Rob Colquhoun

Why is being pro life so important?

 

Abortion is the most important and contentious issue our country faces because every year, 200,000 unborn children are murdered by induced abortion, when they do not have the ability to defend themselves. In the words of Roman Giertych, the Polish deputy prime minister and education minister said in 2007 that, “The nation that kills its children is a nation without a future.” Because human life is sacred from the moment of conception, it is most important that we nurture life and ensure it is revered as precious. In the British parliament, 700 hours were spent debating the foxhunting legislation whereas just 3 hours were spent debating the value of unborn children, when the topic of abortion had not been properly addressed since 1990.

 

If we consider what is at stake in the pro life issues, if the pro choice position is objectively true, the right to choose should be a right and no-one should undergo the inconvenience of an unwanted child. But should the pro life position be correct, hundreds of thousands of babies are being brutally murdered, many for the sake of handiness. It is time to draw the line- both positions cannot be correct simultaneously.

 

Professor Stuart Campbell has greatly helped the pro life movement by showing some 3D pictures of babies in the womb doing typically the things that babies do: sucking their thumb, yawning and smiling. This has helped to communicate the human nature of the foetus- a counter argument those who just presume that is a clump of cells. Modern technology has helped us to visualise what normally is hidden inside the womb, helping us to see that a baby inside the womb is not terribly dissimilar to one outside the womb.

 

Doctor Bernard Nathanson has made a thoroughly convincing film called the silent scream. In this we see how a baby, just prior to be aborted, gives off considerable stressful signs and attempts to avoid being attacked by the tools of the abortionist. It compellingly conveys how human life is just as present in the womb and can even struggle to live and communicate inside the womb. This particularly tragic incident caused Doctor Bernard to change heart from being ardently pro choice to firmly pro life. And through his work he has managed to influence many thousands of others.

 

Jana Tutkova has been doing some excellent pro life work in Slovakia. During contentious debates about whether abortion is constitutional or not, Jana has made many adverts of aborted foetuses on billboards around the country- forcing the debate into the public and getting many people to wake up to the genocide that is happening. Although the billboards are particularly graphic and would not pass advertising standards in the UK, Jana has managed to change hearts and minds by the sheer reality of what abortion is. Jon Snow in the UK dismissed this approach in the UK as sheer propaganda, but the pictures are precisely what happens in reality behind closed doors.

 

Many have forgotten that abortion is still a crime in the United Kingdom as it has only been partially decriminalised. Part of the reforms of the 1967 abortion law in 1990 was to allow abortions up to birth for those suspected of having a disability. We have great numbers of laws for the provision of disabled toilets, ramps and access across the country, but when the disabled are being screened and murdered before they are able to access all these wonderful services we can see that something is seriously wrong! How is it possible that discrimination of the disabled is permitted so blatantly in the womb, but not on the pavement? Abortion laws have largely come in the twentieth century as part of a culture of death that has descended on the western world. Many women abort the only children they will ever have. This is a true tragedy, yet there is healing, compassion, mercy and forgiveness for those who have had this terrible experience.

 

Above all, a new sexual revolution needs to occur with a phenomenal culture change before the scourge of abortion diminishes in the western world. This will happen through the rediscovery of modesty and chastity as joyful ways of life. An opening of many compassionate alternatives to abortion also needs to be examined, such as housing, adoption and counselling for those involved in this trauma.  

 

 

A tremendous amount of ignorance surrounds the fascinating, liberating and enchanting world of natural family planning (NFP). This form of family planning shows us that fertility is in fact a wondrous gift and a normal and healthy condition that should not be repressed or fiddled with. A woman’s fertility is cyclical and naturally manageable. As a holistic approach, it helps and empowers women to make healthy and ethical reproductive choices about their fertility.

 

The Creighton model is unarguably the best model of natural fertility management. This model relies on biological indicators that are signs of human fertility. The model helps couples to sees precisely on what days it is possible to become pregnant during a woman’s cycle. This knowledge enhances the ability to achieve or avoid pregnancy. This model is 99.5% effective for avoiding pregnancy.[1] This makes it the most effective method of avoiding pregnancy, more than the contraceptive bill and barrier methods. When used to achieve pregnancy, the model is 76% effective in the first cycle and 98% within 6 months. The model is the most effective way to pinpoint ovulation. In this way they come to understand and respect fertility as a wonder and not a disease that needs to be discarded, or a light switch that can be turned on and off at will.

