When I was younger, I used looked at pictures of the Cardinals at Rome with bewilderment. What did all these old, white Italian guys in their long robes and lace surplices have to do with my life? Why exactly were we Catholics supposed to follow what they said? What did they know?! As I get older, I realize that the Vatican was right about one thing after another after another. The Volokh Conspiracy points to an essay by Mary Eberstadt titled The Vindication of Humanae Vitae at First Things. From Volokh Conspiracy:
"In this vein I offer a provocative essay by Mary Eberstadt on birth control and the sexual revolution. She writes about it through the lens of the Papal Encyclical Humanae Vitae, but I'm interested in it here as a non-religious sociological analysis. My guess is that most readers will conclude that the sexual revolution was a net positive for society. Certainly there were major social and widespread individual benefits from the sexual revolution and birth control technology, and one suspects that many of these social benefits were unforeseen at the time as well. Increased personal autonomy, freedom, and social and economic opportunities for women are certainly important benefits of access to birth control that most of us will easily recognize. Nonetheless, while most readers will conclude that the benefits overall outweighed the costs, Eberstadt frames the issue in a way that certainly caused me to think more deeply about the full costs and benefits of these social developments."
The next quote comes from Eberstadt's article:
"Let’s begin by meditating upon what might be called the first of the secular ironies now evident: Humanae Vitae’s specific predictions about what the world would look like if artificial contraception became widespread. The encyclical warned of four resulting trends: a general lowering of moral standards throughout society; a rise in infidelity; a lessening of respect for women by men; and the coercive use of reproductive technologies by governments."
Yes, we have seen all these trends, haven't we? Commentary from First Things editor Joseph Bottum about the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae and what's happened to marriage since then:
"Paul VI predicted, as well, that the institution of marriage would have trouble surviving 'the conjugal infidelity' that contraception makes easy. Far from strengthening marriage as the Supreme Court seems to have imagined, the advent of birth control left marriage in tatters, as the sexual revolution roared through town. If many more people use contraception today than they used to—and do so certainly with less shame—then why have divorce, abortion, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and venereal disease done nothing but increase since 1968?"
Those old Italian white guys - who have protected and who disseminate the Catholic Church's teachings about sexuality morality (among other things) - were right! Please read the whole thing.
P.S. The Cardinals are a more diverse lot these days, reflecting the growing numbers of Catholics from the African continent, China, South America, etc. Things change slowly in the Catholic Church, but they do change.
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