Practical Theology and Marital Chastity

This page last transfigured on November 24, 2004

   

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You've read on our INFO page about how NFP is better than contraception for your body. In the long run (eternity, that is), the effect on your soul and marriage is more important. Following God is a 24/7 job, and that includes in the bedroom.  God invented you-know-what (that word that would get this page filtered out!) and He wants us to use it chastely and responsibly, and stop imitating the pagans (Rom. 12:1-2). And, the effects of the you-know-what revolution (powered by contraception) on our society have been devastating on marriages, families and society.

Lots of folks think contraception is a Catholic hangup, but ALL the Christian denominations were against it until 1930.  Now we can see that Catholic 20th century encyclicals like Casti Connubii  and  Humanae Vitae were prophetic in their warnings.

The hearts are files we hoard right here. Most of the other icons will take you far away so bookmark this page. Scroll down a ways to the Catholic-specific stuff.

Marriage: A Communion Of Life And Love
A new, clear explanation of why contraception is bad for marriage. Vic Galeone (Bishop of St. Augustine) sums up the old reasons and adds some new insights of his own.

Birth Control and God's Will For Our Lives
 Larry Bush tells it like it is. Short, non-nagging, and uplifting.

The Guy Page "Gimme one good reason to do this NFP stuff." OK, here it is, fellas. No sports metaphors, just plain talk about you-know-what and love.

  The "So You Think You Know Everything About (You-know-what)" Test  in a 2 page printable format so you can pass it out in your Confirmation class, bible study, confessional or health fair. Or, try it yourself.

First Things Contraception Symposium on the 30th anniversary of Humanae Vitae. Nine  Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish thinkers were asked if Pope Paul VI was right. Long, heavy; but good.

  LDS (Mormon) teaching:   "....it is contrary to the teaching of the Church artificially to curtail or prevent the birth of their children...." Dr. Joseph Stanford of Utah has a long article on the Mormon morality called " Sex, Naturally ".
 

Islam and Family Planning   They pretty much agree with us, as far as we can tell. This  is all we've been able to find so far.
 

  One More Soul    A must-see site. Some short pieces on how contraception harms you, your marriage, society. A sterilization reversal hotline (612-755-7706). A search engine for NFP-only physicians.  Janet Smith's tape "Contraception - Why Not?", which sums it up powerfully, is now in every CCL Course Kit and should be passed out to every engaged couple in your parish. Articles debunking all that Neo-Malthusian "overpopulation" bull. And a big, free catalog of good NFP materials, mostly theological. Two pamphlets by Protestants are "Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Birth Control" and "The Protest of a Protestant Minister Against Birth Control." 800-307-7685.
 

Does The Pill Cause Abortions?   from Randy Alcorn Ministries. A PDF file that looks nice printed. Very thorough, scientific, and long. Sometimes people don't believe until they see tons of footnotes, so here they are.
 

Mother Theresa,   who ran an effective NFP program in India, dissed Bill and Hillary Clinton in this speech about life, love, and NFP at the National Prayer Breakfast. " We cannot solve all the problems in the world, but let us never bring in the worst problems of all, and that is to destroy love. And this is what happens when we tell people to practice contraception and abortion."

    The GIFT Foundation   is an interfaith anti-contraception org. that put on two successful "Pandora's Pillbox" (get it?) conferences. Now their "Naked Without Shame" seminar is touring (the CD is coming).

Life Issues    There are loads of pro-life sites, but this is one of the best, and it covers more than anti-abortion with much thoughtfulness and no ranting. For instance, Don DeMarco's Contraception and Being A Person   is philosopy "for dummies" that has a fascinating recounting of Richard Strauss' opera, The Woman Without a Shadow , about trashing the gift of fertility.
 

Theological Miscellany where we keep our short clippings, sound bites, news flashes, and flashes of inspiration.

We've segregated out the following Catholic sites although NFP doesn't mean "Not For Protestants".  Catholic teaching is that contraception violates natural law, which applies to everybody. So, have a look unless you have a real problem with Catholicism.
 

The Christian View of (You-know-what), (A Time for Apologetics, not Apologies) by Janet Smith.
Humanae Vitae, A Generation Later by Janet Smith.   Both of these are great. Encyclical Humanae Vitae , by Pope Paul VI. Heavy stuff, but if you read it you'll be among a small elite. All the above brought to you by the Bishop of Ok(lahoma) City, who set up a snazzy website called NFP Outreach.

Catholic Information Network  This site is old (and crashes Netscape 6) and they haven't updated their NFP subdirectory. Still some good stuff: The Pill: Abortifacient or Contraceptive?   treats the subject objectively. And, they have the best mailing list on NFP (cinnfp)if you want to chat with users and teachers (we're on it), with everybody but flamers welcome.
 

CatholicNet has a lot of good stuff. Contraception and Catholic teaching   by Don DeMarco, a leading lay theologian. This is long, but you'll probably find a lot of answers in here. Also:  NFP and Morality,     God and The Pill,     Contraception: Fatal to the Faith & Eternal Life      Abortifacients   and yet another essay titled Why Not Contraception (Not Janet Smith's, this is by George Sim Johnson, but just as good). Best line: "Be optimistic. The readership of the New York Times is not reproducing itself."
 

