Contraceptive Mentality in a “Culture of Death”

        In the modern world, we are faced with a culture of death. In the words of Pope John Paul II, this culture denies solidarity and “is actively fostered by powerful cultural, economic and political currents which encourage an idea of society excessively concerned with efficiency” (EV 12). With a utilitarianism mentality, even the very essence of life is being questioned and measured against its usefulness to create and foster material goods. In a certain sense, it is “a war of the powerful against the weak: a life which would require greater acceptance, love and care is considered useless, or held to be an intolerable burden, and is therefore rejected in one way or another” (EV 12). The weakest, notably unborn babies and old people with limited power of mobility thus become the most likely victims under this culture. Under all circumstances, the Church strongly opposes to abortion and euthanasia.

        Contraception and abortion are closely connected; they are “fruits of the same tree” (EV 13). Many people in the society on the contrary accuse the Church of “promoting” abortion as they view contraception as the most-effective means to avoid conceiving babies. However, this contraceptive mentality is very different from responsible parenthood. In a culture of death, couples using contraception methods essentially want to eliminate the burden of bearing and nurturing a child or at the most consider it not the right timing to bear such a responsibility. Contraception dissociates the sexual act from the procreative act in a selfish manner and it “contradicts the full truth of the sexual act as the proper expression of conjugal love” (EV 13). A conceived child is no longer seen as a gift but a burden which will affect the quality of living of the couple. They ignore the fact that life itself, which is the highest value of human dignity, is simply not at the same level of importance as the improvements on their “quality of living”. If “by accident” a life is conceived even after taking contraceptive measures, the couple would most likely be tempted to abort the unborn child, resulting in a murder of an innocent life under the culture of death. These couples influenced by the culture of death are blinded to realize the fact that conception can never be an “accident”, but is part and partial of the very nature of human’s sexual act.

        Even more unfortunately, contraception weakens the value of family and the commitment of men and women on marriage. Many people in the modern society no longer cherish marriage as a community good, and they are adopting an individualistic approach in making their own personal “good” decisions of commitment and love. Again, the individualistic and utilitarianism mentality under a culture of death, and in this particular situation affects male more than female, takes undue advantage of human sexuality to create more evils. As rightly observed by Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput, “Contraception has released males – to a historically unprecedented degree – from responsibility for their sexual aggression” (Eberstadt, IV). It provides the means for men to easily exploit women as an object, as a sexual toy without any need for commitment – since nothing spoils the fun of a sexual act more than the conception of a child. As a result, human dignity of women is greatly undermined.

        With the advancement of biotechnology, the connection between contraception and abortion has become increasingly connected, especially when people no longer respect the value of life. By the development of chemical products, “intrauterine devices and vaccines which, distributed with the same ease as contraceptives, really act as abortifacients in the very early stages of the development of the life of the new human being” (EV 13). And life is no longer required to be conceived in the mother’s body, but in a test-tube (i.e., in vitro fertilization) where the embryos face a serious risk of death. And more disgusting is that the so-called “spare embryos” who will not be implanted into the mother’s womb, while remaining real human beings, are used as “biological materials” in stem cell research.

        It is disappointing that science and technology are not being used to serve human dignity but defiling it. No less grave and disturbing is the fact that “conscience itself, darkened as it were by such widespread conditioning, is finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish between good and evil in what concerns the basic value of human life” and in what concerns absolutes and relatives (EV 4). All these are closely linked to a contraceptive mentality which inherits a culture of death and attacks life extensively at its root. Precisely as Pope John Paul II puts it, “It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop” (EV 101). May God grant more people the wisdom to respect and defend the right to life in order to establish a new culture of love and solidarity to overcome the culture of death for the healthy and sustainable development of the human society.

Bibliography

Eberstadt, Mary. "The Vindication of Humanae Vitae." N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

Pope John Paul II. "Evangelium Vitae." N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.