 

The model can help couples to discover alternative ways of intimacy other than genital intercourse. Many couples have mentioned a sort of honeymoon effect after short periods of abstinence. Fertility becomes a shared responsibility between men and women and this facilitates deeper communication between couples. This leads to a deeper level of care and respect between couples and a strengthening of their relationship. There are several markers in the Creighton model that help to show the depth of risk of infertility or miscarriage. Early treatment is the best option for combating infertility. The method teaches couples how to care for their fertility, helping them detect and prevent gynaecological problems.

 

Overall the Creighton model is highly reliable, medically safe, inexpensive and versatile. It helps couples to appreciate and value the mystery of fertility and self knowledge. Many people are coming to realise the significance of protecting and preserving one’s fertility. It has been reported that around one in six couples have infertility problems in the UK. As there are no harmful side effects of NFP from any synthetic hormones, normal fertility is permitted in the way it was designed. A familiarity with the natural rhythms of your body helps to generate self respect and self worth. As the Creighton model requires no medical intervention or monitoring, couples themselves learn how to become their own fertility experts. The model is inexpensive to learn about and certainly substantially cheaper than forms of contraception. As a method of family planning it is not a method of contraception.

 

Condoms can cause irritation or allergic reactions.[2] The inter-uterine device can cause pelvic infection or perforation of the womb. The depo Provera can cause irregular menses, acne, weight gain, headaches and breast pain.[3] The contraceptive pill can cause Breast cysts, weight gain, headaches, nausea, vomiting, irregular bleeding, delay the return of normal fertility, increase risk of breast cancer, liver tumours, elevated blood pressure, heart attacks, phlebitis and stroke.[4] But the Creighton model has no side effects whatsoever. By bother damaging your body and fertility when the natural processes are the best and most effective?

 

It is truly astonishing that this model is not well known about in most households in the country. Even doctors have substantial ignorance about the model. This is most likely due to the lack of financial incentives in promoting the model and the overwhelming profits made by other forms of contraception. The government should do more to promote this model in order to help couples with fertility problems and because it is without doubt the best method of achieving and avoiding pregnancy. With this in mind, who would want to use methods that create further complications?

 

But perhaps most fascinating of all, couples that use natural family planning have a divorce rate of one to three percent.[5] Taking into consideration the average divorce rate in the UK is around 40% at present, this is a staggering statistic. It clearly shows that NFP helps encourage intimacy and stability in relationships. If only cosmopolitan magazine would listen!

 

The fallacy of so called ‘safe’ sex

 

It has been said that societies that do not direct their sexual energies toward the good of marriage and family begin to crumble.[1] In Britain, our government has wholeheartedly put its weight behind a drive to promote sex education offering free condoms, morning after pills while being taught safe sex. Without a shred of conceivable doubt, this project has been an utter disaster. From 1999-2004 sexually transmitted diseases had increased 62 percent, while teenage pregnancies were also up, in some areas leaping 34 percent. Most notably the areas with the greatest increases were in areas where the government had implemented its program.[2] Our government is so engorged in the contraceptive ideology that it has even allowed tax breaks for some contraceptives for the rest of society.

 

Ultimately the message of safe sex is hugely oxymoronic. No form of contraception is 100% effective, and our bodies are stubbornly protective of fertility, because the propagation of the species is too important. The notion that you can ‘protect’ yourself against somebody you want to be closest to leads to the conclusion that pregnancy is a disease to be avoided. When a young unmarried woman becomes sexually active, she is more exposed to becoming depressed, suicidal, have more break ups and later in life become divorced. ‘Safe’ sex is not safe for the soul. It’s deceiving to pretend that condoms are safe when they provide so little protection against so many STDs. Condoms offer little or no protection against the deadly Human papillomavirus.[3] Given oral sex can transmit virtually every STD[4] is it ideological that governments continue to promote this farcical message?

