Contraceptives

The Unlawful Birth Control Methods section in the Humanae Vitae is very frequently quoted passage that reflects that issue of using contraceptive methods by the Catholic Church members. Pope Paul VI claims that “direct interruption of the generative process already begun and, above all, all direct abortion, even for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children”. This passage is associated with the fact that contraceptives like birth control, condoms (although now allowed) and of course abortion are prohibited in any situation. Christian doctrine of marriage is used, as a source of evidence by the Catholic Church to point out that there is indeed biblical evidence that God does not support such methods.

The views and positions on the topic of contraceptives are different just like with any controversial topic regarding religion and the scientific modern world. Once again science is colliding with religion because in reality this is a fairly new debate/issue that was probably unheard of 20 years ago. Now, with constant new scientific innovation, the Catholic Church seems to find scriptural evidence of the issue being or not being appropriate or religiously justifiable. To religious individuals the religious definition and justification is simply all that is needed in terms of explanation. However, in my opinion there are many factors in the Catholic Church example of why certain issues are more prominent and important than others. Furthermore, some issues receive less emphasis and are so called dropped while others are upheld and asked of complete obedience. What people tend to forget is the Catholic Church is at battle for its survival. With Christianity at its decline and religion in general, the Catholic Church is doing everything in its power to maintain power and hold its strength.

In class we have talked about the relationship that religion has with science. With scientific innovation, religion seems to come up with justifiable or not justifiable evidence that relates to particular scientific findings. This means that religion it self is evolving and this is evident when you compare Catholic doctrines today to the past ones, with many that are no longer practiced. Catholic Church is not as powerful as at once was and maybe the institution itself has not aligned with science but it has aligned with political and economic discourses s with the Vatican being autonomous and also one of the richest nations in the world. In my opinion, the notion of what ‘ever serves my best interests’ applies to the Catholic Church as well. It is not clear to me why condoms are not allowed despite Catholic Church claim on condoms partial solution of HIV virus, its still considered a contraceptive.

So what makes Plan B that much different, because the ultimate goal is the same, to avoid pregnancy. With out doubt, the Catholic Church is trying to compete in this harsh global market but for it to maintain it must evolve because there is no other way. People are subjected to various discourses and each one-position human in a particular way. The two-child law in China reflects the economic and political factors that people are starting to be more concerned with the decline of religion. Especially in the competitive world that the capitalist system has developed, individuals are simply prioritizing with the intention of survival itself. Karl Marx believed that religion should be abolished for the fact that religion positions individuals to not worry about what is happening during their life on Earth because they are promised heaven. While what is occurring right now is not complete rejection of religion/faith but definite direction that does not seem to be headed for religiosity.