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talkpolitics2009-08-27 02:12 pm
sophia-sadek.livejournal.com) wrote in talkpolitics2009-08-27 02:12 pm
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Rendering unto Caesar: The Origin of the Birth Control Ban
There is no evidence that Early Christians heeded the Roman ban on birth control. In fact, there are hints pointing to the practice of birth control in the early Christian literature. Apparently, the Church didn't subscribe to Roman law on the matter until it took control of imperial affairs in the fourth century.
The ban on birth control made sense for an urban population at the time. If each family did not give birth to an average of five children, the population would decline from disease and warfare. This threat to the city's power was also a threat to the Church's power. One of the crimes that heretical sects were accused of was the crime of trafficking in prophylactic herbs.
To this day, the subjects of the Vicar of Caesar are prohibited from practicing birth control, except in limited contexts such as through monasticism. It is easy to determine whether a person is slave or free by establishing whether they follow the ban or not. Do you obey the laws of Caesar, or do you conform to a higher jurisprudence?
The ban on birth control made sense for an urban population at the time. If each family did not give birth to an average of five children, the population would decline from disease and warfare. This threat to the city's power was also a threat to the Church's power. One of the crimes that heretical sects were accused of was the crime of trafficking in prophylactic herbs.
To this day, the subjects of the Vicar of Caesar are prohibited from practicing birth control, except in limited contexts such as through monasticism. It is easy to determine whether a person is slave or free by establishing whether they follow the ban or not. Do you obey the laws of Caesar, or do you conform to a higher jurisprudence?
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