterilization, NFP promotes a healthy
attitude toward both children and God’s gift of fertility.
This leads to happier, more secure marriages and a philosophy
of prayerful discernment of what God wants in our lives. For
more information regarding NFP go to the web at
www.boma-usa.org (the method we teach), www.ccli.org or call
us at 601-684-1230.

Dr. Mike Artigues
Trisha Artigues

[Book Lover]

1. From their website...

"NFP enhances communication in marriage."

I imagine the enhanced communication runs something like this, "No, don't touch me! We can't have sex for another two weeks!"

[Maddy McCall]

2. Hahaha!

You gotta post that in the comments section.

[bliss_eternal]

4. LOL!

:rofl:

[ThomCat]

3. That doctor is a damned fool.

> marriage requires a man and woman to give of each other freely, totally and faithfully

Seems to me that the giving usually went in one direction.

> likely consequences of a society that embraced contraception: a general lowering of moral standards

I'd would love to see him try to justify this nonsense. Does he really think the world used to be more moral? It seems like he's yearning for good old days that never really were. Maybe he simply liked it when problems were buried or ignored, and huge segments of the population were effectively invisible. It's easer to live in your own little world that way.

It pisses me off that this crap is supposed to be respected because it is religion. x(

[bliss_eternal]

5. Someone please get me a bible...

...so I can beat that doctor about the head with it. I thought medicine was supposed to be separate from religion. When did they merge?

Oh and just a warning--if this pisses you off, stay out of GD today.
A member decided to post, venting their frustration about anti-choice posters on display (w/mutilated fetus pics). Some of DU's ever so righteous, anti-choice, forced birthers are out in full force to piss all over the thread about "moral implications of abortion." :eyes:

[ThomCat]

6. The moral implications of abortion?

I know I'm preaching to/in the choir, but I'm far more concerned about the moral implications of denying equal rights to half of our population. x(

I have been avoiding GD for a while. I guess I'm glad. It has been disgusting in there the last few times I looked. :(

[bliss_eternal]

7. It was scary.

I alerted on a bunch of crap and bailed (as it was pissing me off). I'll post links here (or in pro-choice) once it hits the archives. Right now, I know it would piss off people.

Like you said (preaching to/in the choir)--But reading through the thread, I'm not understanding why (and how) even women reach the place that it is easier to consider another woman a a tramp or a murderer. Why is it ok to do that, as opposed to just accepting that everyone is an individual. Why can't women allow other women to be human and make choices as they see fit? I really hate seeing other women playing warden.

Saw a lot of the same crap about a month ago about gay marriage in CA. Really sad and disturbing that people think it's ok to deem what's acceptable for other human beings (on the basis of religion, morality, etc.)

(sigh)

[bliss_eternal]

8. When pharmacists denied women bcp. on moral grounds...

...why did no one ask them how many viagra scripts they were filling for "unmarried men"? Why was it ok to question a woman's morality and not a man's?

[Cerridwen]

9. He's a pediatrician.

Guess he wants to insure he continues to have many, many children to "practice" on.

Reading the above article reminded me of the Harvard M.D. who once did a "study" from which he concluded that young women exposed to education would suffer from atrophied uteruses (uteri?)

Politics, profit, and religion have no place in science or medicine.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

10. Fuckface shouldn't be promoting natural family planning then

NFP is a form of contraception, albeit a really ineffective one. But still, you are attempting to thwart the Sacred Sperm in it's holy quest.

[ismnotwasm]

11. What a dumbass

So he wants to go back to the good ol' days before contraception does he? Those happy couples he is referring to include rapists who just happened to be unprocecutable husbands? Does he actually think women wanted to have child after child, until their health was ruined?

A lessening of respect by men for women. If I pull a bit of history out, I'm quite sure those respectful men thought women incapable of higher learning, were fit for little more than child rearing and housekeeping. Or, in the case of God-given Eve-driven inherent "immorality" of women-- prostitution. Then, as now, these moral men liked their hookers in their place as well, their place being the contribution for the male to have sex available any time he wants it. And there was plenty of pornography, if the history of pornography were known, just not the medium to mass produce it. I hate revisionist history like this, the guy is completely full of shit. His family oriented utopia never existed. EVER. And as far as I'm concerned, most of the woes of the world can be traced to male dominated culture and fucked up male dominated religions. Power sharing with females has never been the thing to do.

Woman who fought for anything more than what patriarchy handed out, were subject to ridicule and condemnation.

What he's afraid of has nothing to do with contraception. He's losing his place in the world. Women have been, woman are, and women continue to, wake up from a long nightmare, they're becoming enlightened to who and what there are. Fully human and much more than servants and child bearers.

[ThomCat]

13. "Does he actually think women wanted to have child after child, until their health was ruined?"

Do any of us think he seriously gives a damn what the women might have wanted?

[ismnotwasm]

14. Exactly

No, he just care about his little historical fantasies.

[Ellen Forradalom]

12. Nice straw man there

"Though proponents of contraception promised a virtual paradise on earth due to happier marriages..." Huh? Who the hell said that?

How does using medical means to control one's fertility differ from using medical help with eyesight, digestion, mental condition, and a host of other bodily functions? Sheesh.

[NashVegas]

15. Just For the Sake of Being Contrary

1. Women with connections and knowledge have used contraceptive - and abortificent - methods for thousands of years, with varying degrees of success.

2. Men have gotten freaking lazy at courtship. It used to be they had to put some work into getting a woman into bed with them. They used to have to woo us with Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday. Now they sit back and watch a woman do all the lifting, while she has to listen to him talk about how great Rage Against the Machine is.

[ismnotwasm]

16. We've DIED for thousands of years.

And were persecuted for having "knowledge" Never underestimate the power and influence of religion in history. Not that you do, it's the first thing I thought of when I read your post.

Courting for sex, I don't know. I do know about flirting, a lost/fading art that sounds closer to what you're talking about.

I think woman who want sex should 1) make sure they're clear about what it is they want and understand they're getting it under the rules of patriarchy

2)Make sure they get sexual satisfaction. I could have cried when I read a recent study and the prevalence of faking orgasms.

Keeping ones legs closed and clothes on when you don't really want sex, really don't like RATM (Unimaginable!)and think the guy you're with is a boring fuck on all levels is, no doubt, a Very Good Idea.