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Birth control is in the news again. This time the issue is political, but recent legislation has caused a justifiable uproar among many religious organizations, especially Catholic ones. Unfortunately there are many Catholics who do not fully understand or embrace the teaching from The Church regarding birth control. Using birth control for non-medical reasons, or more specifically, with any intent as a contraceptive, objectively speaking, is considered grave matter. The gravity of the sin spans the entire spectrum from the withdrawal method (sin of onanism) to abortions. The spirit behind the doctrine is basically that we must leave God in control.

Rather than using the opportunity for God to give our lives direction, we instead strive to control our own lives by exercising our freewill to determine if/when we should have children and how many. How can we be so sure of the timing? If we believe in God, should God not know better than us?

Why are we so afraid as Catholics? I suspect the reason is because of lack of faith and ignorance. Many Catholics in particular do not understand why The Church is so adamant about its position on birth control and infertility. The reason is because God is the creator, not us. God gave us life, not us. Since God willed us into existence, then it is just that He should determine when our children should be willed into God's world as well. The act of intercourse is thus sacred. Also, we are required at Catholics to submit to God's will for our bodies, temples of the Holy Spirit, in all areas of conduct.

The Church requires only that our sexual interaction be centered around the full procreative act, regardless of whether or not the act leads to a child. But what does this mean? We should certainly use our rational minds to plan our families to the best of our judgement, praying to God for discernment.

There is no rule for how often or infrequent we are to engage in the act, or even if it is determined that sterility exists and there is no reasonable chance of procreation. Nor is there any sin in the act while pregnant in which there is also no reasonable chance of new procreation. In all cases, it is the morality of the act itself that matters, not necessarily the end result of a child. In addition, a great deal of discretion is given to the privacy of the hearts of the married couple as to how they should live out their vocation regarding the frequency and timing of the act.

Rather than regard The Church teaching as a loss of freedom or as a burden, we should be thankful that we have such a well-defined moral compass to help us recognize the blurred lines which exist today.

Should we as Catholics or Christians be discouraged? No! Jesus overcame the world. We should never put a limit on God's mercy given what we believe about Jesus dying for us. We were also made the image of God. Perhaps the greatest challenge for our generation and those to come will be to just make the choices to be well-informed as to the truth. Maybe we have more graces for our sins in this generation as a result of the unprecedented temptations, which may mean that we just need to be willing to repent when we mess up. I think for most of us our greatest temptation might be to take the easy road of re-forming our identities based on sin, not because we are so bad, but because we are societal beings.

Jesus gives us life in abundance. His yoke is easy, burden is light, and He is the source of true freedom from the slavery of sin. I think if we just stay focused on the ideals and repent sincerely, we might get more help from God than we ever expected. Faith is not the same concept as feeling, but joy is a sign of a Catholic with strong faith. But God cannot change and there is only one truth. We must resist the urge to re-define ourselves outside of what we perceive to be the image of God in which we were created. We need God in order to realize our true selves. Only then can we find love, peace, and happiness forever.

Posted by D F on February 12, 2012

According to latest reports, PETA will soon be launching a porn site to promote their animal activist efforts. Presumably the site will feature porn as an enticement to their web content by featuring ads or links to their traditional site. Understanding that we all agree in the ethical treatment of animals, I nonetheless find it particularly disturbing that PETA has assumed this controversial approach for the sake of an implied greater cause of protecting animals. God never calls us to do something immoral for the sake of something moral. Further, I find the effort particularly demeaning and suggest a possibly subverted attempt on the part of PETA to portray humans more like animals through pornography. We are more than just animals. PETA has crossed the line. Some predict that the new website effort will backfire. Let us hope and pray that this prediction holds true, and that PETA will avoid even thinking again about carelessly using pornography as a gimmick to help animals.

Posted by D F on September 21, 2011

According to the Catechism, civil authorities should prevent the proliferation of pornography. Yet porn remains legal in almost every country. Is the Church ignoring the separation of church and state with this mandate? I do not think so. There must be more going on here, clearly. Why is it so important that civil authorities place controls on this literature and media?

