The Prophecy: Part 2

If you missed part 1, you can read it here. :)

Pope Paul VI issued Humane Vitae to clarify and explain what the Church teaches about contraception. It is a beautiful document that every Catholic should read at some point, and you can read the full text for free here.

When the birth control pill was first released, social scientists were very concerned about the effects it would have on society. They asserted their professional opinion that drastically changing the rules of social interaction between men and women would certainly have severe effects on society.

In addition to reasserting the Church's position on contraception, Pope Paul VI, in his wisdom, made four predictions about what would happen to our world if the Church's teaching on contraception was ignored and its use became widespread.

(When I was preparing to write this post, I came across a document written by Professor Janet E. Smith, a professor of moral theology, and I honestly couldn't have written it out better myself so I will be quoting her in the bullet points below.)

1. First, Pope Paul VI said that widespread use of contraception would "lead to conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality."

• "That there has been a widespread decline in morality, especially sexual morality, in the last 25 years, is very difficult to deny. The increase in the number of divorces, abortion, our-of-wedlock pregnancies, and venereal diseases should convince any skeptic that sexual morality is not the strong suit of our age."
• "There is no question that contraception is behind much of this trouble. Contraception has made sexual activity a much more popular option that it was when the fear of pregnancy deterred a great number of young men and women from engaging in premarital sexual intercourse. The availability of contraception has led them to believe that they can engage in premarital sexual activity "responsibly." But teenagers are about as responsible in their use of contraception as they are in all other phases of their lives--such as making their beds, cleaning their rooms and getting their homework done on time."

2. Paul VI also stated that "the man" will lose respect for "the woman" and "no longer (care) for her physical and psychological equilibrium" and will come to "the point of considering her as a mere instrument of selfish enjoyment and no longer as his respected and beloved companion."

• "This concern reflects what has come to be known as a "personalist" understanding of morality. The personalist understanding of wrongdoing is based upon respect for the dignity of the human person. The Pope realized that the Church's teaching on contraception is designed to protect the good of conjugal love. When spouses violate this good, they do not act in accord with their innate dignity and thus they endanger their own happiness. Treating their bodies as mechanical instruments to be manipulated for their own purposes, they risk treating each other as objects of pleasure."

3. Paul VI also warned that if widely used, contraception would place a "dangerous weapon... in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies."

• "The history of the family-planning programs in the Third World is a sobering testimony to this reality. In Third World countries many people undergo sterilization unaware of what they are doing. The forced abortion program in China shows the stark extreme toward which governments will take population programs. Moreover, few people are willing to recognize the growing evidence that many parts of the world face not overpopulation, but underpopulation. It will take years to reverse the "anti-child" mentality now entrenched in many societies."

4. Pope Paul's last prediction was that as a result of contraception, man would begin to think that he had unlimited dominion over his own body.

• "Sterilization is now the most widely used form of contraception in the U.S.; individuals are so convinced of their rights to control their own bodies that they do not hesitate to alter even their own physical make-up."
• "The desire for unlimited dominion over one's own body extends beyond contraception. The production of "test-tube babies" is another indication of the refusal to accept the body's limitations; so too are euthanasia and the use of organs transplanted from those who are "nearly" dead. We seek to adjust the body to our desires and timetables, rather than adjusting ourselves to its needs.

So to leave you with one last thought, I think that human history is filled with examples of how we have the best intentions until things spiral out of control. When the pill was introduced, the hope was that it would make it easier to plan families, women would more easily be able to achieve their professional and educational goals, and it would keep our planet safe from the perceived threat of overpopulation. The mantra was: "Every child, a wanted child."

These dreamy ideals all sound well and good, but the fact is that there have been unforeseen consequences to our actions.

We as humans need to realize that when we upset the balance of natural law, we disrupt God's design for humanity and our world, and we end up with one big mess.