Dan Minette wrote:
In support of your opinion:I never took a vow of obedience. If something is right by my conscience, then I can do it, no matter what the pope says. I do not consider the Catholic church to have much moral authority when it comes to families.But, even if I agreed with you on the need for obedience unless I thought it was wrong, it would be wrong for me to obey. I would cause damage to my family by following the teachings of popes who, to be blunt, don't know what they are talking about and refuse to listen to people who do know. Its like following the suggestions of a art critic who has been blind from birth. Dan M.
http://www.uscatholic.org/soundboard/1998/jun/bc2.html
"Indeed, "defection" is the wrong word to use for such a rare and clear consensus, such a powerful demonstration of the sensus fidelium, the "sense of the faithful." Thirty years ago when Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical Humanae vitae, which condemned the use of any means of birth control other than the rhythm method, over 600 theologians signed dissenting statements. And ever since, the polls have consistently shown that the vast majority of the Catholic laity disagree with their church's official position and practice birth control in good conscience. To cite just two examples: A 1992 Gallup poll showed that 80 percent of U.S. Catholics disagreed with the statement "Using artificial means of birth control is wrong." And a 1996 study conducted by Father Thomas Sweetser for the Parish Evaluation Project found only 9 percent of Catholics who consider birth control to be wrong."
Doug
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