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This is my reply to comments on my blog, underneath the article,\u00a0Dialogue: Are Paul, the Bible, & Catholicism Against Sex?<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Words of anti-theist-type agnostic\u00a090Lew90<\/a>\u00a0(who was dialogue opponent in part 1) will be in\u00a0blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n \u201cEach and every sexual act must be marital, unitive and procreative.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I looked through my words in our last dialogue and could not find this \u201cquote.\u201d So why do you put these words in quotation marks, and where did you get it from. I think I know, but I\u2019d like to hear you<\/em> admit your little sleight-of-hand attempt here. Just as before, you don\u2019t really interact with my arguments. You simply preach and repeat; and this is a logical fallacy. It doesn\u2019t prove anything<\/em>, except that you believe x<\/em>, and preach it repeatedly. It tells us nothing as to the truth<\/em> or falsity<\/em> of x<\/em>.<\/p>\n Your \u201cquotation\u201d as it stands is plainly false according to Catholic teaching, which holds that we are always to be open to procreation, if it occurs (i.e., don\u2019t contracept and don\u2019t murder an innocent, helpless child that is conceived (planned or not). Pope St. Paul VI in his encyclical Humanae Vitae<\/em> in 1968 made it quite clear that spacing and limitation of children is permissible on three grounds: financial, emotional, and health reasons.<\/p>\n This means that it is perfectly in accord with Catholic teaching to plan children and to also plan to deliberately have sex (not desiring a child at this particular time, for good and valid reasons) during infertile times in the wife\u2019s reproductive cycle.\u00a0Nor does the Church forbid sex between infertile couples, or couples past the age of childbearing.<\/p>\n What it forbids is contraception and being hostile to a life that may come about due to our sexual activities.<\/p>\n Anything else is intrinsically evil and gravely immoral.<\/span><\/p>\n I have explained what we consider immoral.<\/p>\n This is not the kind of sex anyone has.<\/span><\/p>\n Many millions of observant Catholics have it, and secular polling repeatedly establishes that married couples who are serious about their Christian faith (go to church every week, pray, read the Bible, follow the moral teachings, etc.) are 1) happier in general (as indicated by self-reports and far less divorce), and 2) happier and more fulfilled specifically in the sexual sense.<\/p>\n Who woulda thunk<\/em> it, huh? Us supposedly killjoy, puritanistic, fuddy-dud, Victorian, dour, anti-pleasure, anti-sex Christians have a considerably happier sex life than our wild, \u201cliberated\u201d so-called \u201cfree\u201d friends who follow no particular religious code: and this is borne out by secular scientific social studies (sociology was my major). The empty promise in the sexual revolution was blissful happiness to all who ventured out to be as promiscuous as they could be. Somehow it didn\u2019t work out that way. We knew all along that it wouldn\u2019t. Pope Paul VI predicted virtually every alarming social trend having to do with sex, that we see today.<\/p>\n Even to have sex for pleasure is intrinsically evil and gravely immoral. <\/span><\/p>\n Not at all; only when pleasure becomes the sole and ultimate end of sex, while procreation is rejected. God invented the gift of sex and gave it to us to enjoy. He could have made reproduction something like a blood transfusion or a specialized handshake or what not. He could have done anything He wanted to. But He chose to make reproduction and sexuality one of the greatest physical pleasures that human beings can experience.<\/p>\n He did the same with eating. Taste buds have no biological function. They are strictly for pleasure. That\u2019s how God wanted it. He could have not created, for example, colors, and the infinite variety of plants and wildlife, and of human personalities and different appearances (hair and eye color, shapes, etc.). He chose variety: knowing that we would enjoy that. The world is a feast for the senses.<\/p>\n The pleasure arising from sex may be seen as good in itself but incidental to the sex act. <\/span><\/p>\n Again, it is good; it\u2019s great. It is one of the dual purposes of sex, but it\u2019s not the very essence<\/em> of sex, which is openness to life and reproduction \/ procreation, as its fundamental purpose. Many people have the greatest difficulty distinguishing between \u201cnot making something an ultimate or sole end\u201d and \u201cbad through and through.