From: daveshao@leland.stanford.edu (David Shao)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Non-procreative sex
Date: 25 Dec 92 09:20:59 GMT
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA

Richard Chonak writes:

>The point is that the *two* aspects of marriage: 
>	-- expression/fulfillment of love
>	-- procreation of children
>must not be separated.  A sexual action performed when love is
>excluded is as wrong as a sexual action performed with the possible
>fertility excluded.

>Why are love and new life so inextricably linked?  

>Because the Holy Spirit proceeds from the love between the Father and
>the Son; thus the family (man, woman, child) becomes a symbol of the
>central revealed mystery of our faith, the Holy Trinity.

>What can couples do if for some serious reason they need to postpone
>having a child?

>They can take advantage of the naturally occurring infertility in the
>monthly cycle, learn how to identify the infertile time and avoid the
>fertile time.  Two good books are Nona Aguilar's "No Pill, No Risk
>Birth Control" and John Kippley's "The Art of Natural Family
>Planning".  NFP methods avoid conception without *suppressing*
>fertility, so no immoral action is involved.

>So-- good news; we can live on the planet without having too many
>children for the family or degrading our bodies and souls with
>mechanical contraception!

This is a prime illustration of why doctrines not explicitly supported
in Scripture should not expounded by their followers to the point
where the Church is rent by division.  Just a few years ago there 
were laws in America restricting contraception even for married
couples.  But the laws were obviously stupid and immoral themselves.
In the resulting backlash a new right of privacy was invented which
eventually was used to justify the legalization of abortion.  This
is what happens when Christians appear to eveyone else as ignorant
yahoos fighting for irrelevant issues such as whether the earth is
flat and the sun revolves around it.  People who would otherwise be
sympathetic are repelled from the faith. 

To teach that artificial contraception is as bad as extra-marital
sexual intercourse is an incredible perversion of the Church's role
as the conductor of the Holy Spirit's instruction to the world.
This issue is simply a non-issue in Scripture, whereas it is repeatedly
stated that sexual relations should be confined to marriage.

Any intelligent reading of Scripture as God's Living Word shows that
the key issues facing America today are the same as those in the
time of Jesus.  As Jesus admonished the men of his time not to abandon
their wives, so our primary concern for today's family must be the legal
system which rewards men monetarily for divorcing their wives.  
As in Jesus's time, we have a large group of people who are "sinners" 
estranged from respectable society.  We have a group of people in the 
ruling class who have rejected any responsibility to help their fellow
countrymen.  These are serious, important issues.  

Truly, the opiate of the Christians in this country is the elevation
of trivial issues at the expense of the important ones.  The Church is
not prospering in this country because it is a moral disgrace to any
thinking person.  The central role of the Church in its advocacy role
in society is to appeal for JUSTICE for those who are being oppressed.
It is not to invent a thousand little sins for which to shave off
piece after piece of the masses from the comfort of the Church.

From personal experience I know the destructiveness of those who
easily condemn others more harshly than the Father does in his Own
Word.  My father-in-law, a good and noble Christian, was estranged from 
his Church for many years over this issue.  I ask those who would
call immoral people such as he, the real salt of this world, to compare
themselves to the characters of the Gospels and ask themselves--who
are the Pharisees and the hypocrites?  

Surely this issue is today's equivalent of the Pharisees regulations.
Just listen to the justification for "natural" birth
control--we'll just find a way to sneak around the letter of God's law.  
What an embarrassment to the faith!  Either God wants us to or does not
want us to have children.  The important issue is the DECISION on
whether or not to have children, not the method.  Is this not what
Jesus always emphasized--what's going on inside one's heart?

It is simply immoral for Christians to use the word immoral so 
lightly.  How can we be reimposing the legalism which stifled the
faith in the time of Jesus?  

Read Revelations about the final days of this world.  There will come
a time when all of us are asked to make a simple choice--will we stand
with our Lord Jesus or will we openly fight against Him.  Those of us
who are for Christ will throw aside the artificial differences that
the world would impose upon us to fight for the one univeral truth.
There will be a multitude of people of all ages, nations joining together 
in the final harvest.  And all that matters will be whether one has
The seal of the Lord or the seal of Satan upon his forehead
Yea or nay for the Lord Jesus.

Yours in Christ
David Shao