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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Contraception & abortion	PJ	Saturday, May 1, 2010
Question: Dear Brother, First, I fully understand that souls do no pre-exist bodies, and that actual human existence begins the moment of conception, and I will never believe anything otherwise. Secondly, I have read the Catechism and many other Church documents and absolutely love them, not to mention teach them. The Magisterium is the mouthpiece of God on earth and I have been teaching that and fighting for that against non-orthodox people within the Church and so-called Catholic universities for decades. My thinking begins with the teachings of the Church as its data. But as you know, not all questions have been officially spoken to and it is acceptable to ponder and make tentative conclusions based on reason mixing with Revelation. As long as we don't teach them as absolute truth. So let me put my last question this way: a. If my parents decided to use contraception the night I was conceived I would not exist. That is a simple fact we both can see. b. If my parents instead decided to kill me before birth in my embryological or fetal stage of life I wouldn't be here, but may have a chance for eternal happiness in heaven. c. Therefore, which of the two options above is objectively worse? If the answer is "a" then shouldn't the pro-life movement (which I am involved with) place more emphasis on being anti-contraception than anti-abortion? I'm asking you to use reason because obviously the Church hasn't spoken to this particular question in any official way, human reason is a good thing, and I very much respect yours. But to tell me to reject my own faculty of reason by ignoring the questions that pop up is very disappointing. I have a feeling they said the same thing to folks like Aquinas when he was questioning things. Countless Catholics have lost their faith due to authorities telling them to ignore their own questions. I'm actually working with two ex-Catholic atheists at the moment who have rejected the faith earlier in life because their questions were ignored or rejected by Church authorities. They now see the Church as anti-reason. I think more often it's better to say it's a legitimate mystery than to say you shouldn't be asking that question. Mystery is much easier to accept than apparent contradiction. Thanks for reading. You're doing a great service for the faithful. And may God continue to bless you and your ministry, PJ
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear PJ: It does not matter that you know that the pre-existence of the soul is a false notion. Your speculation smacks of that heresy anyway. That is the danger of unnecessary speculation -- whether innocently or not we begin to flirt with heresy. The solution to this danger is to remain limited to what the Church teaches. You question is a no-brainer. To kill a child is objectively worse than never conceiving in the first place through contraception. The Church has decidedly dealt with the issue of contraception. To use contraception is a grave sin. The Church has not talked about this false distinction of a non-existent child versus a child killed after conception. The Church has no need to make any statements on this because there are no statements to be made. If a child does not exist there is no child to sin against. This question has no reason. It is a sophomoric question similar to immature college philosophy 101 students where the students speculate whether they exist or they are just each other's imagination. This is not reason. This is nonsense. Your statement that " Countless Catholics have lost their faith due to authorities telling them to ignore their own questions" is false and silly. Catholics can read the catechism, church documents, talk to their priests, post questions on the EWTN and this Q&A, and find thousands of places to answer their questions. Anyone who "loses" their faith because questions have not been answered are lying about their reasons. Your defector Catholics-become-atheists are lying. There is some other reason for their snubbing God. One of the techniques that disingenuous people use to pretend there is a reason to leave the faith is to create a straw-man, to construct a false question, a nonsense question, a unreasonable question, and then use the lack of answer to excuse their desire to spit on God. Or, the Church gives an answer but they do not like the answer so they charge the Church with being anti-reason. What arrogance! The fact is, it is THEY who are anti-reason. Your "friends" need to be confronted about their real reasons and their intellectual cowardice. It is the Catholic Church who promotes reason, including scientific reason. St. Augustine, St. Aquinas, and others all borrow from the explorations of reason from Aristotle. It is the Catholic Church that protected reason throughout the ages when reason was lacking. It was the Catholic Church who helped to develop the scientific method. To say the Church is anti-reason is plain stupid. Do not let these idiots get by with these obfuscations. If they will not listen, then take the advice St. Paul's advice and walk away from them. This question about a "potential" human missing out on life because contraception is one of those idiotic questions. A human cannot be "potential" anything when the person does not exist. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Contraception & abortion