\u201d<\/p>\n If pleasure is sought as the end of sex, it is intrinsically evil and gravely immoral.<\/span><\/p>\n Strictly speaking (as explained) yes, but of course there are many infertile times when the sex is primarily (in practice) for pleasure and unity and togetherness.<\/p>\n This is not the kind of sex anyone has. Every time you do it, according to the church, you must be trying for a baby.<\/span><\/p>\n I already explained above how this is clearly false, and (with just a few moments\u2019 reflection) downright stupid and clueless as well. Nor does the Church require Catholics to have unlimited children. We\u2019re allowed to plan. It\u2019s called Natural Family Planning. We\u2019re not allowed to contracept. I have explained the essential difference between the two things in many papers.<\/p>\n Aquinas bases his sexual ethics on his misconception of nature. While man is allowed special status in creation in almost every other sphere, in sexual matters, Aquinas reduces him to the level of the animals, which he supposes only have sex in order to procreate. We know this is not true of animals, and we know that sex \u2014 and sex for pleasure \u2014 is of vital importance to healthy human bonding and flourishing. Aquinas not only neglects this view but explicitly rejects it.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d have to see what he says. But whatever he teaches, he alone (respected though he is) is not part of the magisterium. In other words, his is not the last word on the topic within Catholicism. So he could quite possibly teach many things that the Church has determined to be false, or incomplete truths. What folks who are actually willing to inquire and understand, should seek out, are the wonderful teachings of Pope St. John Paul II on the theology of the body. This is the highest development of Catholic thought on the topic.<\/p>\n Foreplay is not allowed. \u201cPassionate kissing\u201d is extremely dodgy territory.<\/span><\/p>\n Not within a marriage, with the proper understanding of the purpose of sexuality. Foreplay is simply part of sex (read Song of Solomon). What we prohibit is male ejaculation outside of the vagina, and female orgasm completely disconnected from intercourse and possible procreation. And this is because orgasm is made an end in and of itself and separated totally from openness to procreation. This is why homosexual sex is by its very nature gravely disordered.<\/p>\n Aquinas goes so far as to make prescriptions even on the\u00a0position<\/i>\u00a0in which you\u2019re allowed to have sex (the missionary is de rigeur, unless some health ailment precludes it and you can\u2019t procreate unless you do it doggy).<\/span><\/p>\n Again, no Catholic is bound to what one man (however eminent) wrote about sexuality in the 13th century.<\/p>\n It is the Catholic notion of sex which is unnatural. The natural law prescriptions about sex are based on a completely ignorant misapprehension of nature.<\/span><\/p>\n This is one of your typical broad sweeping assertions with no rational content.<\/p>\n You call these \u201csensible rules\u201d about sex. On what planet? Certainly not our vastly over-populated one. That much seems certain.<\/span><\/p>\n The earth is not<\/em> overpopulated<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m surprised you found that little comment box exchange of ours interesting enough to build a post out of it. It smacks of rather desperate click-bait.<\/span><\/p>\n It was an opportunity to reveal the bankruptcy of much of the secular argument against the Catholic Church as regards sex, and that\u2019s why I do dialogues: for their pedagogical value. I\u2019m not just doing this just<\/em> for fun, or as some sort of pastime (though I do almost always enjoy<\/em> it). I\u2019m a teacher. This is my life\u2019s work. I will show every time how weak the opposing argument is, when it attempts to trash the Bible, Catholicism, or larger Christianity, and offers nothing remotely as good as an alternative. I\u2019ve never found that to be a difficult task to do. Quite easy<\/em>, actually . . .<\/p>\n I do hope you\u2019re not as yet in penury, but console yourself with the knowledge that life is supposed to be a bitch. \u201cOffer it up,\u201d as my mother used to say.