There is a flaw in the diagram at the end where it asks if all sex acts must intend to procreate.
The "No" box should read: "Strictly speaking it is contrary to reason to engage in sex while intending to avoid the primary end in order to enjoy secondary (unity) and tertiary (pleasure) ends. However, due to our fallen nature it is morally permissible to have sex during non-fertile periods as a remedy for concupiscence."
NFP'ers will scream here, but the reality is that while using NFP to avoid pregnancy for a just reason is morally permissible, it is not virtuous since it is not ordered towards the virtues but rather ordered to a remedy for concupiscence.
Having sex with the intention and desire for procreation is ordered toward all the virtues. The primary end of marriage is procreation. A secondary end is mutual sanctification of the spouses. Sanctity is the heroic practice of the virtues. While using NFP to avoid pregnancy for a just reason may not impede sanctification, neither does it build it.
Intending procreation is first ordered to Charity in the desire to share life in co-creation with God. It is ordered to Faith and Hope in His providence to provide. It is ordered to Prudence in doing the right thing at the right time (having sex to procreate and not having sex when children are not desired). It is ordered to Fortitude in building courage to act prudently. It is ordered to Temperance in controlling one's appetites. And finally, it is ordered to Justice, in that each is receiving one's due from the other (one's essence [seed] is being given without the intent that it not be received).
One could argue that NFP is ordered to Temperance but that does not hold up. While part of the condition is present (continence during fertile periods), the other part of engaging during non-fertile periods is not ordered to Prudence from which one would not have sex if children are not desired.
One cannot argue that Unity is fully achieved during non-fertile periods either, because Unity among spouses is perfected in new life—and spiritually achievable through the desire for new life—and the shared sacrifices to nurture and educate this new life. Even Intimacy, while it can be co-incidental with sex, is first achieved within the communion of relationship before it is expressible in the context of sex.
I think you are missing the point of what that final part of the diagram is saying. It could apply just as well to a couple having intercourse during a fertile period or anytime at all. It is just saying what John Paul II said in Love and Responsibility:
"It is certainly not necessary always to resolve ‘we are performing this act in order to become parents.’ It is sufficient to say that ‘in performing this act we know that we may become parents and we are willing for that to happen’ ”
2 comments:
There is a flaw in the diagram at the end where it asks if all sex acts must intend to procreate.
The "No" box should read: "Strictly speaking it is contrary to reason to engage in sex while intending to avoid the primary end in order to enjoy secondary (unity) and tertiary (pleasure) ends. However, due to our fallen nature it is morally permissible to have sex during non-fertile periods as a remedy for concupiscence."
NFP'ers will scream here, but the reality is that while using NFP to avoid pregnancy for a just reason is morally permissible, it is not virtuous since it is not ordered towards the virtues but rather ordered to a remedy for concupiscence.
Having sex with the intention and desire for procreation is ordered toward all the virtues. The primary end of marriage is procreation. A secondary end is mutual sanctification of the spouses. Sanctity is the heroic practice of the virtues. While using NFP to avoid pregnancy for a just reason may not impede sanctification, neither does it build it.
Intending procreation is first ordered to Charity in the desire to share life in co-creation with God. It is ordered to Faith and Hope in His providence to provide. It is ordered to Prudence in doing the right thing at the right time (having sex to procreate and not having sex when children are not desired). It is ordered to Fortitude in building courage to act prudently. It is ordered to Temperance in controlling one's appetites. And finally, it is ordered to Justice, in that each is receiving one's due from the other (one's essence [seed] is being given without the intent that it not be received).
One could argue that NFP is ordered to Temperance but that does not hold up. While part of the condition is present (continence during fertile periods), the other part of engaging during non-fertile periods is not ordered to Prudence from which one would not have sex if children are not desired.
One cannot argue that Unity is fully achieved during non-fertile periods either, because Unity among spouses is perfected in new life—and spiritually achievable through the desire for new life—and the shared sacrifices to nurture and educate this new life. Even Intimacy, while it can be co-incidental with sex, is first achieved within the communion of relationship before it is expressible in the context of sex.
I think you are missing the point of what that final part of the diagram is saying. It could apply just as well to a couple having intercourse during a fertile period or anytime at all. It is just saying what John Paul II said in Love and Responsibility:
"It is certainly not necessary always to resolve ‘we are performing this act in order to become parents.’ It is sufficient to say that ‘in performing this act we know that we may become parents and we are willing for that to happen’ ”
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