Times Change, Truth Does Not

The Observer— Official Newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Rockford
Publication date: November 4, 2005

Life Lines
By Patricia Pitkus Bainbridge
Director, Respect Life Office

The recently published book by David Kupelian, The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom, exposes the fact that “much of what Americans once almost universally abhorred has been packaged, perfumed, gift-wrapped, and sold to us as though it had great value.”

Kupelian skillfully explains: 1) how “gay rights” has been sold to America; 2) the myth of Church-State separation; 3) who is selling sex and rebellion to our children; 4) how Western culture was turned upside down in one generation; 5) the campaign to destroy marriage; 6) how fraudulent science unleashed the catastrophic sexual “revolution;” 7) how radicals hijacked the education system; 8) how the press creates a world of illusion we think is real; 9) how lying marketers sold America on unrestricted abortion; and 10) the fall and rise of American Christianity.

Everyone interested in building a culture of life would benefit from reading Kupelian’s book. That being said, I was disappointed—albeit not surprised—that there was no discussion on the social marketing of contraception. “Not surprised” because I assume Kupelian belongs to that branch of Christianity that stands on traditional values except for the belief that contraception is immoral.

It may be possible that he, like so many, has no idea that until 1930, all Christian Churches taught that contraception was evil. Once the first church was seduced by the emerging contraceptive culture (led by Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood), all (except the Catholic Church) eventually bought the lie that contraception would be “good” for marriage.

How did we get to the point where what was once viewed as immoral by the majority is now viewed as so “normal?” A look to the nation’s largest committer of abortion provides the answer. In 1917, a writer for Margaret Sanger’s, Birth Control Review, wrote that birth control was appealing to radicals because “it is calculated to undermine the authority of the Christian churches.”

Today, Planned Parenthood admits, “As an agent of social change, Planned Parenthood has a proud history of bringing reproductive self-determination out of the realm of the mysterious and forbidden into a mainstream, broadly-embraced reality…We have ‘sold’ the public on the notion that individuals have the right to decide when and whether they want to have children. Even before the term was coined, we were doing social marketing.” The tragic fact is that they have been very successful with their marketing activities.

For years, the secular and entertainment media has taken direction on all things “reproductive” from Planned Parenthood who admits they ”encourage screenwriters and producers to incorporate information . . . into scripts for popular television shows, which are a major influence on young people’s sexual behaviors and attitudes.”

Tragically, but predictably, there appear to be more adherents to Planned Parenthood’s Contraception Shangri-La than to the truth found in Humanae Vitae and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Contrary to what many believe, Planned Parenthood’s opinion on contraception is not superior to the teaching of the Church. In fact, Planned Parenthood’s view of human sexuality and contraception has resulted in dire consequences. There is no doubt that times have changed, but truth has not and we must not acquiesce to distorted views of morality.

Dr. Janet Smith writes, “Some have cautioned that it is divisive to stress the Church’s teaching on contraception. The divisions, however, already exist. We must work to heal the divisions by patiently teaching the doctrine of the Church in season and out. G.K. Chesterton’s remark that Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and not tried, could be applied to Humanae Vitae: it has not been studied and taught and been rejected, it has not been studied and taught. When more start teaching Humanae Vitae, more will start living by Humanae Vitae, and more will experience the peace and joy that come with doing God’s will.”


Copyright, 2005