When
we hear or look at the phrase "Natural Family Planning" what comes to
mind first? With the first word of the phrase being "natural," some
people may, unfortunately, think that the only thing NFP has going for it is
that it is not artificial. Sometimes this may even feed into the common
misconception that the Church's main disagreement with contraception is that it
is artificial. Other obstacles to understanding NFP come from mainstream
culture's inherently contraceptive mindset.
To
explain the above misconception, I think it is important to point out that "Natural"
is not the main event of the phrase, "Natural Family Planning." In
fact, "natural" is not an event at all-- it's a descriptor. Remember
when learning grammar, being told to find the verb of the sentence to figure
out what's going on with the subject? Well, in Natural Family Planning, both
grammatically and ideologically, the subject here is a family and the action is
planning. NFP is most importantly about planning
a family. Planning is intended to mean anticipation of something actually happening
eventually, not an act of indefinite postponement. Included in the planning are the important
aspects of knowing how to do the planning
and commitment to carrying out the
plans. "Natural" is the adjective describing the means of carrying
out the plans.
Being
natural is important to the context of the family planning, but not in the way
many may think. The "N" in NFP does not merely mean "not-artificial."
This important descriptor not only signifies a lack of man-made intervention,
but it conveys a context of God-established law. Natural law dictates that procreation results
from sexuality. For this reason, the main purpose and intent of Natural Family Planning
is to plan a family, and to do so in cooperation (not contradiction) with Natural Law. This is what it means to be
"open to life."[1]
Being open to life does not mean that a woman ought to become pregnant as often
as possible. It does mean that a couple ought not to take actions that directly
interfere with the natural result of sexuality.
To
most people, NFP (aided by the mistaken idea that it is meant solely to serve
as Catholic contraception) is only a mindset that comes into play during the
"let's not have a(nother) child yet" stage. However, the principle of
abiding by natural law continues to apply once conception is being actively
sought. The statement that procreation results from sexuality as a principle of
natural law deserves more elaboration on this. As we know, artificial
contraception is against natural law, not only because it is artificial, but because
it intentionally severs sexuality from its natural (law) result. Just as sexuality
ought not to be severed from its natural result, so too must sexuality's result
not be severed from its natural source. Thus, the principles employed in
Natural Family Planning, as an ideology based upon natural law, are applied to
both ends of the family planning spectrum. When these concepts are ignored,
there is a two-fold result. The result is a culture that is both contraceptive
in seeing children as a burden to be avoided but also, paradoxically, one that has
a view of human life so consumerized that children are also seen as things to
be procured according to desire.[2]
[1]
For further explanation on being open to life, there is really good post
explaining openness to life at Conversion Diary, by Jennifer Fulwiler
[2]
Two previous topics of mine: Contraceptive Culture and The Paradox Surrounding Conception
Thoughts continued in NFP part 2, Obstacles to Understanding NFP
Thoughts continued in NFP part 2, Obstacles to Understanding NFP
No comments:
Post a Comment