CONTRACEPTIVE MENTALITY—THE PARENT OF THE CULTURE OF DEATH
This July will mark 40 years since the publication of Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s courageous encyclical and the Church’s loving invitation to all mankind to embrace God’s precious gift of life. In Humanae Vitae, the Holy Father reminded us that birth control is a grave moral evil. Unfortunately, many people openly defied the Church by dissenting against Humanae Vitae, and we now have to deal with the terrible consequences of this open rebellion and the world’s devolution into the contraceptive mentality.
As part of the widespread effort to make society aware of the grave dangers of the contraceptive lie and undo the terrible damage done by those who dissent against Humanae Vitae, we would like to republish a series of six articles by Monsignor Vincent Foy addressing the immorality of contraception. These articles first appeared in Celebrate Life in 2002, but are as applicable today as ever.
Contraception is anti-God.
By Monsignor Vincent Foy
Father John Hardon, S.J., was surely one of the greatest theologians of the last century. Toward the end of his life, he gave a lecture entitled "Our greatest moral responsibility: to convert the contraceptive mentality." There are great evils in the world today, but it does not take much reflection to conclude that the greatest is the "contraceptive mentality," parent of the culture of death.
The contraceptive mentality is anti-God, anti-Church, anti-society, anti-family, anti-spouse and anti-self. Here we consider it in its most evil aspect as a revolt against God.
The Church constantly reminds us that man is not the creator of human life but its co-creator with God. The encyclical Humanae Vitae repeatedly cites God’s overriding role. "Married persons are the free and responsible collaborators of God the Creator." (#1) Married persons "collaborate with God in the generation and education of new lives." (#8) The spouses "must conform their activity to the creative intention of God." (#10) The Magisterium teaches with the authority of Christ that there is an inseparable connection "willed by God and unable to be broken by man on his own initiative, between the two meanings of the conjugal act: the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning." (#12)
The primary evil of contraception is that it puts up a barrier against God’s creative will, a horrendous crime when seen in all its implications in time and eternity. It is, therefore, what is called a "mortal" sin; through denying a possible life to another, the perpetrator kills his or her own soul. The contracepting person gravely violates the commandment of God "Thou shall not kill." In one sense, contraception is worse than abortion. The aborted child will live forever in that degree of happiness which God’s mercy lovingly bestows. The contracepted child, if we can so speak of a child that will never be, but might have been a great saint, is sacrificed to the lust of should-have-been parents.
Also guilty of a grave offense against God are the cooperators in contraception. These are the purveyors of pills, condoms and devices that are anti-life and often abortifacient. Guilty also are bishops, pastors, confessors, theologians and counselors who lead others astray.
So grave are the offenses against God’s co-creative will that St. Paul likens them to idolatry. He says: "Put to death whatever in your nature is rooted on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires; and that lust which is idolatry. These are the sins which provoke God’s wrath." (Colossians 3)
We know from history that when sins against life become what we might call critical mass, God’s anger does blaze forth. We have a striking example of this in the book of the prophet Jeremiah. He foretold the great evil that would come upon the Jewish people because of their idolatrous infanticide. He said, "The kings of Judah have filled the place with the blood of the innocent. They have built high places for Baal to immolate their sons in fire as holocausts to Baal." What was God’s punishment? "All Judah I will deliver to the king of Babylon or slay them with the sword." (cf. Jeremiah 5) Is not contraception a willingness to offer children to the Baal of lust? In addition to other great evils, surely to be living in the dark and awful state of mortal sin is worse than banishment to Babylon.
Despite the gravity of their sin, those who have contracepted need not despair. Most urgently, in His love and mercy, God is calling them to repentance. As St. Jerome says, "Great mercy forgives great sins." But there should be no delay. "Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation." All Catholics ought to pray for those spiritually dead because of contraception. All ought to wage spiritual war by prayer and penance against what we could call the unholy jihad of contraceptive practice