Birth Control and Christianity Debate: Introduction
Birth control or family planning is one of the most controversial issues, widely and passionately discussed by the Church and one for which a clear answer or solution has remained elusive. With rising population rate, many experts maintain that birth control is not only important, it is critical for the survival of the planet. Birth control methods both artificial and natural have been widely promoted and publicized since the beginning of 20th century. Over the years they managed to gain wider acceptance and Church came under severe pressure to endorse or allow the use of contraceptives. The experts found that growing population rate was directly connected with food and water scarcity and was also seen as a cause of increasing environmental deterioration.
The size of the human population affects virtually every environmental condition facing our planet. As our population grows, demands for resources increase, leading to pollution and waste. More energy is used, escalating the problems of global warming, acid rain, oil spills and nuclear waste. More land is needed for agriculture, contributing to deforestation and soil erosion. More homes, factories and roads must be built, occupying habitat lost by other species that share the planet, often leading to their extinction. Simply put, the more people inhabiting our finite planet, the greater the stress on its resources. (Weber, 1991, p. 1)
However Christianity and modern experts do not see eye-to-eye on this issue for the Church maintains that the first most important command given to man was "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth." (Genesis 1:28) Christianity has vehemently opposed the use of contraceptives, even though some all denomination of Protestant Church left the choice of child spacing to the individuals involved when the pressure to legalize birth control increased in 1930s. Catholic Church however remained opposed to the idea believing that birth control procedures directly reject the first command of "multiply" given by the Lord and also stood in violation of the spirit of Jesus' last command in the book of Matthew that says, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey in everything I have commanded you." (Matthew: 28:19)
Birth control procedures, mainly artificial ones, have been strictly prohibited in Christianity. Some believe that natural birth control methods are allowed but that too, only under specific circumstances. In other words, despite excessive pressure and several modern interpretations of the Biblical commands, the Church continues to oppose the use of contraceptives maintaining that the bible doesn't say anything in favor of birth control and has in fact indirectly condemned the practice on several occasions. While the experts continue to make a strong case in favor of birth control and family planning:
In summary, the world's population will continue to grow as long as the birth rate exceeds the death rate; it's as simple as that. When it [the world's population] stops growing or starts to shrink, it will mean that either the birth rate has gone down or the death rate has gone up or a combination of the two. Basically then, there are only two kinds of solutions to the population problem. One is a "birth rate solution," in which we find ways to lower the birth rate. The other is a "death rate solution," in which ways to raise the death rate -- war, famine, pestilence -- find us. The problem could have been avoided by population control, in which mankind consciously adjusted the birth rate so that the "death rate solution" did not have to occur. (Ehrlich, 1968, pp. 34-35)
The Church sticks with Biblical commands and cites several examples in the Bible that indicate Lord's displeasure with birth control practices. For example in Deuteronomy 23:1, sterilization method has been severely condemned: "He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the Lord." There is another occasion in the Bible where Onan was given death sentences when he failed to fulfill his duty of...
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