Sacred Rights : the Case for Contraception and Abortion in World Religions

As the global population continues to grow, family planning is fast becoming one of the most critical issues facing the planet. While many organizations--most prominently the United Nations--are trying to implement policies that will help curb the population explosion, these measures are frequently blocked by those professing conservative religious beliefs. In many of the world's religions there is a restrictive and pro-natalist view on family planning, and this is one legitimate reading of those religious traditions. As the essays in this volume demonstrate, however, this is not the only legi. Read more... Contents; Contributors; Introduction; 1. "Each One an Entire World": A Jewish Perspective on Family Planning; 2. Contraception and Abortion in Roman Catholicism; 3. Contraception and Abortion Within Protestant Christianity; 4. Family Planning, Contraception, and Abortion in Islam: Undertaking Khilafah; 5. The Right to Family Planning, Contraception, and Abortion: The Hindu View; 6. The Right to Family Planning, Contraception, and Abortion in Thai Buddhism; 7. Family Planning and Abortion: Cultural Norms Versus Actual Practices in Nigeria. 8. Reproductive Rites and Wrongs: Lessons from American Indian Religious Traditions, Historical Experience, and Contemporary Life9. Heavenly Way and Humanly Doings: A Consideration of Chinese Man's Body Management During the Late Imperial Period; 10. Excess, Lack, and Harmony: Some Confucian and Taoist Approaches to Family Planning and Population Management--Tradition and the Modern Challenge; 11. Religion, State, and Population Growth; 12. Reproduction and Sexua Contents......Page 6 Contributors......Page 8 Introduction......Page 12 1. "Each One an Entire World": A Jewish Perspective on Family Planning......Page 30 2. Contraception and Abortion in Roman Catholicism......Page 64 3. Contraception and Abortion Within Protestant Christianity......Page 88 4. Family Planning, Contraception, and Abortion in Islam: Undertaking Khilafah......Page 114 5. The Right to Family Planning, Contraception, and Abortion: The Hindu View......Page 138 6. The Right to Family Planning, Contraception, and Abortion in Thai Buddhism......Page 154 7. Family Planning and Abortion: Cultural Norms Versus Actual Practices in Nigeria......Page 176 8. Reproductive Rites and Wrongs: Lessons from American Indian Religious Traditions, Historical Experience, and Contemporary Life......Page 184 9. Heavenly Way and Humanly Doings: A Consideration of Chinese Man's Body Management During the Late Imperial Period......Page 208 10. Excess, Lack, and Harmony: Some Confucian and Taoist Approaches to Family Planning and Population Management—Tradition and the Modern Challenge......Page 226 11. Religion, State, and Population Growth......Page 246 12. Reproduction and Sexuality in a Changing World: Reaching Consensus......Page 264 Conclusion......Page 282 Appendix: Editor's Note on Japanese Buddhism......Page 294 B......Page 298 D......Page 299 H......Page 300 L......Page 301 P......Page 302 S......Page 303 Z......Page 304 This book presents the work of the "Sacred Choices Initiative" of the Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health, and Ethics. The purpose of this Packard and Ford Foundation supported initiative is to attempt to change international discourse on family planning and to rescue this debate from superficial sloganeering by drawing on the moral stores of the world's major and indigenous religions. In many of the world's religions there is a restrictive and pro-natalist view on family planning, and this is one legitimate reading of those religious traditions. As the essays in this volume demonstrate, however, this is not the only legitimate or orthodox view. These authors show that the paramaters of orthodoxy are wider and gentler than that, and that the great religious traditions are wiser and more variegated and nuanced than a simple repetition of the most conservative views would suggest. This theme is carried out in essays on each of the world's major religious traditions, written by scholar practitioners of those faiths.