Dept. of hot steaming bullshit, Catholic edition

[Boltingmadonna]

Oo, my first post . . . . Anybody who thinks there are no crazy fundie Catholics needs to check out Johnette Benkovic's TV show on the EWTN channel (a rich mine of Teh Crazee), "Women of Grace." Johnette has a website, though sadly not a blog: http://www.womenofgrace.com/

This morning, she had three guests on to discuss contraception. Which, according to them, should not be called contraception because it does not prevent conception. It ONLY causes abortion, so it should be called "abortifacients." This is a step beyond the claim that BC sometimes might cause abortion. Now they're going whole hog and claiming that it ALWAYS causes abortion and doesn't stop conception at all.

Oh, and also, don't ever say "sexually active." Rather, say that women are "prostituting themselves." Or "committing fornication," which by the way is a MORTAL SIN. That means if you do it and don't get properly absolved by a Catholic priest, you WILL go to Hell.

But! The Big Crazy on this show involves pheromones. Ladies, I'll bet you didn't know that being on birth control screws up your pheromones so will pick the wrong man! You'll be attracted to someone who isn't right for you because your immune systems won't match. Thus, by using birth control, you will be responsible for creating a "generation of immune-compromised children," plus lots and lots of miscarriages and deformities caused by marrying the wrong guy because you were on birth control. I can't imagine a crueler, more vicious tactic than blaming women for their own miscarriages. Oh yeah, that probably happened because you used BC before marriage, so you married the wrong guy! Hey, way to support and strengthen marriage, too. Oh well--you married him, so you're stuck with him for a lifetime of messed-up pregnancies, because you can't get divorced, either.

In addition, ladies peeing more estrogen because of being on the pill is totally responsible for intersex fish and early puberty among humans. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with hormones in our food and with agricultural chemicals that mimic some hormonal effects. Nuh uh--because that would be SCIENCE, which, as we know, is evil because it contradicts our crazy assumptions.

Stopping now because my head is about to explode . . . and that was just one half-hour show.

[Austin]

Oo, my first post . . . . Anybody who thinks there are no crazy fundie Catholics needs to check out Johnette Benkovic's TV show on the EWTN channel (a rich mine of Teh Crazee), "Women of Grace." Johnette has a website, though sadly not a blog: http://www.womenofgrace.com/

This morning, she had three guests on to discuss contraception. Which, according to them, should not be called contraception because it does not prevent conception. It ONLY causes abortion, so it should be called "abortifacients." This is a step beyond the claim that BC sometimes might cause abortion. Now they're going whole hog and claiming that it ALWAYS causes abortion and doesn't stop conception at all.

Oh, and also, don't ever say "sexually active." Rather, say that women are "prostituting themselves." Or "committing fornication," which by the way is a MORTAL SIN. That means if you do it and don't get properly absolved by a Catholic priest, you WILL go to Hell.

But! The Big Crazy on this show involves pheromones. Ladies, I'll bet you didn't know that being on birth control screws up your pheromones so will pick the wrong man! You'll be attracted to someone who isn't right for you because your immune systems won't match. Thus, by using birth control, you will be responsible for creating a "generation of immune-compromised children," plus lots and lots of miscarriages and deformities caused by marrying the wrong guy because you were on birth control. I can't imagine a crueler, more vicious tactic than blaming women for their own miscarriages. Oh yeah, that probably happened because you used BC before marriage, so you married the wrong guy! Hey, way to support and strengthen marriage, too. Oh well--you married him, so you're stuck with him for a lifetime of messed-up pregnancies, because you can't get divorced, either.

In addition, ladies peeing more estrogen because of being on the pill is totally responsible for intersex fish and early puberty among humans. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with hormones in our food and with agricultural chemicals that mimic some hormonal effects. Nuh uh--because that would be SCIENCE, which, as we know, is evil because it contradicts our crazy assumptions.

Stopping now because my head is about to explode . . . and that was just one half-hour show.

:shock:

Words fail me.

