Supermodel speaks out

I thought I would tackle a little something different today, maybe a bit more controversial! In this morning's paper there was an article about international supermodel Gisele Bundchen and her recent criticism of the Roman Catholic Church's position on birth control and abortion. Now, I don't want to get into a debate on whether or not the Roman Church's position on these things is right (by the way, if you're interested, I think that the Roman Church is wrong on the first and right on the second!), but I do want to unpack several comments that Ms. Bundchen made in her criticism that are revealing in terms of the way people think today.

Ms. Bundchen states that the Roman Church is wrong to oppose birth control and abortion, because these beliefs are "hopelessly outdated." They were adopted, she says, in a day when "the women were virgins, [and] the guys were virgins." But since "no one is a virgin when they get married" today, the Roman Catholic Church's position needs to be modernized. Because "no one is a virgin" today, Ms. Bundchen concludes, it's "impossible" to prohibit people from using birth control and "also" prohibit them from having abortions.

Whether or not the Roman Church is correct in believing as they do, at least their convictions are just that...convictions...i.e., they are time-transcending beliefs that stem from what they perceive to be the Truth. Ms. Bundchen's statements are time-dependent conventions rather than convictions; they are based not upon objective Truth but, subjectively, upon what is currently in vogue. It's kind of reminiscent of my son or my daughter who say, "But Dad, everyone's doing it."

Not only so, but, in what she says, she reveals her belief that humans cannot and, therefore, ought not to control their sexual desires. That is why it is "impossible" for the church to prohibit both contraception and abortion. Sex is, after all, just an appetite waiting to be satisfied, isn't it? When we're hungry, we eat. When we're thirsty, we drink. When we're aroused, we sex. NO, NO, and again NO.

I remember reading C.S. Lewis poking fun at the view that sees sexual desires as appetites that need to be satisfied in the same way as hunger/food. He said something along these lines: Can you imagine a college student walking into their room and sitting on his/her bed and salivating at the posters he/she has on the wall...posters of a TURKEY fresh out of the oven, or of CHICKEN CORDON BLEU, or of a piping hot fresh APPLE PIE! It's ludicrous!

We can and do control our desire for food. We sometimes fast and most of us diet. We skip meals or don't eat certain foods or even don't eat at all for a time.

Of course, if we do not eat for long enough, we will die. The same thing CANNOT be said about sex. We will never die from abstaining from sex. Actually, in our culture, the opposite is closer to the truth--we may die from not abstaining from sex!

The main point that I'm trying to get us to see is this: Are the Roman Catholic Church's beliefs on contraception and abortion RIGHT? Or are they WRONG? Who cares whether or not they are unpopular? I would urge the Roman Church to hold firm on their convictions rather than give in to popular conventions. As Christians, we ought to be people of conviction rather than people of convention! God has given us "Way" in His Word (His Truth)...we are to be people of His "Way" not people of the world's way.