im a christian, and ive just been told that its a sin to use birth control and that they are abortificants...is this true??? help!!!!
I know that at least some of them are. I personally, dont use any form of chemical birth control for that reason. Also, they really arent good for you.
HTH
M.
You have a lot of good info below, so I just wanted to offer a little insight that you may or may not find helpful. First, whether or not birth control is a "sin" and what types are considered sinful depend on what denomination you are. This disparity in and of itself reveals that none of this is handed down from God, it's people (mostly men lol) trying to interpret this issue the best way that they can, and there is no consensus.
If you are Catholic, for example, all "unnatural" birth control is considered a sin. This includes everything except natural family planning. Ironically, the creator of the birth control pill was a devout Catholic and his goal in creating the pill was to create a "natural" form of birth control. His idea was that if you could trick the body to think it was pregnant, that would suppress ovulation and that would be a natural way to prevent pregnancy. Needless to say, the church disagreed with that!
Other Christian denominations have different rules about this, so if you are very concerned, talk to a leader in your church (e.g. the pastor) and find out what the rules are and why. Then, you can decide on whether or not you agree with your church's teachings and whether or not those teachings are something you are going to choose to follow.
FWIW, I am Catholic and used the birth control pill and a Mirena IUD (I actually got pregnant on the pill twice but that's neither here nor there...). To me, it would be irresponsible to keep having children when our home is full and our budget is strained, and NFP explains why I am one of five, my father is one of seven, my mom is one of four, etc. I don't see how poverty would be living our God's will. We are fertile people, and I would literally have 12 kids if we didn't use a reliable form of birth control. My husband had a vasectomy so that solves my problem and he doesn't care what the church thinks because he's Jewish and BC is fine with them.
I also consciously and deliberately disagree with my church's teaching on assisted reproduction, so much so that I was a gestational carrier, which is a no-no if you're Catholic. Again, it's one of those rules that seems to perverse to any logic and understanding - how can it be a sin to help another family have children? - and the folks at my church agreed enough that I was able to continue teaching religious education during that process. No parents who knew objected, and all were supportive. I'm sure they would have been surprised to find out that church rules prohibited this process.
At the end of the day, find out what the specifics are for your particular denomination. If there are some types of birth control that are "allowed" and those would work for you and your husband, then use them. If there is nothing allowed or what is allowed won't work, then pray on it and do whatever your heart tells you to do.
Did God say that or did men. THIS IS PURE BULL. Get the IUD unless your priest wants to send you a support check every month for all the extra kids.
There are all kinds of Christians. Only the fascist Christians refuse to allow birth control.
They did not even have birth control when the bible was written so how could it be listed as a sin?
The way birth control pills work is that they hormonally simulate pregnancy so that you don't ovulate -- your body actually thinks it's pregnant, which prevents ovulation. No egg means that there is no fertilization possible -- it in no way causing any kind of miscarriage or abortion.
If you have a regular cycle, you can try the fertility awareness method. This is more than just counting days -- you have to take your temperature every morning, check your cervical mucus, and be very sure of when you ovulate, avoiding sex during the time when pregnancy could occur, or using other methods of birth control. The book Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler goes through this method in great detail. It takes some work and comfort with your body to use this method, but if you do it right, it can work very well.
That's such a thought provoking question. I'm kinda sittin here scratchin my head on it wondering what the REAL answer is. Some things we wont know till we get to the other side. You have to wing it for now. Do what you think is best for your body and your family situation.... that's all we can do.
No way! We r Christians too and I think that was more a rule to keep Churches growing back in the day. Its one of those old traditions that is silly. They r bad for u to take for too long though. Trying to find an alternate means personally.
I am a christian too & God gave us free will. I also looked up the definition of abortificants & according to the dictionary they are not.
To imply that it is an abortificant would imply that you are using it to abort a child, this is clearly not the case.You use birth control to prevent fertilization from happening, not to stop it once it happens.
I think that if God wanted us to have more babies, no form of birth control would stop it from happening.
Wow! This question is really about two things: 1) The science of procreation, which some other moms have addressed, and 2) Christian beliefs. It is my understanding that historically, anti-birth control movements connected with organized religion are designed to grow the population belonging to that particular denomination. Most of the people perpetuating this, probably including whoever told you this is a sin, are not even aware of the historic roots of the movement. I'm pretty sure these same people are pro-death penalty, and have thought very little about the fact that society is "playing God" when deciding who lives and dies according to our laws. I believe that you are capable of thinking for yourself. The fact that you are asking for advice shows your willingness to explore the subject and not just do what you are told. I am not going to tell you that it is morally right or wrong, and I hope I have not offended you or anyone else. I just believe in the ability of people to know inherently what is right for them and those around them, without having to open a book or be preached to.
I think that is a matter of opinion. Great question and I bet you will get a ton of responses on this one! I'm a christian as well and with each religion they have different "beliefs". In my opinion it doesn't matter as long as you believe that God sent his son and sacraficed himself for all and as long as you believe in him and have accepted him as your savior then in my opinion you are good. Each religion has their own set of beliefs though and I know with the Catholic church this is one of their strong beliefs. I am not catholic nor do I have anything against them but I believe that God gave us that right procreate but like my momma always said he also gave you common sense. There are many different reasons to be on some "type" of birth control. Sometimes its a medical reason, sometimes it is to prevent pregnancy and pregnancy alone. I personally do not believe that God is going to punish me because I "prevented" a pregnancy. Honestly if God wants it to happen then it will ....sometimes even when we are using certain methods to prevent it! I always say that if you are on birth control or had surgery to prevent the pregnancy and it happens anyways-well then God meant it to be that way for a reason. We may not know the reasons but one day we will understand. One day we will understand everything...........
My understanding of birth control is that some types (hormonal like the pill) prevent ovulation, so theoretically there should never be a fertilized egg (potential baby/life)....others (like some iuds) prevent your uterus from being a good place for a fertilized egg to be, so technically some methods would promote your body to pass a fertilized egg (potential baby/life)...it's up to you to decide on the "sin" issue...
Check with your doctor. Some of them are. If you have a decent doctor, he or she will help you find one that simply blocks the egg from being released. You have to ask, though.
