Madam, - I was rather surprised by the illogicality and irreverence of Ian Kennedy's letter (October 27th).
He refers to "natural contraception", a term which makes no sense since the possibility of conception must be there before there can be contraception. People who use "natural family planning" are siding with nature rather than interfering with or deliberately frustrating nature.
His use of verses from the Song of Songs to support prevention of life is at best irreverent. That book of the Old Testament is about God's passionate love of his people and is full of concepts of fruitfulness. To imply that at the beloved would use a condom to prevent fruitfulness is bizarre to say the least.
Many born again Christians are vociferous in their claims that Jesus is Lord of their lives, but it is fairly obvious that he is not allowed to be Lord in one very important area, their physical marital relations. Of course private interpretation of scripture is the significance here. It often simply means private bias.
Mr. Kennedy should be aware that in scripture the marriage covenant is the greatest reflection of God's covenant with his people. To deliberately exclude the life-giving potential is to frustrate God's plan. To side with nature's breathing (breeding) space is in accordance with God's plan provided the motivation is not in itself purely selfish. After all St Paul suggests that with mutual consent Christians might abstain from sexual relations to leave themselves free for prayer.
In my opinion the Catholic teaching on marriage has been a lighthouse in a sea of doubt. However it is also true that the Church seems to have generally failed to introduce people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is only such a relationship that can make the observance of hard teaching possible. - Yours, etc.,
TONY SCOTT,
Sweetbriar Lawn,
Tramore,
Co Waterford.