Is it worth pointing out that modern birth control is, in part, beneath the rise of both gay marriage and our current troubles with government debt? By separating marriage and having children, technology, as a practical matter, reduces the link that always existed between marriage and family. And by making it possible/easier to have fewer children, it also makes Social Security, Medicare, and the other retirement plans more like ponzi schemes.
Is this serious, or just a snark? Almost childlike generalizations if the former. I'll return to out-snark you if the latter.
you're kidding - right?
In Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI presciently predicted all of the outcomes that have come to fruition from the birth control mentality in the West. At 28 pp. or so, it's a quick and easy yet important read. On a personal level, when my wife and I stopped using it a decade ago, it fundamentally altered our marriage for the better. We re-united the pleasurable and procreative purposes of sexuality as God intended.
Right on. Easy dismissal of the connections only reveals lack of thought about the issues. So it is indeed worth pointing out.
It's simply symptomatic of a larger trend -- the modern pursuit of maximal pleasure with minimal social responsibility. People want the gratification of marriage without its complications and social obligations. The whole psychological emphasis on the individual (i.e., self-esteem, self-actualization) has disrupted the natural balance of Western Civ. It's clear that some technologies (e.g., birth control) have contributed to this devolution, but it's basic human nature that is driving the whole mess.
It seems to me that Bristlecone Pine (what a moniker!) has given us the elements for a good discussion: basic human nature; Western civ; and modernity (early, middle, and late modernity could be added as specifications) & technology; the individual and society; pleasure & responsibility. Comments 1 & 2 might not derail the thing after all.