Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A Reminder about Points of View

Every now and then, there is nothing like a good reminder that I need to step back and look at things from another point of view. Like all of us, I intrinsically know this – but today I read something that reminded me, once again, of the absurdity of assumptions.
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In this case it was letters to the New York Times about the Catholic Church’s Humanae Vitae on birth control, which says –basically – that Catholics should not use artificially developed birth control. (I tried to state that in a completely neutral way, if I did not it is a limitation of my abilities – no perceived judgment is meant to be implied).
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As a non-catholic gay man I have no vested interest personally in the Humanae Vitae. My entire relationship with the Catholic Church consisted of going for a while when I was 7. I remember my mom wearing a lace doily pinned to her beehive (as did all the women), constantly falling asleep to the sound of Latin and the old “kneel to the left, kneel to the right, stand up, sit down, fight fight fight” and the endless rosaries said during a pre-funeral (which seemed to stretch into the days – but was probably only an hour or so – an hour was a LONG time when I was 7).
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So I read the letters and was amazed at the responses. My best guess, honestly, is that the Humanae Vitae was the Church’s response to the birth control pill. But the letters were all over the map based on the writers viewpoint. They (probably honestly) believe that the Humanae Vitae was one of the following:
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- The church’s attempt to castrate women (I know, I know)
- The church’s attempt to stop marital infidelity
- The church’s attempt to maintain the beauty and “specialness” of marriage
- The church’s choice to disregard the recommendations solicited from Catholic couples and physicians – and proof that it is all about power.
- The church’s attempt wage “all out war against women’s rights”
- The church’s willing blindness to not accept the love parents have for children (and the desire to separate out the time between children)
- The church’s transparent attempt to breed itself into a dominate role in life.
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Like I say, not being catholic or having to think about birth control, it is fascinating to see how people view the world through their own experiences and assumptions. It reminds me to try to be a little less quick with my assumptions of other people’s motives. And by other people I mean politicians I don’t like.

Except those assholes on their mobile phones who are stuck in front of me as I am late to the subway. I know they can walk and talk at the same time, they are just doing it to piss me off.