 

First, let’s consider how safe the birth control pill is. The pill affects the blood clotting ability of the body, leading to a significant increase in risk of heart disease and stroke.[5] Women on the pill are up to five times more likely to have a stroke than non pill users and three times more likely to have a heart attack.[6] The birth control pill increases a woman’s chance of having breast cancer, cervical cancer and liver cancer. Twenty one of twenty three studies of women who took the pill before their first child showed increased risk of breast cancer. Birth control pills meddle with a woman’s immune system, making her more likely to contract certain STDs. And of course, contrary to popular belief, the birth control pill can also be an abortifacient. As the pill has the same side effects as pregnancy, this means weight gain, moodiness, skin change and nausea. Even Alfred Kinsey, a lynchpin of the sexual revolution, realised that “At the risk of sounding repitious, I would remind the group that we have found the highest frequency of induced abortion in the group which, in general, most frequently used contraceptives.”[7]

 

The pill can cause more than 150 biological changes in a woman according to the textbook of contraceptive practice. This can include gallbladder disease, headache, bleeding irregularities, ectopic pregnancy, yeast infection, changes to the curvature of the eye, excessive hair growth in unusual places, acne, and partial or complete loss of vision. There are many effects of the pill that are yet to be fully understood in the way they damage and upset the delicate yet beautiful aspects of womanhood. The pill was supposed to bring great liberation to women, but in the words of Christopher West, “Contraception is a sure way to keep women in chains.”[8]

 

There’s one group of people who definitely do not want women to find out about the extent of damage that the pill does to a woman’s body and fertility. Given one pill called Ortho Tri-Cyclen recorded $715 million in sales in 2003, it is patently obvious that the pharmaceutical industry does not want the public to know how dangerous the pill is. After all, it would dent their profits!

 

But surely condoms are ‘safe’ then? Increased condom use by teens is associated with increased out-of-wedlock birth rates”[9] Not one country that has primarily used condoms as a primary means to prevent AIDS has had any success.[10] So called ‘protection’ decreases with every repeated exposure. Other reports show that there have been higher unwed birthrates among sexually experienced teens despite increased condom use.[11] It is quite patronising to teenagers to assume that they cannot control their behaviour, and then to call a small piece of latex ‘safe,’ when in reality its primary aim is the subliminal endorsement of promiscuity. Every teenager is capable of making responsible decisions and controlling their behaviour.

 

Some people argue that teenagers are simply going to do it anyway, and therefore we should endorse a policy of appeasement. It’s impossible to deliver a convincing abstinence message whilst at the same time handing out condoms- for a start people might think you were schizophrenic. If you want those you love to hear the truth in charity, we should want the best with every person. We are all able to make rational choices. With the issue between life and death at stake with unwanted teenage pregnancies and a plethora of nasty sexually transmitted diseases that condoms don’t really protect against anyway- it is more than treacherously negligent to pretend condoms are safe.

 

A woman’s body is the apex of creation and of outstanding natural beauty. When we artificially tamper with God’s great gift of fertility, in reality we create more problems than we solve. That’s why natural family planning is in accord with God’s great design of the body, as is as effective as any contraceptive measure. In the words of Clement of Alexandria, “To have coitus other than to procreate children is to do injury to nature.”[12]

 

There is one method that is 100% effective against STDs, unwanted pregnancies and the physical, emotional and spiritual problems connected with pre-marital sex. The virtue of chastity protects the relationship we are in and helps us to be captivated by the beauty and pleasure of God’s way. True love waits and plans. It is capable of differentiating between physical involvement and true affection. Rather than being prudish, chastity helps us to avoid the heartache of quick emotional entanglements and leaves us well prepared for marriage and spotless before God. Chastity is a crown of triumph for those who achieve it.

 

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Boy meets Girl Biblical Quotations (NAB)

 

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

 

John 13:35 This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

 

Deutoronomy 4:5 Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the LORD, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths.

 

Proverbs 12:15 The way of the fool seems right in his own eyes, but he who listens to advice is wise.

 

Proverbs 24:26 He gives a kiss on the lips who makes an honest reply.

 

Proverbs 7:18 Come, let us drink our fill of love, until morning, let us feast on love!

 

Proverbs 15:1 A mild answer calms wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 19:2 Without knowledge even zeal is not good; and he who acts hastily, blunders.

Proverbs 7:5 That they may keep you from another's wife, from the adulteress with her smooth words.

Proverbs 31:10 When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls.

 

Proverbs 12:4 A worthy wife is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful one is like rot in his bones.

 

Proverbs 20:4 In seedtime the sluggard plows not; when he looks for the harvest, it is not there.

 

Proverbs 29:22 An ill-tempered man stirs up disputes, and a hotheaded man is the cause of many sins.

 

Proverbs 15:22 Plans fail when there is no counsel, but they succeed when counselors are many.

 

Proverbs 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than in a roomy house with a quarrelsome woman.

 

Proverbs 21:19 It is better to dwell in a wilderness than with a quarrelsome and vexatious wife.

