There are, as readers should know, a large subsections of atheists who have fostered discord by making highly emotive statements critical of religion. Terms like militant and strident are often used against these atheists. A recent screed called certain common practices:

1. intrinsically evil
2. objectively wrong
3. essentially opposed to … proper human development.
4. diminishes the capacity for love
5. a grave injustice

But this was not written by an atheist. It comes from a pastoral letter released this week by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. And this is not a rogue view. The letter was approved by a vote of 180-45 with 3 abstentions, so we can safely say that this represents mainstream opinion among US Catholic bishops.

Of course, it may be that the pastoral letter is criticising practices that deserve strident condemnation, like slavery or child abuse. If only it were so. The condemnations above refer respectively to:

1. contraception (excepting natural family planning), cohabitation outside marriage
2. contraception (excepting natural family planning)
3. contraception (excepting natural family planning)
4. cohabitation outside marriage
5. any sort of marriage that does not involve one man and one woman, any sort of family arrangement not approved by the church

Talking Squid is particularly impressed by the claim that contraception (other than natural family planning) is objectively wrong. We optimistically await other criticisms of the Bishop’s letter for its stridency and militancy.

Tags: militancy, pastoral letter, stridency