[MonkeyMomma]

Oh my goodness, I LOVE Women of Grace! I used to use it for my daily dose of crazy before we cancelled our cable. Just wait until you get to see the ones about "the occult." SImply amazing.

[emmyfair]

I can't believe I used to live this garbage ... :( The scariest thing of all is that these women really, really, believe all these lies...

[Lainey]

But! The Big Crazy on this show involves pheromones. Ladies, I'll bet you didn't know that being on birth control screws up your pheromones so will pick the wrong man! You'll be attracted to someone who isn't right for you because your immune systems won't match.

This was on Cracked.com.

[demgirl]

But! The Big Crazy on this show involves pheromones. Ladies, I'll bet you didn't know that being on birth control screws up your pheromones so will pick the wrong man! You'll be attracted to someone who isn't right for you because your immune systems won't match. Thus, by using birth control, you will be responsible for creating a "generation of immune-compromised children," plus lots and lots of miscarriages and deformities caused by marrying the wrong guy because you were on birth control.

I can't decide if this is hysterically funny or so scary that I literally want to crawl under my desk and hide.

[Kishiria]

Occasionally I will talk about my mom. My mom watches EWTN daily and believes what she hears.

I call myself a nontheistic pagan now.

[Shina]

Wow...people are batshit crazy.

And that is all I have to say.

[GeoBQn]

Latest scientific studies show that pheromones are BS:

http://jezebel.com/5832859/pheromones-are-bullshit

[longskirtlotsakids]

What makes me (as a science professional) cringe is when fundies try to use science to forward their dogma, but have no understanding of the most basic concept. it's like giving a chimpanzee a car. They summarily dismiss proven physics as ethereal, but string together crazy cause and effect reasoning to forward unrestricted breeding.

I still don;t get how they can brush of why MORE people on the planet is a BAD thing. I mean really, the concept of more people =more food needed is not that complex, is it?

[Kelsey]

I've suffered two miscarriages despite never using BC. What's her position on that?

[Kishiria]

Kelsey, it was the will of God and God never hands you more than you can suffer and God has a plan and you have to trust in Him!

/sarcasm. I'm very sorry to read about your miscarriage.

[snickerz]

But! The Big Crazy on this show involves pheromones. Ladies, I'll bet you didn't know that being on birth control screws up your pheromones so will pick the wrong man! You'll be attracted to someone who isn't right for you because your immune systems won't match. Thus, by using birth control, you will be responsible for creating a "generation of immune-compromised children," plus lots and lots of miscarriages and deformities caused by marrying the wrong guy because you were on birth control.

Wow, this ranks right up there with Anna's sister & the Japanese radiation! Forget REAL science - I love their made-up science! It's so entertaining!

[trebello]

Erm, while her explanation is full of misunderstanding, and she is mis-using the term "pheromone", there is some evidence that MHC (HLA) diversity is indeed involved in mate choice in humans. In the study I read, taking hormonal birth control does indeed affect the ability of the woman to recognize MHC diversity in a mate. This system is also found in various animals. For those unfamiliar with MHC (HLA in humans), it is a family of molecules found on the surface of our cells that is involved in presenting antigen (foreign matter) to the T-cells of our immune system. Evidence seems to indicate that greater MHC diversity is preferable.

Sorry for the lack of journal article references. I have them all at work, and I am too lazy to look them up again.

The "women on the Pill are ruining the environment!!111!!!!" argument is old, and not terribly well supported. However, I think the Green movement picked up on this waaaayyy more than the Catholics did. Although they had no problem jumping on the bandwagon.

[alphaeta08]

I love EWTN. A lot. I used to watch with great amusement their generic teen abstinence propaganda show, as well as Web of Faith, in which a middle aged an an elderly priest answer email questions. Waaay more entertaining that the 700 Club.

[loveandwar]

Oh, believe me, there are crazy fundie Catholics. I know one of them in person. He used to be a nice, moderate Catholic, and now he's completely gone off the deep end. The sad thing is, he actually believes everything you've stated in your post.

Meanwhile, my mainstream Protestant self replies, "Where in the Bible does God say 'Thou shalt not use contraception' ??"