 

Proverbs 18:2 The fool takes no delight in understanding, but rather in displaying what he thinks.

 

Proverbs 11:9 With his mouth the impious man would ruin his neighbor, but through their knowledge the just make their escape.

 

Proverbs 5:15-22 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. How may your water sources be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let your fountain be yours alone, not one shared with strangers; And have joy of the wife of your youth, your lovely hind, your graceful doe. Her love will invigorate you always, through her love you will flourish continually, When you lie down she will watch over you, and when you wake, she will share your concerns; wherever you turn, she will guide you. Why then, my son, should you go astray for another's wife and accept the embraces of an adulteress? For each man's ways are plain to the LORD'S sight; all their paths he surveys; By his own iniquities the wicked man will be caught, in the meshes of his own sin he will be held fast.

 

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

 

1 Corinthians 15:28 When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will (also) be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

 

1 Corinthians 7:12-16 To the rest I say (not the Lord): if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she is willing to go on living with him, he should not divorce her; and if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to go on living with her, she should not divorce her husband. For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through the brother. Otherwise your children would be unclean, whereas in fact they are holy. If the unbeliever separates, however, let him separate. The brother or sister is not bound in such cases; God has called you to peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband; or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

 

 

1 Corinthians 7:39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whomever she wishes, provided that it be in the Lord.

 

1 Corinthians 7:25-40 Paul’s Marriage Advice

Ephesians 2:22-3 Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:3-4 Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.

Ephesians 4:26, 29 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger. No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear.

 

Ephesians 5:21-33 Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So (also) husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "For this reason a man shall leave (his) father and (his) mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church. In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband.

 

Hebrews 13:4, 8 Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

 

Hebrews 10:24-5 We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality, that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God; not to take advantage of or exploit a brother in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly affirmed. For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.

 

Galations 3:13 Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree,"

 

2 Samuel 11

 

Psalm 102:27

 

Colossians 2:23 While they have a semblance of wisdom in rigor of devotion and self-abasement (and) severity to the body, they are of no value against gratification of the flesh.

 

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good.

 

Titus 2:3-8 Similarly, older women should be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to drink, teaching what is good, so that they may train younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, chaste, good homemakers, under the control of their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited. Urge the younger men, similarly, to control themselves, showing yourself as a model of good deeds in every respect, with integrity in your teaching, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be criticized, so that the opponent will be put to shame without anything bad to say about us.

 

 

Song of Soloman 8:4

 

Forgiveness 1 John 1:9 If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17, 21 So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

 

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.

 

Jeremiah 17:9-10 More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the LORD, alone probe the mind and test the heart, To reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds.

 

 

Exodus 33:19-20 He answered, "I will make all my beauty pass before you, and in your presence I will pronounce my name, 'LORD'; I who show favors to whom I will, I who grant mercy to whom I will. But my face you cannot see, for no man sees me and still lives.

 

 

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.

 

Psalm  50:21 When you do these things should I be silent? Or do you think that I am like you? I accuse you, I lay the charge before you.

 

Colossians 3:18 Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord.

 

Luke 14:28-9 Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him

 

Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

 

Luke 17:3-4 Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him."

 

Amos 3:3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed?

 

God’s Affirmation Psalm 119:73 Your hands made me and fashioned me; give me insight to learn your commands.

 

Psalm 139:2 you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.

 

Human history will culminate in a wedding Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready.

 

Matthew 19:1-9 When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.Great crowds followed him, and he cured them there. Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?" He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss (her)?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery."

 

Matthew 5:31-2 It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.' But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

 

Matthew 6:31 So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'

 

Romans 7:2-3 Thus a married woman is bound by law to her living husband; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law in respect to her husband. Consequently, while her husband is alive she will be called an adulteress if she consorts with another man. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and she is not an adulteress if she consorts with another man.

 

Romans 8:28 We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

 

Romans 12:4-5, 10 For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor.

 

Romans 12:17-21 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, on your part, live at peace with all. Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." Rather, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head." Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.

 

Romans 14:19 Let us then pursue what leads to peace and to building up one another.

 

Jeremiah 1:19 They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.

