Catholic Medical Quarterly

The Journal of the Catholic Medical Association (UK)

Building knowledge. Building faith. Protecting the vulnerable.

Book Review

Contraception and Persecution

by Charles E. Rice
St Augustine's Press
ISBN: 978-1587311550

Book coverCharles E Rice is emeritus professor at the Notre Dame Law School. In this excellent and highly readable work, he argues that the state now sees itself as the highest moral authority and, as such, it has become absolute. The state creates "rights" that undermine the moral order by rejecting the very existence of objective truth. For example, the state seeks to re-define marriage without recourse to objective truth. While reading this book, this reviewer was reminded that this is nothing new: the state has previously re-defined marriage to prevent people of different races from marrying each other.

Ultimately, this current re-definition has been made possible by contraception: "The contraceptive society cannot deny legitimacy to the homosexual lifestyle without denying its own premise, that whether sex will have any relation to procreation is entirely up to the decision of the persons involved." If there is no link between marriage and children, then marriage can surely be re-defined. We can no longer take for granted that the purpose of marriage is to be open to procreation and to form a family.

Persecution will follow because of the overwhelming power that the state exerts over its people. Those who reject marriage re-definition are going to be punished by the state.

Professor Rice puts forward solid arguments to show that what is being attempted here is the dethroning of God and the natural law by the state.

REVIEWED BY DR PRAVIN THEVATHASAN