Pope Paul VI in his encyclical letter on the controlling of birth speaks directly to state legislators, governments and nations in his Appeal to Public Authorities.
“23. And now We wish to speak to rulers of nations. To you most of all is committed the responsibility of safeguarding the common good. You can contribute so much to the preservation of morals. We beg of you, never allow the morals of your peoples to be undermined. The family is the primary unit in the state; do not tolerate any legislation which would introduce into the family those practices which are opposed to the natural law of God. For there are other ways by which a government can and should solve the population problem—that is to say by enacting laws which will assist families and by educating the people wisely so that the moral law and the freedom of the citizens are both safeguarded.”
He begins his plea by appealing to the audiences ethos and logos. He recognizes the power and authority that these nations and rulers have over their people, and how they should use that power for the sake of good. He urges these rulers to not allow the morals of their people become corrupt because of the use of birth control or contraception. He then appeals to their logos, he says that instead of using contraception to control populations, it would be more logical to educate the people and enact laws to protect people from the corruption of their morals.
We can see Pope Paul VI plea being played out right before our eyes in modern society. However, I believe that the government and other political groups are interpreting this paragraph from this encyclical letter incorrectly.
In a Huffington Post article by Bill de Blasio, titled The Conservative War Against Planned Parenthood, the issue of creating moral laws and educating individuals is addressed. The Republican party in the United States of America has been pushing increasingly hard for the abolishment or de-funding of the organization Planned Parenthood. This organization was created in 1916 and serves to educate and provide affordable health care for women in the USA. Pope Paul VI pleads nations to create laws and institutions that will educated and protect the people. That is exactly what Planned Parenthood is doing. However, the Republican party (which normally takes a conservative Christian approach to problems), wants to get rid of this organization that has help hundreds of thousands of women become healthy and educated.
“[The Church] urges man not to betray his personal responsibilities by putting all his faith in technical expedients”.
In this quote Pope Paul VI urges humans to not put their faith in technical ways of attaining an end. To this I ask, if we can't put our faith in human's experiments can we really put faith in a God that willed us to discover them?
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