 

1 John 3:16 The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

 

1 John 1:8 If we say, "We are without sin," we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

 

Phil 2:3-4, 14-15 Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but (also) everyone for those of others. Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world,

 

1 Timothy 5:1-2 Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters with complete purity.

 

1 Peter 3:1-4 Likewise, you wives should be subordinate to your husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives' conduct when they observe your reverent and chaste behavior. Your adornment should not be an external one: braiding the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or dressing in fine clothes, but rather the hidden character of the heart, expressed in the imperishable beauty of a gentle and calm disposition, which is precious in the sight of God.

 

 

 

 

 

In the Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis tells a great allegorical story about a ghost of a man afflicted by lust. Lust is represented by a red lizard that sits on the shoulder of the man and whispers convincingly into his ear. The man eventually begins to despair about the lizard, at which point an angel offers to kill it for him. But the man is torn about what to do. The man fears the death of lust will kill him and makes excuse after excuse to the angel to keep the lizard. But finally the man allows the angel to seize and kill the lizard. The angel grasps the reptile, breaks its neck and throws it to the ground. This ghostly man is gloriously transformed into a real and solid being, whilst the lizard, rather than dying is turned into a might stallion. Weeping with tears of joy, the man jumps onto the horse and they fly to the heavens

 Today I would like to consider the subject of love and responsibility. The word chastity today has virtually become extinct and needs to be restored and brought back into common usage. It is a great and noble virtue, embracing purity, fidelity in heart, mind and body. As training in self mastery, it is a sure way to happiness and sets you free to love rather than use. It calls us to remember friendship and forget lust.  It is a stable foundation for a happy marriage. It brings integration, gratitude and joy, preparing us in faithfulness that is a reflection of God’s fidelity to his covenants. If we can’t even say no when the offer of lust is available, what will our yes be worth when the call of authentic love is at stake? Chastity is not a no, but a yes. It is a yes to one’s future spouse. It is a yes to the call to true happiness, patience and joy and the authentic giving of oneself to the other. It is a yes to God in desiring to follow his commandments. In a lifestyle of purity, it becomes evermore easier to desire and choose what is good. God tells us that “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Mt 5:8). I have seen those yearning for meaning and direction in their lives can be enlightened to see that cherishing the gifts that God has given us, even our sexuality, leads to fulfilment. And with all great inventions and designs, the human body too has a manual in order to facilitate its best use. This is called natural law- this is part is the innate sense of good and evil that is automatically engrained in our conscience and mind from an early age. And when we cherish the great gift of sex that God has given us, remembering the very first command to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28), we are able within marriage for the total gift of self, we listen to God’s manual for our lives and what is also instilled in our own hearts too.

 

So when was the last time you heard about chastity from the media? Probably never. In our society the meaning and purpose of sex is greatly misunderstood. Love is deliberately sterilised in marriages for the sake of lust. Lust is pollution against love. It clouds the mind with filth making it incapable of thinking straight.  The vision of marriage being free, faithful, total and fruitful has been challenged and compromised by pre nuptial agreements, same sex unions and increased co-habitation. These four pillars of marriage have been eroded away in western civilization for the sake of so called “safe” and “safer” sex, for the convenience of quick divorces, to allegedly avoid discrimination and to emasculate men and women by accommodating the culture of death that crushes hearts, minds and relationships. These are all paths that very few, if any in their heart of hearts consciously desire to travel down.

 

If you love somebody you want what is truly in their best interests. If you are going to have pre marital sex, you are going to have to justify how, it is in the best interests of a girl to have an increased risk or exposure to, an unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, single parenthood, abortion, depression, divorce, sterility and poverty- and maybe a broken heart on top. The heritage foundation conducted a study in 1995 of 10,000 women aged between 15 and 44, which showed how early initiation of sexual activity is clearly linked to a wide variety of negative life outcomes and decreased happiness.

 

A friend recently asked me, after meeting his girlfriend on the Catholic Unattached Directory, How far can you go with a girl? How far is too far? In the end I had to tell him he was looking at the issue from the wrong perspective. He was interested in how much he could take without crossing the line. And perhaps if he crossed it a couple of times, would it really be such an issue? I told him to imagine that her previous boyfriend was with her, how far would you be willing to see her to go with him, without feeling uneasy? Or perhaps imagine that Jesus and her father are having a conference in the room when you and your girlfriend feeling frisky together. You don’t want to take your girlfriend further away from God. You don’t want to put your relationship in opposition to God’s plans and commands. Then it would be best to contemplate - how much can I give? Can I give my whole self? And in the full giving of self we truly find ourselves.

