A Christian View- Openness to Life

It is a well known fact among Christians (and secular society at large) that the Catholic Church teaches that the practice of artificial birth control (ABC) is an "intrinsically evil" act.
It is also a well known fact that in Western Society most Catholics openly dissent from this teaching and most other Christians refuse to even acknowledge that a moral position on this issue should be taught officially and authoritatively by their specific denomination. Many Christians are taught (by ommission) that they are simply free to come to their own conclusions on this essentially amoral issue.
Couples using ABC typically have an underlying "anti-child" mentality where only having a certain number of children is viewed as a blessing (two or three are a blessing, seven or eight are a curse) or only having children in scheduled and prescribed fashion is viewed as a blessing (one child every three years is a blessing, two children 11 months apart is a curse). There is no sense that each child brought about by Almighty God through a marriage open to life (the chief
purpose of marriage being the procreation and education of children) is an incredible and undeserved blessing.
Couples using ABC also actively and artificially seperate the procreative (transmission of life-primary purpose) from the uniative (pleasure/bonding-secondary purpose) aspect of conjugal love. They actively participate in the uniative aspect while at the same time actively and artificially frustrating the procreative aspect of the marital act. It is ultimately a very self-centered and grave action, to deny God (the Creator of heaven and earth) from creating life while at the same time allowing one's own self to indulge in pleasure in this same action.
Some Christians would say that the Catholic position on natural family planning (NFP) is essentially no different than ABC. I would agree that if a Catholic couple in question is utilizing NFP with the same anti-child mentality as a couple using ABC, there is essentially no difference as this is a truly contraceptive mentality, even of not utilizing contraceptives per se.
This is why one of the key statements made by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Humanae Vitae is that: "If there are serious reasons to space out births, reasons which derive from the physical or psychological conditions of husband and wife, or from external conditions, the Church teaches that it is morally permissible to take into account the natural rhythms of human fertility and to have coitus only during the infertile times in order to regulate conception without offending the moral principles which have been recalled earlier"(Humanae Vitae, 16). This is a paragraph that I do not believe is emphasized enough among proponants of NFP. Before NFP is able to be considered licit, the couple must have serious reasons for doing so. Materialistic concerns, normal family stresses, or simple selfishness do not constitute serious reasons for using NFP.
When NFP is used (assuming a serious reason and measured and prayerfull consideration), it is still very different in its primary action. It does not sever the procreative from the uniative. In abstinence during fertile periods we see a thoughtful, prayerful, and sacrificial act (abstinence) as opposed to a mindless, prayerless, and self-centered act with ABC. The subtle but profound differences between ABC and NFP are not easily grasped at first glance, but the more reading I have done the more starkly I note the differences between the two. This is a good basic article (http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Homiletic/12-96/8/8.html) dealing with the diffences between ABC and NFP by examining the moral object, the intention, and the circumstances of each.
Being open to life takes a great deal of faith in God and a difficult relinquishing of control to Him in this area of our lives. Although this is but an introduction to a controversial topic, it is my intention to challenge those using ABC or illicitly using NFP to study and prayerfully reconsider opening (or re-opening) their marriage to the greatest gift, life itself.