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"And I bristle at those who insist a Just God would not provide a reliable natural and knowable means of delaying or spacing pregnancy so that each conceived child has a better chance to live."

I have trouble with this comment. Innocent life is lost every day and many born will not get a "better" chance than they could have. God's Plan is not entirely subject to human analysis, He is Infinite, we are less than dust motes. I think your experience with death by dysentery (a horrid death) may have colored your view of Divine Providence.

I think your experience with death by dysentery (a horrid death) may have colored your view of Divine Providence.

On the contrary, I think my experience with both third world medical missionary work and first world NFP instruction has illuminated for me just how wrong some extreme traditionalists are when they make blanket condemnations of NFP use. Such an attitude was illustrated by an editorial on www.seattlecatholic.com several months ago, to which I responded with a letter to ed. The subsequence letters to ed there responding to my points illustrated these blanket condemnations of NFP use among extreme traditionalists, and further galvanized my opposition to their wrongheaded condemnation of NFP use, something the Roman Catholic Church declared morally licit for grave circumstances.

There's an old saying, "Don't try to be more Catholic than the Pope." I always found that saying to be annoying, but on this subject it is appropriate.