Fr. Phil Bloom explains Catholic chastity and NFP teachings in an easy-to-read manner
 
 

Catholic Mind   of Fr. Anthony Zimmerman. Why was the birth control pill banned in Japan? The Population Bust, and other interesting jottings.
 

Priests for Life of Canada has an anti-contraception page with good articles but bad colours, eh? The articles are mostly different from the other sites here.
 

The Couple to Couple Leaguehas a bunch of articles, and a catalog of great stuff (longer than we could include here) on their "You-Know-What/Theology" and "Catholic" pages. "Marriage Is For Keeps" is the best marriage prep book around. Janet Smith has a video (same as  One More Soul's   audio tape) that every High School religion class and engaged couple should see. They put out chastity and you-know-what ed materials ("New Corinthians") that pass Catholic moral scrutiny.  . There's also doctor and priest seminars about twice a year; a couple of days each.
 

The Sin of Onan   It was contraception. (Yeah, we know what the nuns in grade school told you.) This is from the Homiletic & Pastoral Review. Pretty heavy, but should satisfy the theologians among you. Good for a sermon, too.
 

Contraception and NFP: Explaining the Difference    Another HPR article. Have a hard time explaining this to your flock? Yourself? Patrick Norris can help.
 

"What Every Catholic Couple Should Know"  .....about marital sex. A review of of a beautifully done pamphlet by a neighbor of ours, and a link to a bigger chunk. Pastors, check this out! Hand a copy of this to every engaged couple, along with a Janet Smith tape, and you'll only have to marry them once.
 

Pastoral Letter on Marriage by Cardinal Law, formerly of Boston. Long and boring, but it covers just about everything on marriage.
 

NFP and the Church's Teaching   William Rushman gives yet another different perspective on it. Isn't NFP just like contraception? Can't I just follow my conscience? Good sermon material here.
 

Pastoral Letter on Humanae Vitae    Archbishop Chaput of Denver's long but easy-to-read and thoughtful pastoral.  " I believe the message of Humanae Vitae is not a burden but a joy. I believe this encyclical offers a key to deeper, richer marriages." He answers questions like "Aren't we supposed to follow our conscience?" "Is the Church obsessed with (You-know-what)?" and "I'm a priest. How can I preach about this to married people? Won't I lose them?"
 

A Doctor Rejects Contraception    EWTN has this anti-abortifacient article in its pro-life collection. Hippocrates would be proud.
 

The Edith Stein Foundation aims for "true reproductive freedom for women.....we need to heal the epidemic bondage in so called "women's healthcare" relating to the contraception mentality that leads to abortion and sterilization." Don't miss this: the Psychology of Contraception button leads you to a gem, "Contraceptive Emotional and Personality Damage in Women".
 

Child Spacing and Number: The "NFP Index"    For those who want a mathematical formula, or a plug-in for their NFP charting software, or just have to know exactly when to pop 'em out according to a list of rules, we have bad news (there AREN'T any) .... and good news (it's up to you and God!)

More Catholic than the Pope?   Is NFP a sin? Do we have to have as many kids as "God allows"? Should we look down our righteous noses at those who, we feel, have less than "dire straits" reasons for limiting family size? A good article, plus more, at the University Concourse.
 

Catholic Doctors and Contraception   Practical advice on how a GP should deal with the tough issues of conscience vs. the contracepting world
 
 

Non-NFP General Theology Stuff

Sex-Ed In Catholic Schools controversy , now festering in the Syracuse Diocese (that's us). This Conservative Catholic site explores how a rather explicit curriculum was quietly introduced without parental input, triggering a small civil war. An alternative high parental involvement program by CCL, "New Corinthians", was tried in 2 schools.
 

ABC's of Faith     Does God exist? Do I need salvation? Is there a perfect church? Explain these and more tough questions to your kids, Sunday school, yourself in plain English.
 

Family Honor   A new non-denominational pro-chastity org with loads of materials and teacher training.
 

Sex Respect   Another non-denominational pro-chastity org
 

Daily Meditation   based on the Catholic daily scripture readings. Done by Joachim Nelson (WA1GFG), and his pals, up in God's country ( Forestport, NY). He likes to spotlight the follies of Planned Parenthood, too.
 

Sacred Space     The Jebbies of the Emerald Isle lead you through a scripture reading/meditation/prayer in only 5-10 minutes, so you have no excuse for not doing it every day (instead of yet-another game of Freecell).
 

CyberCatholic     What do they do to while away winter and black fly season in the North Country of Upstate NY? They collect info you can't find anywhere else.
 

Cathochic   says "......We are the pro-life, the pro family, the anti-hedonism, and the anti-culture-of-death.  We proclaim Christ as our Lord and Savior. We model our lives after Mary, Mother of God, not Hillary, Queen of Politics. We are Catholic women!" What can we say.

  Our Welcome page, with some Webrings and other detritus, in case you are dying to see it

That's about all we've uncovered so far. If you see errors or know of anything on-line that should be here, let us know. You might receive a prestigious award. Maybe.

You, your spouse & God - a great team.  Have a nice forever!

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