Revise, Rescind.... how about RESTRAINT

Let me start by saying that I was raised Roman Catholic, and my family is being raised the same, but there are many teachings and practices that we have just gone with lately because it is our 'obligation'. I am not totally thrilled with what is happening in the church, and now things are getting political. For the past few Sundays it seems we are hearing campaign speeches instead of homilies and I'm ready to puke about it all. I don't want to have discussions about Birth Control or Abortion at church and I don't want my young children to have to listen to any of it, either. I already have to turn off the news in the morning because of the sex scandals and the drug overdoses that they are reporting about. Yes, I will discuss these matters with my family, but I don't need it in my face at 7am, and I don't want to spend my Sundays having 'the talk' with my kids. Where are the positive, uplifting, inspiring messages to motivate me to do God's will this week? Where are the family-oriented discussions?

Maybe the Catholic church doesn't understand families... I mean, Catechism classes aren't offered at times that make it convenient for working parents to drive children to and fro. Celebrations and feast days should feel like coming home to family dinner rather than simply an obligation we 'get out of the way' a few times a year. Welcome me to church, don't mentally take attendance. If you build it, they will come. If you make it 'home', they will come back....

Anyway, the priests need to all SHUT UP already about birth control - this week, they said Rescind, don't Revise. I say, RESTRAINT is what they should really be teaching. I'm not saying abstinence, I'm saying that Catholics need to trust in the teachings of the Catechists they appoint, and they need to practice what they preach.... So what if birth control is covered by prescription drug plans? That doesn't mean Catholics have to use them. People should be able to show some restraint and even set the example by following their teachings. Dieters have access to Dunkin Donuts, but it doesn't mean we have to ban shopkeepers from selling donuts to fat people. Everyone can walk into a deli, but it shouldn't be the government's business if an Orthodox Jew wants a ham and cheese on rye. People need to control themselves, and laws should not be involved. In addition, the government should not be influenced by any one religion. Leave the judgement in HIS hands.... if God truly believes that birth control is so bad,  He will take action and He will reward his followers and punish the sinners. In the meantime, 'judge not, lest ye be judged'.

God gave mankind the gift of learning, and we have learned to create many pharmaceuticals that have saved millions of lives. How do we know that THAT wasn't God's plan. Lifesaving is not only based on the physical body, it responds to the needs of the emotional soul. Sometimes, birth control is a medical need, providing the hormonal stability some women need to prevent severe pain from headaches or cramps. In other cases, the pill can help a woman with an irregular cycle to have hope for a cycle of a 'normal, healthy' body, and that might give them the hope of being able to use their reproductive organs by giving them the ability to function as they should. I'm not sure of the percentage of who uses the pill for physical needs and who uses it to manage their family size.

Emotionally, the ability to have some control over her life is important to a woman's mental state. Knowing when you are ready to become a parent and being able to plan that aspect of your life is not only smart, it's comforting and it makes better parents. I'm not preaching abstinence, and while the Catholics have their 'mucus monitoring' option, humans have been able to use their God-given intelligence to create an effective way to manage a monthly cycle. I know that sounds sort of like, "If God had wanted us to walk, He wouldn't have invented roller skates" kind of logic, but in a practical way, the point is that sometimes life requires efficiency and reliability, and planning parenthood is one area where I feel people want to and need to take that responsibility.

Some interesting tidbits from today's NJ Star-Ledger:

• In practice, the Catholic church already respects the consciences of responsible adults on birth control. A full 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women have used contraceptives (for evangelicals, it’s nearly 100 percent). Most Catholic theologians reject the church’s teaching on this issue, so the church had long taken more of a "don't ask, don't tell" approach.
• It’s a matter of public health. Spacing pregnancies improves birth outcomes. And if all women had equal access to affordable contraceptives, there would be far fewer abortions and unprepared mothers.
• In the 1960s, when the Catholic church decided people no longer had to pray in Latin, the pope also formed a committee to re-evaluate birth control. More than 80 percent of its members recommended it be allowed for married couples. The pope decided to overrule them.

"We know the leadership doesn’t speak for most Catholics on birth control. And at the end of the day, it’s a choice every woman must be allowed to make for herself, based on her conscience." (Star-Ledger Editorial Board, 2-7-12)

"The Catholic bishops have every right to tell people not to use birth control. That's religious freedom.
But they don't have veto power over how hundreds of thousands of women, many non-Catholic, use their health care plans. That's religious mandate." (Star-Ledger Editorial Board, 2-12-12)

Amen.