30 July 2008

Birth Control... Evil?

I'm doing this post for Terry because she was brave enough to ask me what I really felt about birth control and why. Please understand that I am not a biblical or ethics scholar, nor am I an expert on historical matters. Everything I say is open to interpretation and disagreement. (If the disagreement is on my blog, however, it WILL be polite disagreement, or it will be deleted.) So, here we go... I think birth control is "bad," generally speaking, because...

It has a bad history.

Usually when we think of "eugenics," we think of Adolf Hitler. He was a bad guy and wanted to rid the world of the Jewish race and other ethnicities he considered inferior. We have people like this everywhere, in all times and in all places. Why it is that we think usually of *just* Hitler is a bit beyond me when we discuss topics like these. But, in any event, "eugenics" or "racial cleansing" or whatever name it goes by presumes that some people are better than others. Get rid of the people who aren't as great and we can breed the super-race with less disease and other problems.

Wouldn't it be nice to be rid of alcoholism from the gene pool? Homosexuality? Cleft lip or club foot? How 'bout autism? Yep, just kill 'em all and we'll do better next generation. Keep killing off the infirm or disabled and eventually the gene pool will improve. We'll just breed people like puppies!

Do you know what the real evil is in my opinion in thinking along these lines? It's that Hitler was not alone. Hitler had a nation behind him. Today's "Planned Parenthood" was actually founded by a eugenicist named Margaret Sanger. We don't want those underclass, infirm or Negro to have too many kids. Let's help them so they don't breed so much and muck up our country. Now, of course, Planned Parenthood wants to distance itself from its history, but it is history nonetheless. Birth control becoming readily available is thanks in large part to people like Sanger. I just have to point that out as one of several reasons I personally find birth control repugnant... as the mom of two autistic children, when a doctor tries to foist birth control on me, I am personally offended. I wonder at their getting into my personal life when it was NOT requested, and I also wonder if they don't think I shouldn't go off and have more "defective" autistic children. Either way, the doctor needs a good smack, but I don't want to go to jail because I have too many kids at home who need me. ;]

There are also some methods of "birth control" like abortion and the IUD which actually kill living children, but for the purposes of brevity I'm not discussing those here. I will close by saying that you can't judge every product or position on a political subject by its history... I like Volkswagens and think they're cute... but the historical context DOES matter.

Deception: lack of "consequences" (pregnancy, disease, emotional)

Unfortunately or not, sex is all bound up with pregnancy, disease, emotions and morality. I feel that birth control, especially as it is discussed in public school, seems to give the idea that "consequences" like pregnancy can be avoided through its use. Most teens have good brains in their heads, but they're receiving some very conflicting messages from peers, media, school, parents, etc. Throw in some overwhelming hormones and there's bound to be a problem every now and then. Pregnancy is the least of them! I have to wonder if birth control weren't as available if we wouldn't see fewer teens having premarital sex.

Just think of the diseases and emotional heartache teens can get into. I've heard somewhere that about one in four women has the HPV virus that can cause cervical cancer. There are people who have DIED from cervical cancer. People aren't perfect, and even if *some* were, their husbands or wives might not be. I'm concerned that an overabundance of birth control, readily available without even asking (like I said, it's almost forced during every doctor visit!) is leading us to no longer seriously consider the consequences of sex outside marriage. Within marriage, I believe this leads people to believe they can time their babies perfectly as they wish... and we all know stories where this is NOT necessarily the case!

No mention of it in the Bible

Ok, like I said, I think Volkswagens are cute. Just because they aren't mentioned in the Bible doesn't necessarily make them evil. But I do see verses about many children being a blessing, verses about being knit together in a mother's womb and verses about children being like arrows in the hand of a warrior. What kind of warrior goes into battle with just one or two arrows? Thinking out loud here.

I'm not militant

I'm not militant about it, though. I can't say anything like, "Mrs. X is not following the will of God because she had her tubes tied!" Hopefully I never came across like that. I'm just sharing some of the reasons why *I* don't think that birth control is God's ideal for marriage, based on my limited understanding of God's will and the Bible. My getting into someone else's marriage or second-guessing person X or Z is just as bad as the doctors and their pushiness at my appointments. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I know some folks that think that if you prevent a child from being there in the first place by NOT trying for a child when you think you MIGHT be fertile, it's just as bad as aborting a child because you're limiting the will of God and the child that "should" have been there. Which I don't follow. Actually, we're not planning to have any more children but of course God has sovereignty over all our lives. We're just not using birth control to prevent them.

So we'll end the post by saying that folks who believe birth control should be used by almost everyone at some point are probably angry at my post, and people who think you should NEVER stop trying for more children are probably mad, too. Sorry to disappoint everyone. :]

6 comments:

  1. I am kind of mixed on my beliefs concerning birth control. I think it is one of those things that is up the person who is taking it. I have had my tubes tied and I regret it to this day not only because of the after effects but because of the fact that I would now love another baby. All I can say is that my only hardcore belief is that no one should be on it until they are out of high school. I do not believe in giving it to children because "we know" they will need it.

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  2. Just like to mention that other forms of birth control--the pills and shots and patches--also cause early abortions.

    I don't use any birth control. But, if I did, I would at least choose a method that did not kill an already conceived child.

    Thanks for your candid thoughts, Mrs. C. btw, I missed you since I've been gone!

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  3. I think I disagree with everything you said.

    BUT that said, you made your point so much better than many other people I have read who made the same point. I don't feel the need to stick my fingers in my ears [eyes?] and sing 'ner ner ner ner'.

    I like that I could read your side of the story and completely understand where you are coming from.

    Thanks.

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  4. Thanks for answering my question. I don't talk about this subject on my blog because I am disturbed by the level of debate it creates on other blogs I have read. Not that I mind the debate, but that so many feel they have a right to pass judgement on an extremely personal decision made by a wife and her husband. That said, I tend to agree with your take pretty much. And like you, I'm not militant about it.

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  5. Amen to everything that you have said. I am Catholic, so birth control is against my religion, and I agree wholeheartedly that it should be (unfortunately, there are many who say they are Catholic and do not agree) I have heard all of these points and I wish that I could remember them, and discuss them clearly when the subject comes up in discussion. I'm not militant about the subject either and at this point of my life I'm not very public about it. Maybe that will change some day when I'm not so absorbed in raising my children.

    I think that birth control and government intervening in too many aspects of our life are among two of the most destructive things in our society these days, and it's going to change life as we now know it in future generations. (Who is going to take care of all the people who aren't having children now when they get old, and please don't tell me it's going to be the government!!)

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  6. Mrs. C

    I agree with everything you have written. They are some of the very reasons I chose not to use birth control in this marriage. But, I rarely discuss my decision with others because, well I am infertile and I knew it was unlikely that I would ever have a child without physician assistance. I had a physician tell me that the only way I would ever be pregnant was if I bypassed my v*g*na. So, choosing not to use birth control didn't mean that I might have a child I wasn't prepared for.

    But, now I am raising Marissa. She is sneaking out to meet boys (well she hasn't snuck out since we installed an alarm system). Her IQ is borderline and I have watched her interact with Beverly and David. No way could she parent a child. And, my ideals are hit with the reality of having to raise a grandchild... I think reality might win this round.

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Non-troll comments always welcome! :)

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