Anonymous wrote:If so, do your receive communion at Mass every Sunday?

Are you a Catholic who's hoping for a "partner in crime?"

yes to both, btw

Anonymous wrote:Catholic. 2 kids. No BC - just careful planning.

I wonder...when you say no birth control are you also including the withdrawal method? So for the no birth control responses...do you use natural family planning?

Catholic. 2 kids. No BC - just careful planning.

Here's how it works for he Catholics I know.

Having sex in college: 99% birth control (no way kids out of wedlock)

Sex while married, no kids: 50% (let God decide when)
Married 2 kids: 75% (let me decide how many)
3/4+ kids: a whole lot of vasectomies. (ok we did our duty. Gotta pay for college)

Anonymous wrote:Catholic. We don't use BC

Given the many, many large families (8+ kids) in my parish, I find the "98% use bc" statistic written here hard to believe...

How many is that? Seriously your parish has say 300 families and you are saying you have 50 or 75 with 8 kids? Or more like five?

Formerly Catholic who has been using birth control since I was 19. I have taken communion while on birth control. I cannot reconcile my differences any longer. The events of the past few weeks have reaffirmed my descion to leave the Catholic Church.

BTW, my catholic mom had a tubal ligation after four kids.

I can think of only one catholic friend who used Natural Family planning but after five kids I think her husband secretly had a vasectomy.

Anonymous wrote:98% of Catholic women use birth control.....

so this seems to be correct.

I read a piece in the Post about this statistic - apparently it refers to women who have ever had sex at least once (sexually experienced) and who have ever used birth control at least once. For sexually active women who are currently not trying to get pregnant and who are of child-bearing age, 68% use birth control. Still quite a stunning figure in my view. And at odds with the teaching of the Catholic church.

Some folks on this thread seem to have made their peace with not following the church's rules by not taking communion. Is that correct or am I wrong about that? And if that is so, does that really make it okay? I ask because I'm trying to understand how so many people can use birth control but not speak out against the Catholic hierarchy for condemning it. Is it a matter of just working out your own understanding of the ethical intricacies of it?

Not trying to attack anyone, just trying to understand the thinking. And thanks everyone who has responded thoughtfully so far. It's very helpful to non-Catholics like me.

Catholic. We don't use BC

Given the many, many large families (8+ kids) in my parish, I find the "98% use bc" statistic written here hard to believe...

98% of Catholic women use birth control.....

so this seems to be correct.

Who cares!?

I'm catholic.
I use birth control.

Am I going to hell? Don't think it will be because I used the pill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of the anti-catholics on this board. I guarantee you that if someone started a post that asked "Are you Jewish, do you eat pork?" people would be up in arms. We get it already, you don't like catholics.

I think that's a valid question too. I'll start. My husband is Jewish and eats pork.

Ha! So does mine. What's wrong with these nice Jewish boys??

I'm a Jew who is eating a ham sandwich while reading this thread. Boggles the mind, doesn't it...

Yes, and yes. Nobody, not even a priest, can assume what's in your heart. Catholics are obligated to follow their conscience as the final "decision-maker" on matters of morality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you drive? do you go over the spped limit? Do you fart in public and blame others? Did you cheat on an exam, are you returning your diploma? Did you drink before 21, did you turn yourslef in? Do you lie and tell your friends you wear an 8 instead of a 12?

Not relevant. The church doesn't deny communion to speeders.

When you are done with your tizzy and work through your feelings of religious persecution, I hope you can recognize that the Church just denied communion to a Lesbian who was attending her mother's funeral, and this poster wants to know whether the Church is consistent or discriminatory. Honestly I have never heard of a Catholic denied communion for using birth control or getting a vasectomy.

Well, I use birth control but I don't go to church wearing a scarlet BC on my chest. I don't think the Church was right to have denied Communion, but it's not quite a fair comparison b/c I would doubt that using birth control or getting the snip is outwardly obvious to everyone around you.

Anonymous wrote:Do you drive? do you go over the spped limit? Do you fart in public and blame others? Did you cheat on an exam, are you returning your diploma? Did you drink before 21, did you turn yourslef in? Do you lie and tell your friends you wear an 8 instead of a 12?

Not relevant. The church doesn't deny communion to speeders.

When you are done with your tizzy and work through your feelings of religious persecution, I hope you can recognize that the Church just denied communion to a Lesbian who was attending her mother's funeral, and this poster wants to know whether the Church is consistent or discriminatory. Honestly I have never heard of a Catholic denied communion for using birth control or getting a vasectomy.