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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
Birth control can be a controversial subject among Christians because the Bible does not clearly condone or condemn its use. Neither does it address permanent forms of birth control such as tubal l...
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Mike Joshua
I am a very happily married Christian and I have two children. It is true that the bible doesn't give clear direction on this particular issue and as such it is open to being divisive for many people should they choose to take a stance in one camp or another for whatever reason. As such, issues such as these I believe are best left to the grace our beautiful God has given to each couple to make the decision together. It is then incumbent upon me as a Christain sibling to respect them for who they are in Christ with the decision they have been led by God to take; whether they practice the calendar method as stated above, or indeed any other method God has given man the wisdom to create I am not to judge their discernment of His leading. I fail to understand the statement about why a woman or a man would seek extra marital relationships purely because of contraception; perhaps I am missing something obvious and if I am I apologise. Lust, and sexual immorality form in the human heart and are our own evil. Making excuses for them is unhelpful. The burdens on our society of what our generation call 'unwanted pregnancies' are heavy and the social costs are unfathomable for those concerned when the family unit is not as God would intend it to be. As adult human beings we are given the gift of choice and for as much as we use various other medical and practical options in our lives when it suits us, I think it is both wise and prudent to consider all options and practical and financial responsibilities when having a family. Getting alongside God and asking Him to oversee your decision making is both wise and biblical, if He leads you to contraception, then trust His wisdom.
James Kraft
My wife and I had four children in 5 years, and my wife believed that she should not have anymore. I agreed with her and so had a vasectomy instead of her going through surgery that would be much more involved. I also knew that it would place more responsibility on me to keep myself pure. That is one of the reasons I always came straight home from work and from ever giving my wife reason to doubt my love for her and her alone. I never let myself be caught in a compromising situatiion. We were very young at the time, and the only reason I could give before God was that I loved my wife and felt in my heart that I was honoring both her and god by going ahead with it. After we lost our second son in his fortys to a motorcycle accident, I wondered if I had made a mistake. But the God of all grace assured me that it had nothing to do with his death. I do believe that decisions like this have to be made between the husband and the wife before God, and no one else. I do have to say it probably led me to higher purity knowing that with my new freedom came a higher responsibilty. Just my own story, and yours may be different. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Ma. Bernadette Lavin
In my humble opinion, life, being a miracle in itself, should be given respect as it comes from God. It is God that breathes life into us and it is God who takes it away. Once the sperm and egg unite, there is life. Preventing the union of sperm and egg is therefore preventing God from performing His miracle. These medical procedures of contraception to my belief, are only justifiably permissible, if performed out of necessity (if pregnancy would pose a danger to the mother's life). Other than that, being permissive of contraception would be wrong because the downside to it is that it can encourage extra marital relationships or infidelity. In all things, if we can't seem to find it explicitely stated in the Bible, it does not mean it's okay or the right thing. That is why we were given conscience along with the Holy Spirit, so that we can find the answer within ourselves between what is morally right and wrong. There is a way for birth control that doesn't require these medical procedures and this is by using the calendar method wherein couples refrain from having intercourse in the week that the woman may be fertile. This is the only method of birth control I feel is permissible as a Christian.
ELAKODICAL KURIAKO
True that permanent birth control methods were not known when the Bible was written. But even temporary birth control method practiced by Onan in the story of Tamar and Onan that we read in Genesis was not at all acceptable to God. So, certainly a permanent birth control method is not at all acceptable to God.There is chance that this would lead to debauchery and extra marital relationships. The couple should seriously think whether they can afford to give a fairly decent standard of living to their child before planning to have a child. Rather than going for a permanent birth control method, they should practice natural family planning method, going by the calendar and menstruation cycle.
Jack Gutknecht
My wife and I read through the Bible together and came across Psalm 127:4-5. "Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!..." She and I, after having 2 girls, decided that my "quiver" was "full." Quivers come in different sizes. My "quiver" is probably a different size than yours if you're married. So it was decided that I would go through the easier procedure of a vasectomy rather than the potentially more dangerous operation of tubal ligation for the woman. I didn't even consider the added temptation to extramarital relations at the time, being ignorant. The procedure was successful. But then later in life, my wife's health was such that a tubal ligation would help and may have been even necessary for her to live. Having her tubes tied may have been as WebMD said, "It may lower your chances of ovarian cancer. Scientists aren't sure exactly why this happens, but research has shown that tubal ligation can greatly lower a woman's odds of this type of cancer." She had it, and we've been very, very happy ever since!
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