Contraception: Why Not?

This post is part of a series by Professor Janet E. Smith.

Slide: Castrate Rapists

This talk is an updated version of “Contraception: Why Not?” originally recorded in 1994.  Almost a million copies of that talk were distributed with both an audio and video version.  Many years ago one of my godsons, Max, told me that when he missed me, he watches my video.  He said, “You know that video of yours, I think it’s called “Contractions: Why not”?  He was eight years old at the time.   A boy eight years old and the oldest of five can explain what contractions five minutes apart and three minutes apart mean, but you can be sure he has never heard of contraception.

A couple years later I was in Trinidad and I was asked about a national problem in Trinidad.  I was asked if I thought rapists should be castrated.  I thought, “Oh, my gosh.” My knees kind of buckled and I said: “That’s a very difficult question, I haven’t thought about that.  Rape is a terrible crime that deserves a severe penalty, but castration is permanent, it’s mutilation.”  I added, “I have heard that there are drugs that can be used to control the sexual desire; maybe they should be explored, but I’m really not prepared for that question.”  The next day I was leaving Trinidad and I saw the national Sunday newspaper.  The headline said, “Castrate Rapists.”  The subtitle said, “Drugs can be used to reduce the sexual drive, [says] U. S. professor.”  At that point my knees really did buckle.  I thought, “I sure hope there’s some other U.S. professor in Trinidad this weekend.”

So I want you to know that you can look forward to my three-part series of tapes:   “Contraception: Why Not?”; “Contractions: Why Not?”; “Castration: Why Not?”

Slide: Modern vs. Christian View of Sexuality

I’m going to be talking a lot about the difference between the modern and the Christian views of sexuality.  I am going to explain why natural sex is best.  In fact, natural sex is the sex that the Catholic Church promotes.  Natural sex is sex between a man and a woman who love each other, who have made a lifetime commitment to each other and who are open to having children with each other.  That’s very rare in our culture.  A lot of the sex in our culture is between people who barely know each other’s last name and who certainly don’t love each other.  There’s no love relationship; they have made no commitment to each other and any child that might result from their union would be considered a disaster.  I’m going to explain why I think the Church’s vision of sexuality – one shared by most traditional cultures — is much better than the modern practice of sexuality.  And I’m going to claim that contraception has been the major element that has altered our view of sexuality.

This slide shows the modern view of sexuality, represented by a young man and a young woman sharing a romantic moment with each other.  She is somewhat immodestly clad and they are having an alcoholic drink. It is possible that they do not know each other’s last names.  It is highly likely they will have a sexual encounter before the evening is out.  Tomorrow they may part and have nothing to do with each other thereafter.  There would be nothing strange about that in our culture.  This sort of thing  happens all the time.

The other picture is of my brother and his wife and four of their now six children and my father and my mother.  That is a picture that represents the Christian view of sexuality: a man and a woman who love each other, who have made a lifetime commitment to each other, and who welcome children.  Such a relationship is meant to expand the circle of love.  Just keep expanding and expanding the circle of love in this world where to a certain point one hopes we’re almost all related.

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