Is birth control considered a sin?

[Bree]

My fiance asked me if i thought it was a sin to take birth control, so i said its a sin to have babies out of wedlock, but then he said yea but god considers all sin equal. I asked a lady i work with and she said she's not sure but did say that children were a gift from god so if you stop that gift from being given couldnt that make it a sin? would like your honest opinions

[Touche]

And some would say it's an even bigger sin to have sex before marriage.

 

My opinion...take the b/c. I agree with you. When you're ready to have a baby you can allow that miracle to happen. In the meantime, where's the sin in preventing it? I don't see it.

[Trialbyfire]

The Catholic Church's opinion is that birth control is considered a sin.

[Bree]

ok so lets say ppl are still going to fornicate i have a friend that is catholic would it be better for her to take the birth control or risk having a baby which one of the two cause i know she'll still do it anyway

[quankanne]

in the eyes of the Catholic Church, yes, birth control is a sin because you're willingly blocking conception, which is a part of God's plan. The Pill is can act as an abortifacient, if I remember correctly, so it does double duty on the sin list.

 

people are going to fornicate no matter how strong their faith is, because their natural urge to screw is often stronger than their will-power.

 

btw, welcome to the 'Shack – are you from the Piney Woods or Deep East TX? I'm Piney Woods, myself ...

[norajane]

Having a baby that you don't want and that you aren't able or ready to devote your life to is a MUCH, MUCH bigger sin than contraception in my eyes.

 

Personally, I really see no sin difference between pulling out, rhythm method (not having sex during your fertile time), and condoms. They're all designed to keep you from getting pregnant.

 

But everyone has to make that decision for themselves.

[boshemia]

Guess it's been said so I will second it.

 

That is something only you can decide. If you go against your heart you'll regret it. So what do you think?

 

I was talking to a friend about putting my teenage daughter on birth control when she is ready to have sex. I don't want to give her permission to have sex on the one hand, but on the other I don't want her having a child before she is ready. My friend said...

 

"It's bad to have a teen daughter having sex, but not near as bad as having a teen daughter raising a child. She's right... "If" my daughter is going to choose to have sex, I can't stop her... but I can help her make the best decisions possible. If she asks me, I'll do it... but that is my decision, and hers.

 

Her Father would flip, her step-Dad disagrees wholeheartedly, but she is the one who has to live with the consequences, and only she can make that decision.

 

Only you can make yours...

[Fun2BMe]

I think it's a sin to have babies without planning out how many and when. If you are not financially capable of having one just yet or do not want to have one immediately after having just given birth, or no longer want one after the second or fifth child, then you have a G-d given right to stop producing more and put your energies into the ones you already have or into whatever else you choose to, which are also G-d given gifts.

 

Before popes came into existence, religious people used contraceptives. But popes want women to stay at home and be baby machines and not utilize any of their other g-d given gifts. I think abortion is a sin, since that is a termination of a living, developing being. But to take a pill that prevents the formation of that living being is not a sin, just like it's not a sin to choose not to eat 5 loaves of bread in one sitting just because food is a gift from g-d. In fact that would do more harm than good, just like having too many children can do more harm than good for those who have them against their will wrongfully thinking it is otherwise a sin if they take responsible steps to prevent themselves form being in that type of a situation unless they want to be in that situation. Otherwise we wouldn't be given that option and be no different than animals.

[dropdeadlegs]

The Catholic Church looks at any form of BC a sin, Their view is that sex is for procreation, not for pleasure, from what I have gathered. I am not Catholic but attended mass for many years.

 

Maybe it is another form of the "forbidden fruit." I don't know.

 

If that is the case, I am one hell of a sinner. I used BC for years and decided to opt for voluntary sterilization.

 

My sex life has never been better than without the possibility of pregnancy, but I have four children.

[Fun2BMe]

The Catholic Church looks at any form of BC a sin, Their view is that sex is for procreation, not for pleasure, from what I have gathered.

 

I doubt G-d would create man with pleasure yet consider it a sin should he experience it. He said that He created man in his image and likeness and our bodies are created such that they are pleasurable and to deny experiencing what is holy and God-like and instead say it is bad, to me is a great sin.

 

If the pope (not the bible) says that pleasure from your spouse for pleasure's sake - something very beautiful and loving, is a sin and taking measures to prevent having unlimited babies is a sin, then I'd rather stick to the bible where that is not written. All throughout the bible men including great prophets continue to sleep with their wives even if they were barren and unable to have children, yet nowhere does it say that was bad.

