@Jazzhead
Yeah, I know, we're all a bunch of troglodytes who never heard of nuance until you came to enlighten us.
I get your point, and you're doing it again---throwing Catholics and Muslim savages into the same pot. Period. And don't bother virtue signaling about my use of the word savage, because if they practice genital mutilation, that is exactly what they are.
If you don't like Catholic teaching, don't be a Catholic. It's that simple. They're not forcing their members to do anything, so why should it bother you?
First of all, I'll admit the obvious - I'm trying to be provocative here, so I expect the pushback. But it's depressing that the reaction is always so personal. Why is the subject of sexual repression by religion taboo?
I was initially responding to the sky-is-falling reaction to the morality poll that is the topic thread. I wasn't bothered, because the real moral wrong - having an extramarital affair and the vow-breaking that entails - remains universally condemned. So why is the sky falling? Because religious strictures against consensual and victimless sexual activity have been loosening.
Why is that such a threat? Sexual responsibility should be the issue, not arbitrary self-denial of sexual pleasure in the name of religion. In today's world, female genital mutilation is the most abhorrent practice - certainly it is the most brutal and permanent - but it's a symptom of a larger disease, if you will. Most religions teach repression of sexual pleasure for its own sake.
NO - female genital mutilation is NOT equivalent to the Catholic prohibition against the use of contraceptives. It is far worse. But each is symptomatic of a mindset that sex for pleasure and not procreation is to be discouraged, even within the bounds of a faithful and consensual relationship. I simply disagree with that. Fidelity and responsibility should be the issues, not arbitrary self-denial.
Please don't project that because I question the Catholic prohibition against the use of contraceptives, that I "dislike" Catholic teachings. I actually respond to the Catholic faith and message far more than I do the evangelicals. My sister converted to Catholicism, and I think she did the right thing.