The Catholic Church, Tattoos and Sex

Since the Natural Family Planning incident, Meggie and I have been debating whether or not to put off the Catholic ceremony in favor of having a good old fashion Justice of the Pease wedding.  We finally got a meeting with our priest today.  I was happy.  Meggie really wants the wedding to be Catholic recognized.  I also really like our priest.  He’s just a really nice guy, and I enjoy talking with him.

I arrived early and waited for Meggie.  As I was waiting this old lady came in and saw me sitting down reading a pamphlet abut Pope Benedict.  She noticed my tattoos and told me she was “shocked that young people like [myself] choose to desecrate the bodies God has given [us].”  I politely explained that I am Agnostic. 

“Why are you here then?”

Oh boy, this is going to be good.  I explained that Meggie is Catholic.

“And she is marrying an Agnostic?”  Seriously, the lady seemed shocked at such an abomination.

“Yes ma’am, she is.”

The lady looked at me with a bit of concern, told me she would pray for me, and then she left.

Meggie finally arrived, and we sat down with the Padre to discuss our concerns regarding the NFP course teachers and what they required.  Our priest is not very good at discussing sex, and I found it amusing to hear him nervously debrief us on the Church’s viewpoints on human sexuality.  I felt kind of bad when he had to mention menstrual cycles and vaginal mucous — but the pity was kind of like when you see someone fall down — it’s sad but HI-larious.  While I don’t agree with them, I can understand the Church’s general viewpoints on birth control.  However, as our priest blushed through his little diatribe, he mentioned some stuff I just can’t wrap my brain around.  He explained a paper that was written sometime in the 1930s which suggests birth control actually destroys the bond between a man and a woman – it takes away from their spiritual connection. The paper also said that artificial contraception will lead to the objectifying of women as mere sex objects and give rise to pornography.  False, false and false.  I do not agree with these statements at all.  Feel how you want about the pill, condoms, coat hangers, whatever – I don’t think the love between a man and a woman can be affected by contraception.  With respect to the birth control pill leading to the objectifying of women as mere sex objects, I can see the how that idea was reached, but it is so far fetched.  It’s like saying that eating McDonalds leads to gym memberships.  And with respect to porn – men like porn.  They always have.  Ever since naked stick cavewomen were drawn on cave walls, men have been into it.  Porn is what we watch so that we can objectify something while still loving and respecting the real women in our life.

Ultimately, our priest told us that we did not have to go through NFP.  I joked around with him, explaining it was going to be hard figuring out where my baptismal certificate is in AZ considering everyone out there is a Catholic and has the last name Garcia.  We shook hands, and Meggie and I left.  I wonder if that lady who promised to pray for me prayed that I would not have to go through NFP.  If so, thanks lady.