NFP: Why We Don't Bother

Excellent guest post by Pr. H. R. Curtis over at CSPP:

http://concordiansisters.blogspot.com/2010/04/guest-post-nfp-why-we-dont-bother.html

For Better Not for Worse

A Manual of Christian Matrimony
by
WALTER A. MAIER, PH. D.

http://olcc.us/files/olcc.us/Maier%20-%20FBNFW/

(Birth control is covered in Chapter 27 - not scanned online yet as of this post)

The Crucible of the (Extended) Christian Family

Spending this weekend with about three-dozen members of my wife's extended family (which is only about half of her side of the family) up at the family lodge (a.k.a. P&BRR), and then a post by Rebecca over at CSPP, On the setting of standards and the adjusting of expectations, got me thinking...

Experience has shown me that living as Christians in a large and extended family provides a paideia that no other institution can replace. From the youngest to the oldest, from the newborn grandchild to the aged grandparent, and from cousins to in-laws, the more we all collide, the more every member of the Christian family continues to grow every day in faith, wisdom, and love - and in repentance for the lack of faith, wisdom, and love such a crucible of life reveals daily in each of us.

This observation and experience, which has intensified over the past ten years of my life, may explain why I have gone from being an educational entrepreneur and desiring to move my family to greener pastures where the external culture at least appears better, to being a homeschool advocate who desires nothing more than for his children and grandchildren to marry fellow believers and settle down near one another, where they can contribute and partake of the blessed heat generated in this crucible of the extended Christian family living under the cross in the forgiveness of Christ.

First Things on Contra-Economics

This article in the current issue of First Things is a must read. In “Bitter Pill,” economist Timothy Reichert, according to the byline, “reveals how the contraception boom has shifted wealth and power away from women.” Here’s a snippet:

With this essay, using the language and tools of modern social science, I will articulate the position that contraception is socially damaging. I will also demonstrate that contraception is in fact a sexist practice. Using straightforward microeconomic reasoning, I will unpack the behaviors engendered by artificial contraception. I will show that the contraceptive revolution has resulted in a massive redistribution of wealth and power from women and children to men.

Make sure you read the rest of this important article. If you aren’t one already, click here to become a First Things print or online subscriber.

Repenting of Jonah’s Duplicity

Excellent post by the Rev. Kevin Golden of Village Lutheran Church in Ladue, Missouri.

HT: Concordian Sister Rebekah