There was a time in my life when I did not really understand Catholic teaching on contraception. I was not really able to understand what the big deal was about it. So what, if people want to space out births or prevent disease, what’s the problem? Thinking back, it was a sad and naïve mentality that I possessed.
After continuing to grow in my faith, I came to a more intellectual understanding of the Church’s teaching on the subject. Alright, I think I get this now, I can understand the reasoning behind it and I’m pretty sure I can agree with it as well.
It was not until recently, however, that I truly grasped the enormity of the subject. Through a series of conversations with acquaintances who were having marital problems, I finally began to see the effects that the Church warned about. For example, one of these conversations revolved around a girl who stopped taking her birth control pill within the past six months, and now she was saying she wants to divorce her husband because she doesn’t feel any emotion for him. The worst part is, she doesn’t believe she ever did and only married him because she thought that the pill was keeping her from feeling emotional due to the added hormones.
Another situation involved a group of so-called humanitarian activists at my university. They had a campaign one day where they were handing out condoms and lollipops to passersby. Their message was that contraception was the solution to society’s problems such as unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
How on earth did we get to this sad state of affairs? Marriages being rushed in to without much thought and then thrown out the window without a care. Sexuality treated like a commodity that can be used whenever people want, without regard for its true meaning and its consequences. We must face the facts, no matter how much people may think that condoms and birth control improve life in general, they do nothing to foster mutual love and respect, not to mention develop virtues of chastity and purity. It is really crucial to combat this culture and bring back the meaning of human dignity.
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