Culture of Death

Pope attacks 'culture of death'

Pope Benedict XVI performed the first baptisms of his pontificate on Sunday, using the occasion to launch an impassioned denunciation of irresponsible sex and a "culture of death" that he said pervaded the modern world.

The thing that always gets me about the Catholic position on sex, and that of certain other religious groups, is that they equate responsibility with the willingness to have a child. They say people have irresponsible sex while, in the same breath, say that people shouldn't use any form of birth control or abort unwanted pregnancy. To me, birth control and abortion are the hallmarks of responsible sex! Irresponsible is getting married and then leaving things to random chance. Irresponsible is bringing unwanted children into the world, and bringing children that cannot be financially supported into the world.

When referring to the "culture of death," the Pope equates birth control and abortion with the suffering inflicted on Christians in the Roman arenas. But birth control and abortion prevent suffering! They prevent the physical suffering of women who do not wish to endure pregnancy. They prevent the mental suffering of women and men who are not prepared to raise children. Perhaps most importantly, they prevent the suffering of unwanted children who may have had to live lives of emotional turmoil and economic poverty.

Tags: Pope, abortion, birth control, death