CHAPTER 14
Planned Parenthood, Contraceptives and Sexual Dysfunctions
IS PLANNED PARENTHOOD WRONG? Is the use of contraceptives contrary to
God's biblical teachings? The Roman Catholic Church has always
responded, "YES!" But if the BIBLE -- the HOLY WORD OF GOD --
the Maker's INSTRUCTION BOOK to mankind -- be your true AUTHORITY, it
says no such thing! Sometimes the case of Onan is cited, in an effort to
sustain the false dogma against intelligent planned parenthood.
But that
incident upholds no such teaching.
Judah, father of the Jews, had three
sons.
Er, Judah's eldest son, died, leaving a childless widow.
By
Israelitish law, it then became the legal duty for Judah's second son,
Onan, to marry the widowed Tamar, for the very purpose of begetting a
son to bear the deceased brother's name.
The legal statute involved here
is stated in Deuteronomy 25 (RSV trans.
): "If brothers dwell
together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead
shall not be married outside the family to a stranger; her husband's
[unmarried] brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and
perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.
And the first son whom
she bears shall succeed to the name of his brother who is dead"
(Deut.
25:5-6).
Now continue the story of Onan: "But Onan knew that
the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother's wife
he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his
brother" (Gen.
38:9-10, RSV).
So God destroyed Onan.
WHY? Not for
planned parenthood -- not for intelligent spacing of the arrival of
children in a happy family.
Onan's purpose in preventing conception was
nothing of the kind.
He prevented conception because he knew that the
son born would not belong to him -- he did it "lest he should give
offspring to his brother.
" Onan's SIN was not planned parenthood.
There is no biblical law forbidding planned parenthood.
His sin was his
refusal to OBEY THE LAW which required him to beget a son to bear his
brother's name.
His disobedience of THAT LAW was his sin.
No such law
pertains to New Testament Christians.
Animals do not practice planned
parenthood, because they have no MINDS to do the thinking, reasoning and
planning.
With animals conception takes place as a result of instinct.
It is automatic.
Reproduction is the sole purpose of sex in animals.
NOT
SO with humans.
Sex serves the wonderful purpose of LOVE-giving in
marriage.
Humans are endowed with MINDS.
Humans were placed on earth for
the express PURPOSE of developing godlike CHARACTER -- learning to make
right decisions, with prayerful guidance from God and His Word, and to
exercise the self-direction to rightly act on those decisions.
Planned
parenthood violates NO LAW OF GOD! Planned parenthood is a definite
contribution to this supreme purpose of character building.
It entails,
of course, the responsibility for right and wise planning.
Any teaching
or legislating which violates this divine PURPOSE of God -- which
instills in wives the dread and fear of pregnancy -- is a religious
heresy, and/or a violation of the higher Laws of Almighty GOD! No wife
should ever need to suffer the fear of pregnancy.
It is natural for
every wife to want to become a mother.
To prevent having children and
producing a FAMILY would be a direct violation of God's command,
"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
" But to
PLAN a family in an intelligent manner, as to the time of the first
arrival, and the time-spacing of other children -- that is a different
matter.
Nothing in the Bible forbids this.
MUCH in the Bible, in
principle, supports it! At this point, I STOP! I had intended, in this
revised edition, to include a chapter dealing with the subjects of
contraceptives, and of sexual dysfunctions.
A certain percentage of
marriages are troubled with sexual dysfunctions, either on the part of
the wife or of the husband.
But on further thought I have changed my
mind.
I deliberately avoided giving technical contraceptive information
in the two previous editions of this book.
It was offered free to our
"Plain Truth" subscribers.
I felt the book might fall into
teenage hands -- and I felt it should.
But also I knew that, prior to
marriage, they should not be in any rightful and moral NEED of
contraceptive knowledge.
Of course many of them have that knowledge
already -- only many of them get it "dirty" from other kids --
and improper knowledge.
I do not wish to encourage premarital sex by
supplying such knowledge -- and in this book it could serve such a
purpose.
Therefore I will say simply that married people who need such
information may find it available in books that may be purchased at
bookstores.
On contraceptives I will mention two.
One is
"Conception, Birth and Contraception -- a Visual Presentation"
by Robert J.
Demarest, Department of Anatomy, College of Physicians
& Surgeons, Columbia University, and John J.
Sciarra, M.
D.
, Ph.
D.
,
Department of Gynecology, University of Minnesota.
Publishers, the
Blakiston Division, McGraw Hill Book Co.
The other is "The Birth
Control Book" by Howard I.
Shapiro, M.
D.
, published by Avon, a
Division of The Hearst Corp.
, 959 Eighth Ave.
, New York.
As to sexual
dysfunctions in the male and in the female, such as premature
ejaculation, or orgasmic dysfunctions, "The New Sex Therapy"
by Helen Singer Kaplan, M.
D.
, Ph.
D.
, head of Sex Therapy and Education
program, Cornell University, and Payne Whitney Clinic, the New York
Hospital.
Published by Quadrangle, the New York Times Book Co.
The most
generally recognized authorities on sex instruction are Masters and
Johnson of St.
Louis.
They began their researches several years ago at
Washington University, St.
Louis.
They are William H.
Masters, M.
D.
, and
Virginia E.
Johnson (who is Mrs.
Masters).
They now head the
Reproductive Biology Research Foundation of St.
Louis.
They have
published several books, and I think almost any bookstore would procure
for you one of their latest books.