 

And if we know and can firmly establish that cutting out pre-marital sex cuts the odds of sexually transmitted diseases (some of which cause sterility), out of wedlock pregnancy/childbearing/single motherhood, lowers levels of child and maternal poverty, reduces the probability of abortion and depression[1] increases the likelihood of greater marital stability and greater happiness - then why are we not promoting this message in every school up and down the country? Why must teenagers be duped a patronising lie? They are told they can’t really control their sexual desires so they just need to be appeased with latex. This doesn’t fully protect against pregnancy and disease- but rather is a subliminal endorsement of promiscuity. There is no condom for the heart and the soul.

 

Next week: Examining the fallacy of so called “safe” and “safer” sex and finding alternatives.

 

 

Here are a couple of quotations from the Soul of the Apostolate. This book is venerated as a classic- written by Dom Chautard in the nineteenth century- it tells us of the importance of the spiritual life before emarking on apostolic works. 

Let me consider a few of these venial sins: spiritual laziness preventing me from raising heart to thee; inordinate affection for creatures; haste and impatience; nursing a grievance, fickleness, effeminacy, love of ease; readiness to speak of other people’s faults without any reason; dissipation, curiousity having no relation to the glory of God; talkativeness, tattling, vain and rash judgements about my neighbour; vain self complacency; contempt of others; criticism of their conduct; looking for admiration and praise and doing things for these motives; showing off what is to my advantage; presumption, obstinacy, jealously, lack of respect for authority, grousing; want of motification in eating and drinking etc. What a swarm of venial sins or at least of deliberate imperfections may invade my soul and deprive me of the abundant graceswhich thou didst reserve for me from all eternity.

Soul of the Apostolate, p215-6, Dom Chautard, O.C.R., revised edm 1959, Burns and Oates (London).

 

“No work takes deep root, or is really solid and lasting, unless the apostle has created the interior life in other souls. Now he cannot do this, unless he himself is well nourished in his interior life.”

 

Soul of the Apostolate, p117, Dom Chautard, O.C.R., revised edm 1959, Burns and Oates (London).

 

 

 

Consequentialist-

1. Helps to see the bigger picture- full extent of position and especially possibility to end war. The end justifies means in this sense. Henry Sidgwick- every individual seeks own pleasure.

 

2. would bomb for the sake of lives saved in hypothetical calculation of consequences. Speculative nature of consequences presents the dubious nature of ethical calculation. Ethics of act of murder not so important as the after effects. Corruptibible by hedonism and self interest, emotivism, corruption.

 

Virtue Ethics-

1. virtues, habits, character. Purpose of human life, happiness, difficulty of establishing nature of virtues. Reduces legalism, focus on person’s character. Conceptions of virtues- enables individual to discharge social role (homer), enable individual to natural/supernatural achievement of telos (Aristotle), achieve earthly and heavenly success (Franklin). Possession and exercise of virtue enables us to achieve goods.

 

2. not bomb- bad for character and person involved in dropping bomb. Not virtuous for person to kill others. Firm disposition to do good. Allows person to perform good acts. Give best for himself. Hero- admiration even in failure. Virtue habitual. Tends towards good with all sensory and spiritual powers. Truth, honour, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellence, praise- thing about these. Virtuous life to become like God. Happiness, friendship, love, pleasure, honour, contemplation. Friendship, Justice, temperance, wisdom, courage, Aristotelian virtue

 

Natural Law

1. Objective moral absolutes. Best of goods for all. Complete well being perfection. Reason. Experience. Seeking happiness fulfilment. Respect nature way we were made. Reflect on who I am and what I seek. Foundational ways of life. Necessary way for fulfilling nature. Ethics of action not consequence. Universal application.

 

2. not bomb- wrong to murder. Universal applies everywhere. Not lead to happiness. Personal ethics wrong and law wrong. Wrong on virtues and values.

 

3. MOST USEFUL: natural law… embedded in human nature. Objective morality – is true to morals and not corrupted or tempted by justification by other means. Not embedded with duty or consequences. Divine law, transcendent, embedded in humanity. CICERO – true law right reason in agreement with nature. Virtue ethics – does not fully subscribe to objectivity – versatility a hindrance to true moral reflection. Example strongly conditioned towards consequences- encourages us to ignore the given objective morality of murder.

Consequentialism- good produced rather than the inherent rightness of action. Maximum happiness utility calculation of consequences Bentham Prinicples of morals and legislation 1789. humans seek pleasure avoid pain. Criteria- how measured. Ethics in quantative terms. Mill U 1861.- quantity- quality. Maximum benefit from min resources. Duration/intensity/certainty. John Austin (province of jurisprudence, 1832) –good when persued by all community.

+common sense, consequences, not transcendent/rel needed. Egalitarian/ public method, practical decision making. Maximising results determines morals.

-calculation inaccurate.goods incommensurable. Goods ambiguous- who decides? Pluralism no moral boundaries. Ignores acting person. No duty, obligation, mutual bonds closeness.

 

Virtue – Gk excellence nicoethics. Anscombe modern mphil 1958. ignore character feelings. Practice pleasure teacher right feelings. Virtues help happy life. All round wellbeing. Peter Geach Virtues 1977 need for things in life control guide passions. Hume passions needed useful to possessor, society.

+ Emhpasize person, moral education, treats life as whole, no principle to base decisions.

- virtue leads to unhappiness, attractive vice, good effects of vice, cultural relativism, good evil missing. Less concentration on objectivity of act concentration on person making decision.

 

Natural law: complete well being, perfection. What we should seek. Reason, nature, how we shall live. Experience base. CICERO de repulice ‘True law is right reason in agreement with nature. Applied universally and unchanging everlasting. Aq –participate divine law. Moral code naturally inclination.

+unity personal ethics law. Combination of best.virtue and values. Rational multicultural debate. Objective, moral absolutes.

- disagree principles implications. Nature ideology not imposition. Outdated theistic cosmology. Happiness Xn morality.transcendent horizon.

God is immutable

 

To deny that God is immutable is to deny Jewish and Christian tradition. Malachi 1:6 states that God is the same forever. The Psalms (101:27) state that God is unchanging. James talks of God as having no shadow of alteration and 1 John 4:8, 16 speaks of God as love. Some people believe that God cannot be compassionate (merciful) unless he changes. Hegel believed that God developed towards a complete realisation of himself over time (so called process theology).

 

God is the unmoved mover, so there is nothing potential in him as he is sheer actuality. There is loss and gain in all change, so God cannot be perfect so long as he changes. God simply is from all eternity. There is no before or after in God. He is eternally all there is without ceasing to be anything that he is. His immutability follows his complete simplicity. There is no complexity in God.

 

God is not perfect if he changes. If he is changeable, his happiness could change. But God’s happiness does not depend on anything else. He is happy in himself from eternity. God made things, not out of necessity, but to share his happiness with other beings, whom he created. God is like the sun which always shines above the clouds.

 

God does not change, he simply is all that he is: goodness, wisdom, life, justice, power and mercy. This is not a static view of God as he is sheer actuality.

 

Did the creation of the world involve a change in God? No.

Creation was not a change of anything nor therefore of God. There was no time before creation. God did not create in time. God acts solely by intellect and will.

 

Some people argue that God became incarnate in time. So therefore there was a time before he became incarnate. But, the incarnation was not a change in God, who united an individual human nature to himself in one divine person, the son of God. God himself is not inside of time but outside time, because he is not one of changing things. God’s knowledge did not change when he became incarnate because God is the truth and his mind does not change. God knows the variation of things invariably. He eternally knows that things are true for one time and not true for another.

 

Can God be love unless he is compassionate and how can he be passionate unless he suffers? If God suffers, divine nature is not impassable. Can God be love without suffering? Aquinas says the mercy of God wills to lift us up from our misery. God does enter into our misery as man in the person of the son, but the incarnation was not a change of God or of divine nature.

 

So we can say God suffers because the person who suffered in his human nature was also God. We do not predicate ‘suffered’ of divine nature but of the person who is God and man. God is compassionate because he is merciful. His mercy is that he gives grace to whom he wills, not because he is moved by us. God’s compassion does not consist in being affected by others but in effecting things. It lies in the effects of mercy, not in any chance in God himself. (ST 1a 21,3).  Aquinas believes that God’s compassion appears in all his works. He does not have opinions or beliefs and as he does not have hopes he is not disappointed. In his essence God is closer to us than any other creature. Our sufferings are Christ’s in his body. God’s love is always actualised, because he is pure actuality.

 

A changing world requires an unchanging first cause. God does not evolve as he is already perfect. A changeable God is a contradiction (Peter Geach, Truth and Hope, p4). As God does not change, he is eternal: he simply is without before or after. God’s existence is unbounded and as he is outside time, everything is present to him. If God is mutable, he is not infinite, because change involves loss and gain.