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Question:

Dear Brother,

First, I fully understand that souls do no pre-exist bodies, and that actual human existence begins the moment of conception, and I will never believe anything otherwise. Secondly, I have read the Catechism and many other Church documents and absolutely love them, not to mention teach them. The Magisterium is the mouthpiece of God on earth and I have been teaching that and fighting for that against non-orthodox people within the Church and so-called Catholic universities for decades. My thinking begins with the teachings of the Church as its data. But as you know, not all questions have been officially spoken to and it is acceptable to ponder and make tentative conclusions based on reason mixing with Revelation. As long as we don't teach them as absolute truth.

So let me put my last question this way:

a. If my parents decided to use contraception the night I was conceived I would not exist. That is a simple fact we both can see.
b. If my parents instead decided to kill me before birth in my embryological or fetal stage of life I wouldn't be here, but may have a chance for eternal happiness in heaven.
c. Therefore, which of the two options above is objectively worse?

If the answer is "a" then shouldn't the pro-life movement (which I am involved with) place more emphasis on being anti-contraception than anti-abortion?

I'm asking you to use reason because obviously the Church hasn't spoken to this particular question in any official way, human reason is a good thing, and I very much respect yours. But to tell me to reject my own faculty of reason by ignoring the questions that pop up is very disappointing. I have a feeling they said the same thing to folks like Aquinas when he was questioning things. Countless Catholics have lost their faith due to authorities telling them to ignore their own questions. I'm actually working with two ex-Catholic atheists at the moment who have rejected the faith earlier in life because their questions were ignored or rejected by Church authorities. They now see the Church as anti-reason. I think more often it's better to say it's a legitimate mystery than to say you shouldn't be asking that question. Mystery is much easier to accept than apparent contradiction.

Thanks for reading. You're doing a great service for the faithful. And may God continue to bless you and your ministry,
PJ

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear PJ:

It does not matter that you know that the pre-existence of the soul is a false notion. Your speculation smacks of that heresy anyway. That is the danger of unnecessary speculation -- whether innocently or not we begin to flirt with heresy. The solution to this danger is to remain limited to what the Church teaches.

You question is a no-brainer. To kill a child is objectively worse than never conceiving in the first place through contraception. The Church has decidedly dealt with the issue of contraception. To use contraception is a grave sin.

The Church has not talked about this false distinction of a non-existent child versus a child killed after conception. The Church has no need to make any statements on this because there are no statements to be made. If a child does not exist there is no child to sin against.

This question has no reason. It is a sophomoric question similar to immature college philosophy 101 students where the students speculate whether they exist or they are just each other's imagination. This is not reason. This is nonsense.

Your statement that " Countless Catholics have lost their faith due to authorities telling them to ignore their own questions" is false and silly. Catholics can read the catechism, church documents, talk to their priests, post questions on the EWTN and this Q&A, and find thousands of places to answer their questions. Anyone who "loses" their faith because questions have not been answered are lying about their reasons.

Your defector Catholics-become-atheists are lying. There is some other reason for their snubbing God. One of the techniques that disingenuous people use to pretend there is a reason to leave the faith is to create a straw-man, to construct a false question, a nonsense question, a unreasonable question, and then use the lack of answer to excuse their desire to spit on God. Or, the Church gives an answer but they do not like the answer so they charge the Church with being anti-reason. What arrogance! The fact is, it is THEY who are anti-reason.

Your "friends" need to be confronted about their real reasons and their intellectual cowardice. It is the Catholic Church who promotes reason, including scientific reason. St. Augustine, St. Aquinas, and others all borrow from the explorations of reason from Aristotle. It is the Catholic Church that protected reason throughout the ages when reason was lacking. It was the Catholic Church who helped to develop the scientific method. To say the Church is anti-reason is plain stupid. Do not let these idiots get by with these obfuscations. If they will not listen, then take the advice St. Paul's advice and walk away from them.

This question about a "potential" human missing out on life because contraception is one of those idiotic questions. A human cannot be "potential" anything when the person does not exist.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum