"Birth Control Is Selfish" ... The Message Society Doesn't Want To Hear

No Room for Contraception ^

[nrfcmedia]

"Birth Control Is Selfish" ... The Message Society Doesn't Want To Hear

This past weekend graduates of Saint Thomas University were treated to a surprising speech by 21-year-old graduating student Ben Kessler. Some graduates walked out, many jeered, and others spewed profanities in response to his speech.

Just what did he speak of which caused such an outcry? The War in Iraq? Border control? NSA spying? None of the above.

So, what exactly did Mr. Kessler do wrong? He touched society's third rail: contraception. Mr. Kessler had the audacity to call the use of birth control "an act of selfishness."

One would have expected some encouraging applause from the audience, after all St. Thomas is a Catholic institution. The reality is that many of these Catholic students and family members are themselves using contraception, and Mr. Kessler confronted their lifestyle and the use of contraception.

Mr. Kessler dared to speak about this issue and people didn't want to hear his message. What happened to the exchange of ideas universities are famous for? Where were all of the supposed "open minds" at during this speech? Instead of listening to his speech with an open mind, it seems that they were too busy keeping themselves ignorant by jeering and ridiculing him.

Society has a lust affair with birth control to the point of not being able to think outside of the box. We live in a contraception "matrix" where it's impossible to believe that there are any harmful effects on marriage, society, and the health of women.

This "contraception deception" is the primary force behind the attacks against the contra-contraception message.

For the most part, society doesn't want to hear the message. This message is that, in our culture, contraception leads to increases in abortion, teenage sex, affairs (and subsequent divorce), health problems, and statutory rape. These facts are apparent by simply comparing statistics.

Why are people willfully preserving their ignorance? For the past century, people have lived in a society that endorses the practice of a contraceptive lifestyle of easy, commitment free, and on-demand sex without challenging them to question possible adverse effects.

Mr. Kessler could have spoke about the start of a career, the discernment of a vocation, the undertaking of new responsibilities, or many other subjects related to graduation. But hopefully his bold message will help to his classmates to question the force-fed information they have heard all their lives concerning human sexuality and contraception and arrive at a more natural, healthier view of human sexuality.

The contraception debate is long overdue, and it is people like Mr. Kessler who are breaking down the walls of ignorance, selfishness, and deception. Society may be resistant to this message, but over time the truth will prevail.

[Torie]

I accept your edit, to the extent it is an class based edit, rather than an ethnicity qua ethnicity edit (there are some very bourgeoisie blacks and Hispanics etc). Those of lower socio economic status tend to be more dysfunctional parents, as a statistical matter.

As an addendum, corrected for socio economic class, I suspect Hispanics make better parents than the average.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

http://www.collegesportingnews.com/article.asp?articleid=72422

here's more on Ben Kessler

[RobbyS]

But his audience were kids in a Catholic school in Minnesota. You don't seem to conceded that it is possible to have too FEW kids for the good of society. Six kids? These kids won't have even two of their own. Most likely, though, they will put those kids in a half-million dollar , five bedroom house with a Caddy, and SUV, and A beamer in the garage.

[sinkspur]

I disagree and am happy this young man had the stones to stand up to all the self-important gas-bags who objected.

Of course. Being grateful that you are not like the rest of men is your schtick.

[Nihil Obstat]

nice story, thanks for the link.

[Antoninus]

Nice fantasy. Go to any border town and watch the kids beg to survive.

Yeah, Mexico is poor. Have you actually seen people starving there? I never did. Does poverty mean that they should never have been allowed to live? If so, how many of us would be here today? I myself am the progeny of grandparents who had 8 and 9 brothers and sisters each.

Mexico is officially a secular state. As a practical matter, the Church wields enormous influence on both public and private sectors.

Mexico is beyond "secular"--the elites are predominantly anti-clerical.

As for average birth rate, the lower the education and income, the higher the birthrate. Very common to see 6+ kids in a family.

Are you saying that the figure showing Mexico's birthrate below 3 per family are incorrect? If so, where are you getting your data from? Anecdotal?

[peyton randolph]

Uh, how do you know that? The Catholic education system in this country has helped many of these families.

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Not in Mexico. I've seen it with my own eyes. The only thing worse than a poor family with a bunch of kids in Mexico is a poor Indian family in Mexico with a bunch of kids. The Church tells the parents not to use contraception and then treats these people like outcasts...as if they were lepers. No education system for them. No food for that matter either. I've even seen "good Catholic" businessmen charge these people more for groceries simply because they were illiterate and didn't know they were being taken advantage of...the priests say nothing. Take a trip to a border town...it will break your heart to see the kids who are begging.

[newzjunkey]

This was a ridiculous presentation for commencement, not that the overall topic couldn't be brought forth.

Abuse of contraception is selfish but I don't believe all use of contraception is. This is an obvious problem for young women who maybe choose a selfish aim of contraception to have both a sexual relationship and a career.

Any time heterosexuals have genital sex, using contraception or not, they must (or should be) prepared for a possible pregnancy and willing to embrace that should it happen. If they're not in that state, the relationship is seriously flawed and sexual activity is a bad idea.

There are those who have reached the limits of their ability to provide for children or perhaps they are not mentally (or physically) capable of bringing up children. Should a married couple cease having sex to avoid another pregnancy? The Church tries to have it both ways since it says procreation doesn't have to be the only aim for married couples and suggests so-called natural methods of birth control.

[Torie]

Mexico is about 2.5 (and falling), but Mexicans in the US are about a 3.0, as I recall. That is what happens when couples suddenly get a more money to spend, all other things being equal. Fertility rates are generated by a mix of culture and economics, with economics affecting cultural attitudes over time, but not an instant in time.

[Antoninus]

Those of lower socio economic status tend to be more dysfunctional parents, as a statistical matter.

That wasn't always the case. For instance, I'd put my lower-middle class grandparents up against any Philadelphia blue-blood family from the 1930s in terms of being excellent, loving, caring, self-sacrificing parents. Indeed, based on the upper-middle class/wealthy people we know today, the majority of them are divorced/dysfunctional parents.

I'd say your assumptions are askew somewhat.

[Pyro7480]

The Church tells the parents not to use contraception and then treats these people like outcasts...as if they were lepers.

You're painting with a wide brush, aren't you?

[peyton randolph]

Are you saying that the figure showing Mexico's birthrate below 3 per family are incorrect?

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I'm saying that the lower class has more kids...just as the upper class has fewer kids. The Church has no business telling the poor to avoid contraception when the poor cannot feed their offspring. If the Church wants to financially support the kids, that is another story. However, we know that simply isn't the case in Mexico.

[Pyro7480]

Of course. Being grateful that you are not like the rest of men is your schtick.

You think he's acting like the Pharisee? Citation please. Besides, if you think the commencement speaker is like a Pharisee, I heard him say he himself has acted selfish, so your argument doesn't work.

[Antoninus]

Of course. Being grateful that you are not like the rest of men is your schtick.

You are the master of irony, I'll give you that.

Which do you really think better immitates the example of Christ: A young man who stands up in front of a crowd and tells the Truth regardless of the audience reaction. Or the guy who collars said young man after his speech to reprimand him?

Somehow, I don't see much Jesus in the latter at all.

[Torie]

One might argue that the tails of the bell curve both lead to problems in child rearing. However, the right tail does not have many in it as to numbers. A lower middle class status is probably well within the more stable family cohort quintiles, at least it was, when lower middle class sensibilities were all about achieving respectability.

[Antoninus]

The Church has no business telling the poor to avoid contraception when the poor cannot feed their offspring.

I wasn't aware that Mexico had a starvation problem. Can you cite the relevant articles for me?

[Pyro7480]

The Church has no business telling the poor to avoid contraception when the poor cannot feed their offspring. If the Church wants to financially support the kids, that is another story.

Life isn't just about the material world.

[peyton randolph]

You're painting with a wide brush, aren't you?

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Nope. I've seen it. In one instance, a poor Indian woman walked on her knees from the door of the cathedral to a mummified corpse from the Roman catacombs that had been beatified and lay in a glass coffin (in Guadalajara). She had a half dozen kids with her...all of them malnourished. She was praying for help for her family.

The look of contempt on the priest's face was unforgettable. He looked as if a cockroach had infested the place. Within a few seconds, he left. Her crime was being poor and Indian.

I've lived in different parts of Mexico. Same reactions. Have kids...but if you're poor, don't bother the Church. It is there to collect money...not dole it out.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Why assume that Kessler doesn't want exactly that outcome?