Fr. Dmitry
Let us reason together. This is a very important subject. When people marry, it is expected that they want to create a family. And when creating a family, it is expected that, if possible, there will be children. Just imagine: We arrive in some sort of eating establishment – in a pizzeria or a restaurant. We sit at a table. It is expected that we are now going to eat. And eating is for the purpose of sustaining life. This is the first law which God gave to man: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
“So a contraceptive, whether it is a drug or a device, is something which prevents a person from fulfilling this command. If we continue the analogy with food, it is as if we arrive at the restaurant, and in front of it, let’s assume we cut our own throats. Or like in ancient Greek feasts, we eat food, and afterwards use a feather to tickle the back of the throat, so that we throw up everything. Then we start all over again.
The human body, both male and female, is arranged so that reproductive activity is carried out in a certain way. And as a natural result of it, children will be born. This is how things actually worked 70 years ago, and even further back, in prior centuries. According to the 1913 census, the average Russian woman gave birth to 5 to 7 children. Thus, during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, the population [of Russia] increased by 27 million people.
But today we are dying out. If all these trends continue, it is assumed that in 20 years our country will no longer exist. Yet women work, they study, they do everything . . . but they prevent the birth of children. Why do contraceptives exist? To protect yourself. From what? From children. As if children were frightful criminals! Locks and iron doors exist to protect us from such people.
And we look at children in a similar way! And even in some countries, for example, Germany – a prosperous, rich country, the richest in Europe –– there are whole areas there, where you will not hear the cries of children, the laughter of children, nor the shouts of children. Why? Because no children are there. In some of these places, you are not allowed to rent an apartment if you have children. What does this lead to? It leads to the destruction of a nation. As a result, the great culture of Germany is disappearing.
Thus, contraceptives are methods for people to destroy themselves. Any contraception at all is a perversion of human nature. Do you understand? The reproductive function of men and women is exploited, so that children are not born from it.
What is contraception? There is a special medical term for it: “Onanism”. It is when marriage goes outside the fulfillment of God’s law, turning it into the opposite. By this, marriage is reduced to an absurdity and is robbed of anything extraordinary.
What are the effects of contraception and abortion? Well, first of all, there is a shortage of children.
Today there are big problems with hazing in the army. Why does this occur? It happens because many of our boys have no brothers or sisters. A boy is educated in a sheltered environment, he is pampered by his mother, and the basic principle of masculinity is not within him. He cannot stand up for himself. He is a soft, effeminate, fragile person. Thus, finding himself in the army, he endures horrible stress, and cannot stand up for himself. And this sort of thing happens all the time.
Second, grandmothers often interfere with the dynamics of family life. Why? Because their natural maternal desires have been left unfulfilled. Instead of only having one child, if they had given birth to four or five children, they would have been able to satisfy those feelings. But now she tries to make her grandchildren and great-grandchildren take the place of the fourth and fifth kids she never had. And because of this, young families are being destroyed.
Also, if a man has 5-6 children, he is unlikely to be so dishonorable as to leave his wife. But if there are only 1 or 2, it is much easier for him to do this. So a shortage of children gives rise to divorce. There are a huge number of women, who lost their husbands and are unhappy, and the initial reasons were due to contraception.
Often, such reasons are put forward: They say, “Our financial situation won’t allow us to have more children, because if I have a third, fourth, or fifth child, I won’t be able to give them as much attention as I can give to one or two. “In this case, the truth is quite the opposite. If a mother has five children, she cannot also work a full-time job. She will stay at home. She will spend some of her time cleaning, cooking, and washing dishes. Other than that, while her children are still young, she will be able to give them all her attention.
If a mother works a job and comes home exhausted, she can only tell her children, “Leave me alone! “It is important to be involved with children, and to nurture them. But contraceptives push our children out into the street, and so they destroy our families from within.
There is also a matter of divine justice. There are a significant number of contraceptives which cause abortions. Intrauterine devices are an example of this, because they destroy fertilized eggs (by keeping them from implanting in the uterus). This is, in fact, an abortion. And while this device remains implanted, a mother may unknowingly commit a whole series of abortions. Moreover, consider the code of criminal law. In addition to murder, there is also the statute against attempted murder. This sort of contraceptive device is an attempt to kill your own children. Even when it is not murder, it certainly is an attempted murder. It is a desire for there to be no children.
After all, [having many children] is the normal desire of any living thing. Look, in my parlor lives my cat, Murka. We calculated that she has given birth to more than a hundred kittens. Though she is now old, she is still in good health. And even now, she is still preoccupied with producing new offspring. But people not only shy away from this, they want to live at the expense of having fewer children.
Therefore, of course, this is man’s rebellion against himself. So I am very happy that you have arrived at the correct opinion, that abortion is completely unacceptable. In our country approximately 4 million abortions take place every year. If every child conceived was born, then we would not have problems with the extinction of the population.
And ideologically, abortion and contraception both require a similar mindset. So, what sort of attitude should I have? Only that which conforms to the teaching of the Church. And according to the canonical teaching of the Church, contraception is equivalent to abortion.
This is taught in the canon of St. Basil the Great, which was written in the 4th century.
And today we are already in the 21 century. So according to morality, biology, and Christianity, contraception is completely unacceptable. Things can be repeated so many times that, unfortunately, they become habitual. For example, many people no longer say “spouse” or “husband”. Instead, they say “partner”, as if they were playing ping-pong, or tennis, or something.
As a result, many people become unhappy, because they ruin their family, and a person can only be happy in a family. Only in a family. And now we have the modern thirst for all sorts of entertainments, distractions, and vacations. This happens because a person is unhappy. He suffers, so he must always deafen himself with some sort of music, some sort of mockery and constant jokes. People cannot just live, they have to cheer themselves up all the time, because their heart is gripped by a terrible longing.
These people are very unhappy. Well, imagine . . . people kill their children, and they “protect” themselves from them as if children were criminals, and as a result they are not happy. Well, these things are unjust! That is why, if a person leads such a life, he cannot be happy. True, Fr. Alexander?
Fr. Alexander:
Yes.
Fr. Dmitry:
How many children do you have?
Fr Alexander:
Six.
Fr. Dmitry:
Six! Well, you can see how happy he is!