The reason is because porn assaults our basic instincts in a most aggressive and pernicious manner. Sexual arousal has been shown to spike areas of the brain with the same intensity as cocaine, only shorter in duration. As a result, both sex and drugs can become very addictive to those who indulge. As a civil society, we fight daily to keep drugs off the street, but we do very little to combat porn, simply because porn remains legal. But the result is addiction in both cases. So it seems that the Catechism might be suggesting the use of such controls to help maintain a person's freewill just by reducing the exposure alone. In other words, today almost anyone who would otherwise not choose to indulge in porn might find themselves subjected to it nonetheless. For men, the problem has become so pervasive, both explicitly and subliminally. We now have "men" channels which are saturated with scantily-clad women in suggestive poses. You cannot go to a convenience store without seeing magazines with women busting out of their clothes and once again, in sexually submissive or compromising positions. Censors have been pushed every decade to allow more sexually titilating images and situations in our sitcoms and even family programs. Modesty in women's apparel has taken a backseat to the fashion industry, which seems determined to push the bar every year with plunging necklines, backless dresses, and tight-fitting clothing. Lingerie fashion shows can be found all over the Internet, along with very suggestive bikini contests, and even thong contests. Such is the state of the world now with unchecked pornography in all of its forms.

I think we should strive to avoid social situations that revolve around pornography, because these social bonds just reinforce the addiction. It is not good to go to a bachelor party if you know a stripper is going to be half or completely naked and even worse, grinding against you. It is also not good to go to a strip club and get a "lap dance" because all of your buddies are doing the same.

Almost everyone knows a truly joyous Christian. What makes this person so happy? Is it just that he has one of those rare optimistic personalities? If the person is a Christian, the more likely reason is because that person is free from the burden and slavery of sin. And thus, as Jesus said, His yoke is easy, burden is light. When you are not a slave to sin, your burden is light. Life is good, and free. You do not have the same urges and compulsions to habitually sin, again-and-again. We are all called to this state. And the joy comes in knowing we have true freedom once we are there.

Maybe we remember times when we were young when we were in this free state for a time (the halcyon days of innocence), but porn is such an obstacle to this goal long-term. Remember that porn is subhuman. All evil is beneath us and our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Our purpose in life is to form a loving relationship with our creator, nothing more and nothing less. Don't let porn lust get in the way, especially if you are in a committed relationship. You owe this much effort to your wife, but especially to yourself.

Pray the Our Father regularly, and think especially hard on the "lead us not into temptation" verse. Go to confession regularly and remember that priests hear about lustful thoughts and actions probably more than any other sin. God can help you climb out of the pit. He knows when you want to break the cycle and stop the urges. If you are married, don't give up on your sex life. Paul was clear about how it is better to marry than to burn with passion. Talk to your wife, just be honest about your desires and don't hide them if they are a constant issue. Use your marriage to help you lead a more virtuous life because chastity does exist within a good marriage.

Posted by D F on January 25, 2011

Pornography can easily cause men to have Erectile Dysfunction (ED) and Premature Ejaculation (PE) as a result of becoming de-sensitized to the female form due to prolonged exposure to the addictive media (pictures or videos). The reason for both conditions is because these much smaller 2-D images of female forms are merely brain "tricks" designed to induce immediate arousal and rapid ejaculation. As a result, a condition of premature ejaculation can easily develop since the hyperstimulation of pictures or videos causes the brain to bypass the need for an erection. So under prolonged exposure, the brain can learn to cause an ejaculation even without a sustained erection. Our instincts as men are hard-wired to pro-create, and so ejaculation is far more important to the brain than maintaining an erection to eventually accomplish the same result.

Posted by D F on January 21, 2011

Many women feel betrayed and inadequate as a result of not resembling the disproportionate or more "attractive" pornstars or strippers. This loss of self-esteem can greatly diminish the sexual encounter for both parties and interfere with the long-term relationship. Furthermore, a perceived interest in other women can subconciously cause the woman's visceral, protective instincts to kick-in and result in her withdrawing from the man out of fear that he will abandon his role as her provider and caregiver. Surveys show that the most important concern most women have regarding sex is to be desired by their partner. In addition, since men are far more frequent indulgers in porn than women, most women are largely unaware of how degrading, graphic, and violent porn has become.

Posted by D F on January 19, 2011

Pornography objectifies women. As a result, the women lose their self-esteem and have difficulty with relationships. This loss of self-worth causes many to turn to lethal drugs as an escape.

