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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsContraception’s Con Men
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/feb/15/contraception-con-men/Crusader popes
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Pusillanimous CatholicsMark Shields and even, to a degree, the admirable E. J. Dionneare saying that Catholics understandably resent an attack on their doctrine (even though they do not personally believe in it). Omnidirectional bad-faith arguments have clustered around what is falsely presented as a defense of faith. The layers of ignorance are equaled only by the willingness of people of all faiths to use them for their own purposes. Consider just some of the layers:
The Phony Religious Freedom Argument
The bishops opposition to contraception is not an argument for a conscience exemption. It is a way of imposing Catholic requirements on non-Catholics. This is religious dictatorship, not religious freedom.
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The Phony Contraception Argument
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The Roman authorities would not have fallen for such a silly argument but for a deep historical disrelish for sex itself. Early Fathers and medieval theologians considered sex unworthy when not actually sinful. That is why virgin saints and celibate priests were prized above married couples. Thomas Aquinas said that priests must not be married, since those in holy orders handle the sacred vessels and the sacrament itself, and therefore it is proper (decens) that they preserve, by abstinences, a body undefiled (munditia corporalis) (Summa Theologiae, Part 3 Supplement, Question 53, article 3, Response). Marriage, you see, makes for defilement (immunditia). The ban on contraception is a hangover from the period when the body itself was considered unclean, as Peter Brown overwhelmingly proved in The Body and Society (1988).
The Phony Church Teaches Argument
Catholics who do not accept the phony argument over contraception are said to be going against the teachings of their church. That is nonsense. They are their church. The Second Vatican Council defines the church as the people of God. Thinking that the pope is the church is a relic of the days when a monarch was said to be his realm. The king was Denmark. Catholics have long realized that their own grasp of certain things, especially sex, has a validity that is lost on the celibate male hierarchy. This is particularly true where celibacy is concerned.
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The Phony Undying Principle Argument
Rick Santorum is a nice smiley fanatic. He does not believe in evolution or global warming or women in the workplace. He equates gay sex with bestiality (Rick Man on Dog Santorum). He equates contraception with the guillotine. Only a brain-dead party could think him a worthy presidential candidate. Yet he is praised by television pundits, night and day, for being sincere and standing by what he believes. He is the principled alternative to the evil Moderation of Mitt Romney and the evil Evil of Newt Gingrich. He is presented as a model Catholic. Torquemada was, in that sense, a model Catholic. Messrs. Boehner and McConnell call him a martyr to religious freedom. A young priest I saw on television, modeling himself on his hero Santorum, said, I would rather die than give up my churchs principles. What we are seeing is not a defense of undying principle but a stampede toward a temporarily exploitable lunacy. Acton to the rescue!
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