 

To choose between men who sat around a table and made these rules up a few hundred years ago, compared to what G-d says in the bible is a no-brainer to me. But I can see that humans like self-imposed rules and regulations even if they are not good. It makes them feel obedient and good about themselves, even if a higher being says it's ok to have the things they self-restrict themselves with. I personally think they are unknowningly sinning but because their intentions are good they won't get punished for it karma wise.

[bluetuesday]

i dislike the notion of 'sin' because it paints god (incorrectly) as an entity which requires us to apologise and beg and promise not to do something again before we are forgiven. it further suggests god gets angry, which is also incorrect.

 

in the original greek, the word we have translated into 'sin' was hamartia or hamartano, which means 'to miss the mark'. so rather than looking on sin as a punishable error, i think it would be useful for people to look on any action as either hitting the mark with god, or missing it. god's will is that you hit the mark, but if you miss it, the experience of missing it may well help you to hit it in future.

 

regarding birth control - it is god's wider plan for your life that you have free will, and make choices that express that free will. that means god wants you have free will in every area of your life, including the choices you make about having sex with someone you're not committed to, or choosing when (or if) to have babies, and how many babies to have.

 

that doesn't mean any action you take around the birth control issue will hit the mark with god just because you made your choice freely. all actions have consequences. for example, some people view abortion as birth control but the ending of a life is clearly not hitting the mark with god, who wants people to rise above making the choice to kill other life just because it suits them.

 

my belief on the birth control issue is that you have the god-given right to make free will choices to determine the size of your family and when you want to have that family. so the rule (of some churches) that you can't use birth control is actually a rule that is trying to limit your free will to make choices. it is up to you to decide whether you think this rule is in line with, or out of line with, god's will.

 

a good rule of thumb is this: work actively to do no harm. if an action you take causes harm (emotional, physical or spiritual) to another person (even a person not yet born) or to yourself, it probably misses the mark with god. if an action enhances someone else's emotional, physical or spiritual wellbeing, or your own, it probably hits the mark with god.

 

if you think it would be in a child's best interests to give it a stable, committed family in which to be born, and if you can bring that about without harming anyone's emotional, physical or spiritual wellbeing, you have your answer.

[Trialbyfire]

If you look at the history of mankind and religion, it made sense historically to reproduce more for the continuity of the species. People died younger for all sorts of reasons, like disease, famine, war, etc. and more children meant more farmhands (boys) or if attractive, bargaining power (girls). Church doctrine can be quite practical.

 

Now that we're relatively civilized, we're overpopulating the Earth. Time for the Church to come into the 21st century.

[Storyrider]

I doubt G-d would create man with pleasure yet consider it a sin should he experience it. He said that He created man in his image and likeness and our bodies are created such that they are pleasurable and to deny experiencing what is holy and God-like and instead say it is bad, to me is a great sin.

 

It is actually a misconception (no pun) that the Catholic church sees sex as reproductive only. Sex is first considered a way of expressing love within marriage and second for procreation. That is why they promote NFP. Especially since Vatican II, this is the current view.

 

While using bc in the Church is considered outside Church teaching, many people do it, and it is not considered nearly as bad as having an abortion.

 

My H. was telling me about this Catholic priest he knows from work. A woman in his parish had nine children and seemed to be considering another. He took her aside and told her she had plenty of children and it was time to stop! I was pleased to hear that.

[pureinheart]

My fiance asked me if i thought it was a sin to take birth control, so i said its a sin to have babies out of wedlock, but then he said yea but god considers all sin equal. I asked a lady i work with and she said she's not sure but did say that children were a gift from god so if you stop that gift from being given couldnt that make it a sin? would like your honest opinions

 

Wow....lol....that is a good question....*just throwing this in*

 

Sex outside the boundries of marriage is sin concerning the things of God, although it is not sin according to the world veiws....

 

Birth control I don't believe hinders God in any way.....if it the will of God for a baby to be conceived it will happen....therefore I don't believe it to be sin....

[Fun2BMe]

What if someone found out that they carry this terrible gene and if they have children they will be severely deformed. According to the church, that lady should either have deformed and mentallyr retarded children or else never have sex. And taking it a step further, if she were to get raped and impregnated, they would say she has to carry the baby to term. It's not practical, moral and not in the bible. Now that people are leaving the church they are going to change the rules, but it's not out of consideration for the feelings of women and families, but to retain and gain membership.

