On Sun, 5 Aug 2001, John D. Giorgis wrote:
> At 09:55 AM 8/4/01 -0500 Marvin Long, Jr. wrote:
> >As in the case of "natural" law, this is one of those irritating uses of
> >the word natural to mean "the proper prejudice," or, in this case, "the
> >approved technology."
>
> Well, the idea of "natural" comes from the fact that God has endowed women
> with a natural cycle of fertility and infertility. Natural family
> planning simply exploits this natural cycle.
Maybe I'm nitpicking, but exploiting that cycle for the purpose of
reducing family size doesn't strike me as "natural." It's a byproduct of
a certain combination of culture, wealth, and science that makes it
possible to set aside the goal of maximum fecundity for the sake of
increasing personal ease and stability. Yes, the menstrual cycle is
natural, but all the stuff we do to cope with it is no more "natural" than
any other human activity. (I.e., either NFP and the pill are both
natural, as a byproducts of the human understanding of nature, or neither is
natural, being different artificial methods each with its own advantages
and disadvantages.)
> Catholic teaching has long held that unbridled sexual expression, even
> within marriage is a bad thing. The beauty of NFP is that it forces
> couples into a natural cycle of "courtship" and "honeymoon" each month.
> During the "courtship" phase, couples have to necessarily seek other ways
> of showing their love for each other.
(Eg. blow jobs, clam lapping, dry humping....) *
Unbridled? But I've already got the bit between...never mind. *Ahem.*
Whithout arguing the merits of the system itself, it just seems to me that
such a defense is deeply ideological, not "natural"--at least, not for any
secular definition of the word natural. Again, this is just one of my pet
peeves about language.
Its also an opportunity to serve as
> a positive example to those who do not have the opportunity to have sex
> regularly, such as their unmarried teenage children.
Ewww! Speaking as an ex-teenager, I'm pretty sure there's no way in hell
I ever wanted to know that much about my parents' sex life. Let me read a
book on the subject. Please! =)
* Sorry 'bout that. It was just too easy.
Marvin Long
Austin, Texas
Nuke the straight consumerist wildebeests for Buddha!
