The Papal Encyclical
Sir: Pope Paul's latest encyclical vetoing birth control [Aug. 2] is offered as a reaffirmation of the sacredness of human life as based on truths of divine and natural law. Though very reasonable in tone, there are moments in the document when a faint note of hysteria can be detected. The pill, writes the Pope, might lead to infidelity, loss of respect for women, and could even precipitate political anarchy. However real this social danger may be in the modern world, it is a mistake to make discussion of it depend on teachings of divine and natural law about the sacredness of life. How the holiness of human life can in any way be abrogated by a mere technology (the pill) is very unclear in the encyclical. Is fear for the stability of a social structure, the family, in any way the same as fear for one's salvation? The latter is a true religious question, while the former is not.
JUDSON J. EMERICK
Philadelphia Sir: What Pope Paul says, in effect, is that if a family has the affluence and physical stamina for child after child, why, let them enjoy reproducing themselves. If, however, a family is poverty-stricken, living in desolation and illness, where a new life might face starvation, why, just add "no sex" to its already deprived existence. However, do not abstain for too long. Duty binds to take yet another whack at producing yet another malnutrition victim!
MRS. A. J. VECSEY
Rye, N.Y.
Sir: The ban on contraception is, in effect, an ironical move to weaken further a basic principle of the Christian faith: that every human life has worth. It has always been the tendency (whether sound or unsound) to value items in proportion to their multiplicity or scarcity—value increasing with the rarity of the object and decreasing with its abundance. Thus the explosion of the population has tended to cheapen human life in the eyes of many. It becomes increasingly difficult to say "thou" to a mass of flesh that bumps and pushes and encroaches more and more on free space, sacred privacy and a diminishing food supply. I fear that the Pope cannot see the flesh for the spirit.
DAVID B. MYERS Graduate Student University of Texas Austin
Sir: The reconfirmation of the age-old Catholic stand that no one has the authority to deny the continuance of life is refreshing in the days made easy for everything else in America. And in the areas of our world where population in crease is an alarming concern to science it is reassuring to know that God alone gives the test of faith. Pope Paul stands with every Pope before him to remind the world that to live, no matter what the circumstances, brings honor and glory to the Creator. Perhaps if all Catholics were really Catholic, there would be less of a problem with population scare, for in conscience they would be directed to wait until they were capable of caring for offspring before they enter into holy matrimony: a simple solution for a lot of problems in any church.
James J, Kunz Cape Coral, Fla.