Mastery Of Self

Mastery of Self

21. The honest practice of regulation of birth demands first of all that husband and wife acquire and possess solid convictions concerning the true values of life and of the family, and that they tend towards securing perfect self-mastery. Yet this discipline which is proper to the purity of married couples, far from harming conjugal love, rather confers on it a higher human value. It demands continual effort yet, thanks to its beneficent influence, husband and wife fully develop their personalities, being enriched with spiritual values. Such discipline bestows upon family life fruits of serenity and peace, and facilitates the solution of other problems; it fosters attention for one's partner, helps both parties to drive out selfishness, the enemy of true love; and deepens their sense of responsibility.

The 'Mastery of Self' passage in the Humanae Vitae explains how the married couple needs to obtain a certain degree of self control for the purpose of remaining pure and regulating birth. It mentions how being abstinent in marriage is not a bad thing, but a good thing in the ways that it can enhance the love and relationship between the husband and wife. It further goes on to discuss how achieving self mastery helps to diminish the selfishness factor, described as "the enemy of true love" in the marriage. One can see how the Pope is dedicated to advertising that abstinence, in other words, self control even in marriage is a concept that takes focus and effort, but in return will contribute exceptionally to the wellness of the couples' lives.

I feel that remaining abstinent until marriage can be a great, pure goal for someone. Although the Pope describes that regulating birth and not having sex when married is a good thing for the relationship, many people believe that having sex strengthens the relationship between the two people. Having sex is a special action that can further develop the expression of love in a relationship. At this day in age, sex is everywhere; it seems like not many people have the goal of being abstinent. People just want and like to have sex; if a married couple is not active, this may stir up complications because of the desire to have sex more often.

At the beginning of the paragraph, the Pope refers to regulation of birth; many people probably have somewhat of the same idea in mind, although referring to using condoms and birth control pill. China, on the other hand, takes this phrase to a whole other measure, the one child policy. The one child policy, or the family planning policy as the Chinese government refers to it as, came along in 1978. The policy surprisingly only applies to under 40% of China's population; the policy is restricted to married urban couples, not including minorities. This article http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/onechild.htm discusses the one child policy and the effects that it has had. China alone stands for nearly 20% of the world's population. Even though the Pope was not making a reference to overpopulation when mentioning birth regulation, it is certainly becoming a larger issue everyday. Maybe the Pope's statements about abstinence are true, but there are not enough people that are willing to strive for not having sex in this sex crazed world today.