Posted earlier this week, Jennifer Fulwiler’s America magazine article, A Sexual Revolution: One woman’s journey from pro-choice atheist to pro-life Catholic, hinted at Humanae Vitae :
Given my [secular] background, the Catholic idea that we are always to treat the sexual act with awe and respect, so much so that we should simply abstain if we are opposed to its life-giving potential, was a revolutionary message…..
In fact, Humane Vitae, promulgated 40 years ago, was not revolutionary. It was consistent with Christian tradition and teaching, Catholic and Protestant, going back 2000 years. What was revolutionary was the public reaction to Humane Vitae by various Catholics — and others –who demanded the teaching not apply to them.
There was so much outcry, in fact, that few would have forseen a new, vigorous, growing defense of Humane Vitae 40 years later. Thirty-one year old Jennifer Fulwiler is but one of many today who understand that Pope Paul VI was not only right but prophetic.
Take a look at this: Mary Eberstadt has written a hard-hitting, rich, densely packed article, The Vindication of Humanae Vitae, FIRST THINGS, August/September, 2008, pgs. 35-42.
Eberstadt begins this way:
That Humanae Vitae and related Catholic teachings about sexual morality are laughingstocks in all the best places is not exactly news. Even in the benighted precincts of believers, where information from the outside world is known to travel exceedingly slowly, everybody grasps that this is one doctrine the world loves to hate. During Benedict XVI’s April visit to the United States, hardly a story in the secular press failed to mention the teachings of Humanae Vitae, usually alongside adjectives like “divisive” and “controversial” and “outdated.” In fact, if there’s anything on earth that unites the Church’s adversaries — all of them except for the Muslims, anyway — the teaching against contraception is probably it…..
But then Eberstadt gets into the heart of the matter:
Let’s begin by meditating upon what might be called the first of the secular ironies now evident: Humanae Vitae’s specific predictions about what the world would look like if artificial contraception became widespread. The encyclical warned of four resulting trends: a general lowering of moral standards throughout society; a rise in infidelity; a lessening of respect for women by men; and the coercive use of reproductive technologies by governments…..
Look at that last paragraph again:
- a general lowering of moral standards throughout society
- a rise in infidelity
- a lessening of respect for women by men
- and the coercive use of reproductive technologies by governments
This and much more in Eberstadt’s article. Do read it.