Posted by D F on January 16, 2011

There are many human desires and actions considered evil, but all of them stem from some form of violence or lust. For example, in one of the many demonic episodes of the gospel according Mark, there is mention of a naked man held down by chains because he was possessed by demons. By being naked, the man symbolized lust, and he was held down by chains because of his violent behavior. You can see a similar synergy in the evolving violent nature of pornography. Recently pornography has become more violent and degrading towards women. Much of the popular porn of today is devoted to a man-based fantasy where the man shamelessly uses sex to take out his aggression on the woman, which seems to be a perversion of how God intended the loving act of creation to exist.

Posted by D F on January 15, 2011

Today's porn is bad. Women are routinely placed in uncomfortable positions and encouraged to act like they are enjoying the experience immensely. These women are gagged with male genetalia to the point of tears and vomiting, spat upon, slapped, choked, sodomized, exposed to rape simulations and full ejaculations onto their faces, in addition to multiple partners. These women are our mothers and daughters! Yes most are getting paid, and some know what they are doing, but many of these women are so young and naturally submissive sexually as women, they do not know any better. Consequently, these women end up exploited and corrupted for years before they lose themselves. There is little argument that some of these so-called "fetishes" are disordered, misogynistic, and a radical departure from our animal instincts. How did we get to this point? So why is the demand for such obscene content so high now? The reason is because porn is more readily available and addictive than ever now that we can indulge in the comfort and privacy of our homes via the Internet. The more we as a society are exposed, the more de-sensitized and disordered we become when aroused by such deviant behavior, and the further we distance ourselves from God as a result of indulging in these selfish fantasies. Anything selfish is contrary to the will of God because God is love, God is in all of us, and we are all connected on some level.

Posted by D F on January 14, 2011

Pornography is a perversion of our salutary instinct to procreate. Instead going through the normal social rituals to express our love through intercourse, we basically "cut-to-the-chase" with the sin of pornography. The desired person, or object of lust, is just a means to an end. And this end is often nothing more than the selfish gratification of our sexual organs. Repeated indulgence to any sin engrains habits or "slavery " to sin. The sin of lust eventually causes us to form a distorted "object" view of the opposite sex. These desires then cause us to relate to our partners sexually in a selfish or self-absorbed manner. No longer is sex used for mutual giving in love as it was intended. In addition, the objectified pornstar or stripper is demeaned with each encounter. After too many episodes, this pornstar or stripper might start to view her own worth partly as an object of pleasure.

Posted by D F on January 13, 2011

Pornography can disrupt the married or conjugal life. The union God intended through matrimony is attacked by lustful thoughts and actions from the porn indulger. The vice of pornography escalates with each increasingly addictive pornographic encounter. Due to the selfish desires of the porn indulger, instead of preserving the family unit, the essential bond of intimacy between husband and wife required to preserve the marriage bond and raise the children might degrade as the husband becomes increasingly torn between his immoral fantasy and the love he has for his wife.

Posted by D F on January 12, 2011

All major religions condemn pornography. Why? The answer varies depending on your faith, but basically one can think of religion as the way humans separate themselves from animals. What makes us so special? We have souls given to us by God. At some point in our evolution, we became aware enough of our own existence to acknowledge a higher power. The major religions of the world believe that it was during this "creation story" point when we were infused with eternal human souls and a higher set of rules necessary in order to attain salvation. We acknowledge our instincts, but try to approach God by keeping them in check with our unique human conscience. The formation of this conscience affects the eternal outcome of our soul in relation to God. The least you resist God's holy will, the more God is able to empty your selfish desires with his divine will, stretch your heart, then fill it with his love and eternal life. So the greatest saints among us might be the ones who resisted God the least.

Posted by D F on January 11, 2011

Just what exactly are we talking about here? Porn is short for pornography. The word has its etymology from the Greek word "pornea," which means "prostitution" or "prostitutes," and "grapho," which translates into "illustration." Thus, pornagraphy literally means "an illustration of prostitutes or prostitution." Pornography in today's world means any paper or digital media (pictures, videos, Internet streaming), and live entertainment (strippers, exotic, or burlesque dancers) featuring persons with little or no clothing engaged in acts involving sensuality or sexual arousal. Porn (a.k.a. the "adult industry") is a multi-billion dollar industry which has increased dramatically in revenue over the last decade. The market share is moving very rapidly to the Internet with the advent of high-definition and increased bandwidth. Say no to porn. Just say no to porn. Pray for porn addicts and those with a recreational porn addiction.

Posted by D F on January 10, 2011