The Catholic Church has received a lot of criticism from the public due to its stance against contraceptives. Priests and Bishops have been criticized as having no credibility on the subject of sex since they are celibate, unmarried men. It may seem that religion and sex are two subjects that have nothing to do with each other. But is this really the case?
In the book of Genesis when God told Adam and Eve to “go forth and multiply”, He was practically telling them to have sex. We can say that it is God who invented sex and marriage and has given it as a gift to man and woman--a way to teach them how to love as He loves. If we are to follow God’s plan of love we will see that sex is not an activity to indulge in selfish pleasure, but an act of giving ourselves. It is also God’s way of making couples participate in bringing new life into this world. We know that this is God’s design because love is His essence, and everything that he does, and every purpose that He has, begins and ends with love. This is the reason why the Church treats sex and especially marriage as sacred and will do everything in its power to keep it the way God has intended it. As sex is a divine creation, it should be considered a religious matter.
Contraception blocks this plan of God. It disrupts the natural order of things, from procreation to the functions of a woman’s body. Anything that blocks nature cannot be good because nature itself is God’s design. Christopher West explained in his article that contraceptives were not invented to prevent pregnancy but so that man does not have to control his sexual desires. We already have a method which is 100% safe and effective at preventing pregnancy and that is abstinence from sex. But abstinence requires self control especially control of one’s desires, which is difficult to do. So contraceptives were invented so that men and women do not have to control their desires.
When you love, there will be many instances when you need to practice self discipline. Caring for another person requires you to forget your selfish desires and put the welfare of the beloved first, even if it's difficult. If self control is taken out of the equation, selfishness will prevail. A relationship where both couples are concerned only with their self interests is bound to fail. Selfishness leads to using other people for your own benefit. With the promotion and widespread use of contraception humans tend to indulge their desires instead of control it, leading to lust instead of love.
