Guest Post - The Contraception Tree

It is my privilege to welcome Marge Hendry as my guest blogger today. Marge is an artist, pro-life warrior and parish catechist. She resides in New York state.

The Contraception Tree

(Image © Marge Hendrey)

In the 1960's the creation and acceptance of new contracepting devices, i.e. the pill, I.U.D., etc., helped promote the sexual revolution. Since then, as the Contraceptive Tree demonstrates, social norms previously understood as for the good have come to mean less and less.

Generally, it seems safe to say the family before the 1960's was protected by its own borders of wisdom and chastity. Sex was understood to belong in married life because that is where its fruits could be the best protected -not only the fruit of children but also the fruit of sanctity of "mother" and "father”. Since most people lived by that standard, that is the sanctity of married life for the protection of family, the problems that arose from the lack of adherence were fewer and farther between.

When Pope Paul VI wrote his encyclical Humanae Vitae in 1968 he stated that contracepting would lead to:

1. More infidelity in marriage

2. Loss of respect for women (pornography, suggestive movies, music, fashion, and etc.

3. Contraceptives would become a dangerous weapon in the hands of public authorities (China for instance).

4. A false sense of freedom ultimately leading to a greater slavery to sin (sex).

By 1973, abortion was legalized in the U.S. which put to rest the debate whether contracepting would prevent unwanted pregnancies for the good of the family - a popular promoted oxymoron of the 1960's.

Let's face it - "The War on Women" is contracepting. If we look at it square in the eye, we could see that contracepting destroys women, men, children the family and therefore society on the whole.

In 1981, Pope John Paul II said that we live in the "Culture of Death." This has been brought about by the seemingly insignificant act of contracepting. Why? Because the psychology behind or hidden in contracepting is that human life is secondary to, not because of, the sexual act and its pleasure. As said in the "Respect Life Prayer" - "If there is no respect for sex, there is no respect for life!"

Feel free to add your own branches to the tree.