Contraception+and+Religion

=﻿ Contraception and Religion = =  =

History: Where the Controversy Began
The church has had to deal with the topic on birth control and if it is accepted within religion or rejected. Though many religious groups were against birth control, there were also numerous reformed religions that allowed the use and did not look down upon their choice. In 1922 Pope Pius XI, who developed the "Pax Christiana" and focused on the love and peace amongst individuals. Pope Pius XI realized that the acceptance of birth control was going up in many religions, which he then put out a Casti Connubii on December 31, 1930 which stated:

===//Since, therefore, openly departing from the uninterrupted Christian tradition some recently have judged it possible solemnly to declare another doctrine regarding this question, the Catholic Church, ... in order that she may preserve the chastity of the nuptial union from being defiled by this foul stain, ... proclaims anew: any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin. "//=== === The pope clearly stated that if a couple are married and choose to have sex within their relationship, they are to expect that a child could result each time. If the couple chooses to do anything to stop the conception it is looked at as being a grave sin. ===

“God created sex to create children. That was his specific desire and mandate. Man should not second-guess God and interfere with His system.”

Other faiths beliefs on conception:
 * Within the Jewish faith they believe fully in the ban on contraception. Within Genesis it is clearly stated,"be fruitful and multiply." This simply meaning that if one is to try to stop children from forming, one would be accused of stopping God's will. One exception within the Jewish faith is in the Talmud, in which women who have the chance of being medically harmed by childbirth or pregnancy may use specific birth control for health reasons.
 * Hinduism does not have a ban on birth control methods, but it is viewed differently from different people. Gandhi looked at birth control being through just absitenece and not using any artificial items or medicines. While two men, Radhakrishnan and Tagore, allowed the use of artificial means for birth control.

Reasons behind the ban:
 * If a couple have sex for pleasure, they will treat each other as "objects" rather than an potential parent to a child. This may then lead to a lack of respect for one another.
 * People who have sex, not to have kids, are possibly having sex out of wedlock or will have affairs once they are married. This simply is looked at as a breakdown of the entire moral fabric of soceity within a church.

Following the ban:
 * 89.7% of women aged 15-44 had used a condom to prevent conception. 82.3% had been on the pill.
 * 96% of all sexually active Catholic women have used some form of birth control other than the rhythm method at some point in their life
 * 88% of Catholics (male & female) feel the official doctrine should allow use of pill and condom
 * 82% of Catholics felt that even in the current state of affairs, you could use birth control and still be a "Good Catholic"

Interesting fact(s): March 2004 a Catholic Church organization in California was ordered to offer birth control coverage to its employees as part of its normal health plan, since it employed workers of all faiths.

http://www.lisashea.com/lisabase/aboutme/birthcontrol.html

[[image:http://www.topnews.in/usa/files/pregnant-lady.jpg width="222" height="268"]]
===Denominations: Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Conservative Muslims, Orthodox Judaism, Amish, [|Quiverfull Movement] ===
 * God commanded men and women to be fruitful and multiply
 * Children are considered a gift from God
 * Contraception is against God's command
 * Contraception promotes promiscuity among singles
 * Contraception promotes adultery among married
 * Contraception separates sex from procreation
 * Contraception is damaging to health

Acceptable Methods: None

Examples: The Duggars (19 children and counting)

 * Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar
 * 19 children, including two sets of twins, ages 22 to 10 months-old
 * Joshua, Jana, John, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johanna, Jennifer, Jordyn, Josie (and more to come)
 * Stopped using birth control due to a miscarraige they believed was caused by unwanted side effects.

media type="youtube" key="f6WRJOL0_X0?fs=1" height="385" width="640" Supporting Scriptures **Reasons NOT To Take Birth Control:**
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Genesis 1:28 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">God blessed [Adam and Eve] and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every livnig creature that moves on the ground." ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Gen 9:1 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Gen 35:11 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body” ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Genesis 38:9-10 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his seed on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death also. ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Genesis 28:3 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">May God Almighty and bless you and make you fruitful and increae your number until you become a community of peoples. ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Romans 1:26-27 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the man also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversions ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Malachi 2:15 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Psalm 127: 3-5 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sons are a heritage fro the Lord, children a rewawrd from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they content with their enemies in the gate ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Birth Control [|Horror Stories]
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Can cause serious[| Health risks/Complications]

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Denominations: Protestants, Evangelicals, Buddhism, Islam

 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">HUSBANDS and WIVES are allowed to moderate conception
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Children are encouraged
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Singles are discouraged from conception

<span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Acceptable Methods: <span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Fertility Awareness
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Symptothermal Method
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Standard Days Method
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Calandar Method/aka Rhythm Method

<span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Unacceptable Methods:
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Barrior Methods (anything that damages the seed)
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Condoms - prevent the spread of some Sexually Transmitted Diseases
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Spermicides,
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Diaphram
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Cervical Cap
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sponge
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Hormonal Methods (anything that prevents the seed from being implanted)
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Pill
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Vaginal Ring
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Injections
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Patch
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Emergency Contraception
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Intrauterine Devices
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">IUD
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sterilization
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Vasectomy
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Tubal Ligation

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Supporting Scriptures

 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">1 Corinthians 7:5 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self control ||

<span style="color: #46864b; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Supporting Real-Life Stories:**
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">[|﻿﻿No More Periods] - Sometimes actually having a menstrual cycle proves incredibly painful for certain women and does not seem worth it to them
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Without Birth Control and Sex Education, Africa's Population Booms
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Conservative Politicians (George Bush) created [|Policies]that stopped providing African Countries with contraceptives.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">This article shows how important the use of birth control is for economic growth and population control in certain countries.

Denominations: Methodism, Presbyterianism, Mennonites, Hinduism, Islam, Taoism, Sikhism

 * Having children is a personal choice

ABORTION [[image:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_l8ZBsSeLPxk/RspDVFTguSI/AAAAAAAAAVg/B0PWXMN0n7o/s400/itsabout.jpg width="175" height="137"]]
There are two types of abortions legal in the US
 * In-Clinic Abortion:
 * Medical procedures that end pregnancy
 * Safe and effective
 * Available from many [|Planned Parenthood] health centers
 * Costs about $350<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">– $900 in the first trimester
 * The Pill:
 * Take medicines to end an early pregnancy
 * Safe and effective
 * Available from many Planned Parenthood health centers
 * Costs about $350–$650

**WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN?**

The argument for or against abortion relies mainly on where actual life begins...

Many Christians and ProLife supporters argue that life begins at conception.