[Island Girl]

What if someone found out that they carry this terrible gene and if they have children they will be severely deformed. According to the church, that lady should either have deformed and mentallyr retarded children or else never have sex. And taking it a step further, if she were to get raped and impregnated, they would say she has to carry the baby to term. It's not practical, moral and not in the bible. Now that people are leaving the church they are going to change the rules, but it's not out of consideration for the feelings of women and families, but to retain and gain membership.

 

Exactly.

 

OP use birth control if you are going to have sex and you do not want a child.

 

The sex could be premarital or marital. If you aren't ready to have a child then use birth control.

[dropdeadlegs]

It is actually a misconception (no pun) that the Catholic church sees sex as reproductive only. Sex is first considered a way of expressing love within marriage and second for procreation. That is why they promote NFP. Especially since Vatican II, this is the current view.

 

While using bc in the Church is considered outside Church teaching, many people do it, and it is not considered nearly as bad as having an abortion.

 

My H. was telling me about this Catholic priest he knows from work. A woman in his parish had nine children and seemed to be considering another. He took her aside and told her she had plenty of children and it was time to stop! I was pleased to hear that.

Since I'm not Catholic, or any other religion, I agree that BC is the best way to go. I, too, have known a priest to "condone" the use of BC.

 

What does NFP mean"? Just curious as it doesn't affect me. My stance has been perfectly clear considering I elected for voluntary sterilization.

[norajane]

NFP is Natural Family Planning. It can take the form of the rhythm method, and/or the whole temperature/mucous monitoring method. It might also include withdrawal, but I'm not sure what the Church view is on that...spilling of seed and all.

[Fun2BMe]

NFP is Natural Family Planning. It can take the form of the rhythm method, and/or the whole temperature/mucous monitoring method. It might also include withdrawal, but I'm not sure what the Church view is on that...spilling of seed and all.

 

The church (Catholic that is) doesn't support NFP for the same reason it doesn't support BP. No difference.

[Zona76]

How could the perception ring true All Sin is EQUAL?

Consider a child that steals a package of gum. He knows it's wrong.

Consider the lie told by a beaten wife to her Sister over the phone that all is well but she has to much to do to come over(she can't let her see her new bruises)

Are these the same kind of lie told by a man claiming innocence after raping a child or the murder of a neighbor.

 

I think even the Catholic Church realizes that it's better to prevent a birth than to bring a child into a home where it cannot be fed nor treated with care.

[norajane]

The church (Catholic that is) doesn't support NFP for the same reason it doesn't support BP. No difference.

 

Hmm, that contradicts what Storyrider just said - that the Catholic Church does promote NFP.

 

I don't know the answer as I'm not Catholic. Anyone?

[amaysngrace]

I don't really know the churches view on what is or isn't a sin but I think it's a bit hypocritical really for them to decide what someone should do with their life.

 

These are men who will never be married, many of whom have molested young boys, using my donation dollars as their legal defense monies, telling me if I should procreate? And that my decision to use protection while having sex as a consenting adult is a sin?

 

Personally I think those who put 100% of their faith into something without challenging why things are considered a sin to begin with are doing a disservice to themselves and the religion. This religion was founded by a man, not God. It was man's interpretation of what he thought God wanted his Church to be. God Himself did not form the Roman Catholic religion.

 

Please people, know the backbone of your Catholic religion and use the good common sense that the good Lord gave you to make decisions with your life.

 

Yes it's nice to have religion. The Catholic Church is as good as any. But it's flawed. Live it by the book and you very well may be living a flawed life.

 

And you may end up with 84 children too.

[alphamale]

I asked a lady i work with and she said she's not sure but did say that children were a gift from god so if you stop that gift from being given couldnt that make it a sin? would like your honest opinions

a child is more of a gift to the church than God. A church cannot keep on growing unless there are children born into it. Why you think Catholic church is against birth control?

[Fun2BMe]

I think I was referring to use of condoms as family planning. But the regular rhythm method and other risky types of natural contraception I think are acceptable.

[burning 4 revenge]

a child is more of a gift to the church than God. A church cannot keep on growing unless there are children born into it. Why you think Catholic church is against birth control?

Because in the old days only a few children survived the first few years of life.

 

Augustus promoted early marriage and spoke out against homosexuality, because he was worried about the sudden drop in the Roman birth-rate and he looked at all of the new cultures coming into the city and how they were producing much bigger families than the Latins. I believe the Israelites had similar worries, because they were a small and isolated people. These are the roots of the Catholic church.