<\/span><\/p>\n Thanks for your concern. I\u2019m doing fine. God has provided our needs, as always. As I always note: we have a great credit score, don\u2019t use credit cards, have no debts except a mortgage, pay all our bills, and take a nice vacation every year. Last year was Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon; two years before that we went to Alaska (9000 mile round trip, by car, from Michigan), etc. So we\u2019re not financially suffering in any real sense of that word.<\/p>\n We\u2019re richer than most people in the world and especially most throughout history. We\u2019re certainly not \u201crich\u201d by American standards, but that is by our own free choice and a result of our priorities in life. I do include a mild solicitation in many of my articles (see it below) because I provide a service, and deserve to be recompensed for it by people who say they have been aided<\/strong> or helped<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Related Reading<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Sexuality, Gender, Feminism, & Divorce web page<\/a><\/p>\n Life Issues: Abortion, Contraception, War, Etc. web page<\/a><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Photo credit:\u00a0<\/strong>brett jordan<\/a>\u00a0(6-28-10); how many view the Catholic Church, but it is grossly inaccurate; in fact, not even accurate as to the nature of Puritanism<\/em>, either\u00a0[Flickr<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a> license]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is my reply to comments on my blog, underneath the article,\u00a0Dialogue: Are Paul, the Bible, & Catholicism Against Sex?\u00a0\u00a0Words of anti-theist-type agnostic\u00a090Lew90\u00a0(who was dialogue opponent in part 1) will be in\u00a0blue. *** \u201cEach and every sexual act must be marital, unitive and procreative.\u201d I looked through my words in our last dialogue and could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":44843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[1382,1695,1753,1383,3157,2037,2089,575,3153,3608,10293,276,10290,1692,2544,581,582],"class_list":["post-44840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sexuality-and-gender-issues","tag-bible-sex","tag-biblical-sexuality","tag-catholic-sexuality","tag-catholicism-sex","tag-childbearing","tag-christian-sexuality","tag-conception","tag-contraception","tag-contralife-will","tag-erotic-love","tag-god-sex","tag-marriage","tag-paul-sex","tag-procreation","tag-sacrament-of-matrimony","tag-sex","tag-sexuality"],"yoast_head":"\nUnfortunately, Money Trees Do Not Exist<\/strong>:<\/span>\u00a0If you have been aided in any way by my work, or think it is valuable and worthwhile, please strongly consider financially supporting it (even $10 \/ month \u2014 a mere 33 cents a day \u2014 would be very helpful). I have been a full-time Catholic apologist since Dec. 2001, and have been writing Christian apologetics since 1981 (see\u00a0my Resume<\/a>).\u00a0My work has been proven (by God\u2019s grace alone) to be fruitful, in terms of changing lives (see the tangible evidences\u00a0from unsolicited \u201ctestimonies\u201d<\/a>).\u00a0I have to pay my bills like all of you: and have a (homeschooling) wife and two children still at home to provide for, and a mortgage to pay.<\/div>\n*<\/div>\nMy book royalties from\u00a0three bestsellers in the field<\/a>\u00a0(published in 2003-2007) have been decreasing, as has my overall income, making it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.\u00a0 I provide over 2700 free articles here, for the purpose of your edification and education, and have\u00a0written 50 books<\/a>.\u00a0It\u2019ll literally be a struggle to survive financially until Dec. 2020, when both my wife and I will be receiving Social Security. If you cannot contribute, I ask for your prayers (and \u201clikes\u201d and links and shares). Thanks!<\/div>\n*<\/div>\nSee my\u00a0information on how to donate<\/a>\u00a0(including 100% tax-deductible donations). It\u2019s very simple to contribute to my apostolate via PayPal, if a tax deduction is not needed (my \u201cbusiness name\u201d there is called \u201cCatholic Used Book Service,\u201d from my old bookselling days 17 or so years ago, but send to my email: apologistdave@gmail.com). Another easy way to send and receive money (with a bank account or a mobile phone) is through\u00a0Zelle<\/a>. Again, just send to my e-mail address.\u00a0May God abundantly bless you.<\/div>\n*<\/div>\n