Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Birth control and Biblical times
Ok so I was reading in Genesis yesterday and it really got me thinking about birth control and how much we really take control away from God in this area. Something that really got me thinking was the comment that Rachel made to Jacob about why he hadn't given her a child. Jacob's responsse was "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children" For some reason this made me think alot about children and how we as a society have basically taken on the responsibility of deciding how many children we have. We have even started to explore the options of choosing the gender of our children when we do decide to have them. Jay and I had a big discussion about this last night, and I'm still not sure how exactly I feel and what my responsibility as a Christian really is in this matter. By using birth control am I really playing god in my own life. What if God wants a person to have a big family, and the parents only choose to have one. Are these people simply missing out on a blessing from God (its says in the Bible that children are a blessing from God) or are they actually prohibiting God's work on the earth... I know that God allows us to have free choice, and if we won't do something for Him, he will find someone else who will, but.... I'm just not sure... What if we decide to have 4 kids but God planned for us to be a familly of 5 or 6 (or for Jay's sake a family of 7 kids) are we somehow thwarting God's plans. What if our 5th child would have been a preacher or some other major player in the kingdom of God and we stop at 4 kids. Or maybe God only wants us to have 4 kids and we just get lucky in our planning. Also so many christians are opposed to the morning after pill, but don't think twice about using the birth control pill which can also cause abortions. We want God to direct us, but we also want control of our own plans. It's like we say God I want you to work in my life, but this is how it should be done. He may allow us to have things our way, but is it really the best, or just Him allowing us to have things the way we think we want them. ... ok so this post is completely rambling and not really following any real train of thought (guess I've been out of the practice of writing papers for seminary too long). :) Well anyway I would love to hear your thoughts on these things (all like 2 people who actually read my blog). :)
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5 comments:
I hear what you are saying Lori. I'm glad to see that you are pondering these things at your young age. I have had to re-evaluate these things in the last few years. I no longer endorse the birth control pill, partially for the reason of a woman's health and for the reason that it can induce a chemical abortion. I no longer believe in tubal ligation or vasectomy as there are long term health effects that are a direct result of those surgical procedures. We are finished having our children (I believe!!) but you raise a very good point about controlling the number of children that we have. We are to give the Lord control over all parts of our life, so why would we hold back on that one? I also believe that if the Lord has planned for a child to be born, it will happen no matter what kind of birth control we use.
Kim, I haven't heard about any health effects from tubal ligations or vasectomy's what have you found out about these. (we are a long way from anything like that as we only have 2 kids and Jay really wants 7) Yikes! Not sure I can handle 7 of them.. but we will see what God does.
God gives us free will. He wants us to make decisions for ourselves. I don't believe that God is going to condem anyone for not having children or for using birth control. I personally have made a choice not to have kids mostly because circumstances have not presented themselves in an environment that would be healthy and good for child in the long run. Do we just have children for the sake of letting God have control? What if we have a relationship in which our other partner is a women hating person who has no control over themselves, is abusive, and could potentially hurt a child due to the lack of control of their emotions. Wouldn't that be neglectful? Leaving it up to God seems like an easy response however I see it as being irresponsible. I don't think that God intent is to take control of everything. I think God gave us judgement to be used carefully and with respect. Besides God can and does work past birth control. He has in the past and he can do it again. Just a thought.
Lori:
With tubal ligation there is a reduced blood flow to the ovaries. From what I have read, close to half of the women who have had tubal ligations suffer from menorrhagia of some form requiring medical intervention. It can also cause early menopause due to that same blood flow interruption.
With vasectomies there has been some linkage to and increase in prostate cancer in later years in men who have had the procedure.
Not necessarily enough to stop people from having the procedures, but it does make one think.
there are rare chances of having problems after tubal ligation but if you believe on nature selection and think about your kids good health then it is better than tubal ligation. but it have a reversal process too.i have studied about it at www.mybabydoc.com
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