Mastery of Self
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| One Child Policy Propaganda |
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.
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| Tee Hee, Enemy of True Love |
In my last blog post, probably, ever, I would like to discuss, in Pope Paul IV’s Humanae Vitae, Mastery of Self. Here, Pope Paul is trying to get at married couples and their ability or lack of self-control, in context to sex. They should or rather must be clean and untainted and in behaving and engaging in this type of behavior, regulate population and birth rates. The Pope lives in a very black and white world. There is an absolute right and an absolute wrong, but for many of us, this is not true. The world that most of us believe in has many grey areas that are fuzzy and hazy and ever perplexing. Although there are positives to what the Pope is trying to let known. We live in a day and age that enjoys sex.
The Pope’s regulation of birth demands are can be referred to multiple topics. This is one where the positives come into play. There are birth control and contraceptives, but another reference that I wanted to get at was China and their one-child policy. It is safe to assume that china is a great percentage of the world’s population, even with this policy. The world is constantly evolving and growing but are we as a people and a race growing too fast? Are we going to be overpopulated that not only will China enforce a child regulation, but the rest of the world? Pope Paul is insinuating this by stating that too much breeding, to a certain extent, can lower the value of humans.
But, the world is not so absolute. The world loves sex. So to try to regulate or ban what people love is only asking for resistance and opposition. In cultural studies, we see these trends and learn from them. We understand the stance of the Pope but can also see why his word cannot be absolute.
I really liked what you said about the Pope living in a strictly black and white world. The Pope, the church, and especially this Humanae Vitae article always seem to be saying if you don't live your life by these ways and these ways alone you are wrong. I've never been able to understand how some people can fully agree with this when there is nothing that clear cut in any aspect of life. It always seems to be this way with any large organization, like Catholicism, like politics between republicans and democrats, and I don't think I will ever be able to fully identify with these groups.
ReplyDeleteThis defintely sparks a debate. In one case, I can definitely see how some people think it against freedoms and inhumane to restrict families to only one child. But I can also see that if our world gets growing, that people are going to suffer because of a lack of resources including food. A maximum population will be achieved, but only because of suffering because of a lack of resources. So in this case, the pill is a beneficial because people love sex and will continue to have it.
ReplyDeleteThe Pope lives in a black and white world. What a great statement. It's so true!
ReplyDeleteIt makes me want to go and have a chat with him. Tell him that I have a friend who gets periods so heavy she faints when she is not on birth control pills, which help to regulate her period. Well what about when she gets married and wants to have sex with her husband? Is she still banned from Heaven for being on birth control? I certainly hope not. Sex is natural and is only supposed to be shared between a husband and wife - according to the church - and now my friend still can't have sex because she might be preventing babies from being created?
Crazy.