With all due respect, I honestly do not know what the good cardinal is talking about.
Discipline in the marital bed? Is there such a thing? Is that the answer to the problems of overpopulation and poverty?
If it exists, how many real couples out there can practice it, and claim success?
It seems to me that the good cardinal talks about a utopian scenario which does not even exist. Here's an example of his logic:
Easier said than done.
IMHO, I think little can be done to stop or discipline a couple in the middle of procreation. In the heat of the moment, it is almost impossible to stop. And discipline takes a back seat when lust and love rule over.
Also, normal adults always entertain sexual thoughts every now and then. It's not a fault; they can't help it. There are biological and chemical reasons which will explain this. There would have been no apologies issued by the Pope days ago, if only we understood more why priests commit sexual abuse, and if the Catholic organization will allow the relaxation of the celibacy rule. It will always be difficult to teach man not to entertain sexual thoughts or to stop him from engaging in sexual acts.
Animals might engage in sex for purely survival reasons, but humans? We add another dimension to sex. There's the pleasure aspect. I think a great proportion of sexual intimacies are consummated not for selfless-survival-of-the-species kind of reasoning (that is obsolescent already!) but mostly because of the need for pleasure. Now, whether that pleasure-seeking event results in pregnancy or not is another story. The Catholic church frowns on artificial methods of contraception; it only allows natural methods. But those natural methods can be practiced only by a few and not the majority.
Until then, the Catholic church and its supporters will always be at odds with policy-makers and even well-meaning doctors who promote birth-control and artificial contraception.
Discipline in the marital bed? Is there such a thing? Is that the answer to the problems of overpopulation and poverty?
If it exists, how many real couples out there can practice it, and claim success?
It seems to me that the good cardinal talks about a utopian scenario which does not even exist. Here's an example of his logic:
Easier said than done.
IMHO, I think little can be done to stop or discipline a couple in the middle of procreation. In the heat of the moment, it is almost impossible to stop. And discipline takes a back seat when lust and love rule over.
Also, normal adults always entertain sexual thoughts every now and then. It's not a fault; they can't help it. There are biological and chemical reasons which will explain this. There would have been no apologies issued by the Pope days ago, if only we understood more why priests commit sexual abuse, and if the Catholic organization will allow the relaxation of the celibacy rule. It will always be difficult to teach man not to entertain sexual thoughts or to stop him from engaging in sexual acts.
Animals might engage in sex for purely survival reasons, but humans? We add another dimension to sex. There's the pleasure aspect. I think a great proportion of sexual intimacies are consummated not for selfless-survival-of-the-species kind of reasoning (that is obsolescent already!) but mostly because of the need for pleasure. Now, whether that pleasure-seeking event results in pregnancy or not is another story. The Catholic church frowns on artificial methods of contraception; it only allows natural methods. But those natural methods can be practiced only by a few and not the majority.
Until then, the Catholic church and its supporters will always be at odds with policy-makers and even well-meaning doctors who promote birth-control and artificial contraception.
