by John McNichol
John McNichol is a Catholic, Husband, Father, Teacher, Writer and Speaker living in the Pacific NorthWest. He is the author of three published novels: Books 1 and 2 in the Young Chesterton Chronicles series ('The Tripods Attack!', and 'The Emperor of North America'), as well 'The King's Gambit', an adventure novel for the 9-12 year old crowd.
Catholic Stand
Biblically, the story of Onan in Genesis Chapter 38 was a blunt enough message for the first nineteen centuries of Christianity: preventing children by artificial means was offensive to God. So much so that God summarily killed Onan for it (Gen 38: 8-10). Worse, after Christ’s resurrection, Catholics and protestant theologians gave Onan the dubious honor of having a particular mortal sin named after him.
Add to that, whenever a woman got pregnant in the Bible, it was because God had mercy on her, God opened her womb, or God blessed her. Children were seen as a blessing by God to be celebrated, not a chore to be avoided (Ps 127:3-5, Prov 17:6, to name a few).
But , I prefer not only to look at the Biblical reasons alone. I also like to look at common sense. I also like food. Food has two components, if we think about it: There is both a biological and an emotional aspect to any food we eat. Food is eaten with friends. It’s often pleasurable to consume. It’s also a necessity for life. Ancient Rome, however, was known for its pleasurable excesses. It was not unheard of for party guests to vomit their food up after dinner, and return for more food later. Cicero in his work Pro Rege Deiotaro noted Julius Caesar himself would take emetic drugs for the expressed purpose of making himself vomit after dinner. For ancient Roman partygoers, filling up on good food wasn’t considered a bad thing at all. And, if you found yourself too full, a guest just emptied the contents of their stomach, and then could return to the party able to consume more delectables.
Today, when someone tries to lose weight by vomiting the food they eat, we say they have an eating disorder. Just so, when the ancient Romans sought to separate the pleasure of eating from its biological purpose, we see it as disordered. Or we just call it gross. Take your pick.
Biblically, the story of Onan in Genesis Chapter 38 was a blunt enough message for the first nineteen centuries of Christianity: preventing children by artificial means was offensive to God. So much so that God summarily killed Onan for it (Gen 38: 8-10). Worse, after Christ’s resurrection, Catholics and protestant theologians gave Onan the dubious honor of having a particular mortal sin named after him.
Add to that, whenever a woman got pregnant in the Bible, it was because God had mercy on her, God opened her womb, or God blessed her. Children were seen as a blessing by God to be celebrated, not a chore to be avoided (Ps 127:3-5, Prov 17:6, to name a few).
But , I prefer not only to look at the Biblical reasons alone. I also like to look at common sense. I also like food. Food has two components, if we think about it: There is both a biological and an emotional aspect to any food we eat. Food is eaten with friends. It’s often pleasurable to consume. It’s also a necessity for life. Ancient Rome, however, was known for its pleasurable excesses. It was not unheard of for party guests to vomit their food up after dinner, and return for more food later. Cicero in his work Pro Rege Deiotaro noted Julius Caesar himself would take emetic drugs for the expressed purpose of making himself vomit after dinner. For ancient Roman partygoers, filling up on good food wasn’t considered a bad thing at all. And, if you found yourself too full, a guest just emptied the contents of their stomach, and then could return to the party able to consume more delectables.
Today, when someone tries to lose weight by vomiting the food they eat, we say they have an eating disorder. Just so, when the ancient Romans sought to separate the pleasure of eating from its biological purpose, we see it as disordered. Or we just call it gross. Take your pick.
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