Royce Dunn, president of Please Let Me Live and the Protestant founder and prior director of Life Chain for 33 years, has just published a booklet, Who is Most Accountable for America’s Abortion Crisis.
He lays a lot of the blame on the churches, but most interesting is Dunn’s repentant remarks regarding contraception:
“Multiple times when writing about my failures I have addressed what I consider my ‘mountainous life regret’: that of limiting my family to only two precious children (and, through one of them, to four precious grandchildren. Our daughter is unmarried).
“Child aversion and contraception deceived my heart and mind, and I can only hope that the additional children God intended for my home were birthed into homes more loving and deserving. My grief from loss of additional offspring is unending and uncorrectable. Yet it is not without value. Merciful God provides for me to share my loss frequently, both to warn and
to encourage other spouses (of childbearing age and young adults who intend to marry).
“God also provides for me to share often a quote I received from a dear brother in Christ regarding how a Christian man should humbly process a critical (life-changing) mistake. The quote: ‘When an honest man learns he is mistaken, he will either cease being mistaken or cease being honest.’
“My wife (of 62 years) and I were blessed with easy conceptions and easy births. If only we had dedicated to God the fertility He had entrusted to us. While very grateful for His forgiveness, I have asked God to not lessen the loss I experience day by day. As expressed above, it reminds and helps me convey my regret to others, with hope of saving them deep sorrow. My wife readily acknowledges similar loss and regret….”
Eventually…”the truth will out”. May the Holy Spirit help him with the spiritual process of his continued repentance. I hope it leads him to “pardon and peace”.
In his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI condemned artificial contraception as intrinsically evil and a mortal sin. He also promoted natural family planning methods. End Abortion Now! Adoption is the option.
So kind and courageous of him to share his regret. God bless him for his 4 grandchildren!
“Child aversion and contraception deceived my heart and mind….” What a heart-breaking way to put things! And he said that he and his wife were blessed with “easy conceptions” and “easy childbirths”— but their precious gift of God, of fertility, was hijacked by the modern “progressive” culture. How many times, even at church, did they hear, that the best gift of married couples– was perhaps just “one child”– due to the world’s dangerous “over-population?” So many married couples in modern-day America, since the contracepting 1960s, have been tragically deceived in the same way. Additionally– America became a tragically sick and sinful land of painful “child aversion.” Cheap, selfish, “Me Generation” sexual pleasure, no warm, loving family of beloved children– “No room for them (the Holy Family, and the children) at the Inn!” The rush to money, succes, materialism and pleasure. Leaving behind God, religion, Christian Morality, and Christian Marriage and Family of Children. Until a Catholic doctor (paradoxically) invented the Birth Control Pill, stating his belief in “great progress for mankind” because of it (he ended up leaving the Faith) most people believed that contraception was a seriois sin. Most states had laws prohibiting Birth Control. Children grew up being taught Self-Control, good manners, and Christian Morals. Selfishness and hedonism was viewed rightly as immature– and a big sin. Christian Marriage and Motherhood was sacred. Most people got married and had families. And rich or poor– they always had church weddings– there were lots of them, every week! The basis and bedrock of society— not money, materialism, selfishness, self-gain, science, and the “latest trends,” advertised on the new, post-war invention– television. “Progress and pleasures” all for “the Great Me-Me-Me.” Extremely anti-Christian. What a shame. God bless Royce Dunn and his wife of 62 years, and their family! Hope his “unmarried daughter” may be blessed, if it is God’s Will, with a wonderful husband and lovely family of children!
I just read through the entire 38 page document. Wow! At one point Mr Royce shares his personal definition of contraception, which is equivalent to Pastor Bryan C. Hodge’s definition: “Any practice, with or without a device, that is intended to be used by an individual involved in the sexual act, in an effort to prevent the climax of that act from creating an opportunity for God to bring forth a covenant child through the natural, created means of the biological processes that He has set in place.” My question is: is this equivalent to the Catholic Church’s definition of contraception, or is it incomplete? Thanks
Something that is extremely important, is for young people to be able to grow up, seek a marriage spouse– and receive encouragement, help and lots of good support, from major institutions of our country– their parents and families, local communities, the churches, schools, medical and scientific community, ideas put out by leaders into the media, etc. Young people, since the 1960s, have been completely bombarded with corruption, sin, and terrible, destructive ideas and beliefs, from sick, sinful, and extremely harmful sources, everywhere in our country. This has to stop. A wholesome, responsible, mature, and good life, of good manners and good morals, unselfishly following the “Do unto others…” maxim and “ordo amoris” principle of charity to God and spouse, family, community, nation, etc. Each person should be happily contributing their best, to make a better marriage and family home life, church (or place of worship), neighborhood, workplace, community, nation, and world– that should be the norm. That is also where peopIe always find their true happiness and fulfillment.
“Thousands Hook Up in 360 Cities”. Hmm… I believe that happens every single night these days.
Nothing is coindicence. God didn’t want him to have any more chidlren.
I’m putting people on notice that any comment that has more than six lines will not be read by me and I will give it an automatic down thumb vote.
If
That’s
How
You
Feel,
Go
Ahead.
Yep!
Experts worry, because most American kids in today’s schools, cannot attain reading skills, beyond third grade. Many have never read a real book, only short paragraphs in class lessons. Many also are poorly socialized, narcissistic and focused on self, with poor manners, and are unable to respect or listen to another person’s viewpoint, incapable of basic enpathy, sharing, or working well, together with others. Many also suffer from ADHD, dyslexia, autism, and various social conmununication disorders. And many are just plain immature, lazy, selfish and spoiled.
Rare is the man who is so brutally honest. His commitment to the truth has my admiration. Jesus came to save sinners. (1 Timothy)
His wish that other children supposedly intended for him and his wife were birthed to other couples betrays a misunderstanding of human nature and God’s providence. There is not a supply of unborn human souls on the shelves of heaven waiting to be implanted in conceived children with every fertile act of coitus. A new human soul is created by God the moment a new human being is conceived. Since this man and his wife didn’t have more children, his other possible children simply don’t exist and will never exist; his possible children were not born into other families next in line to take the next available soul off the shelf.
I don’t think that Mr. Dunn meant that literally, just an emotional whim. He feels badly because of selfishness to God in marriage. Many, many other older married Catholic and Christian couples have said the same thing– selfishness, sin, misuse of the conjugal act in the Sacrament of Marriage. Many Catholic married couples have later felt betrayed by 1960s clerics who opposed Pope St. Paul VI’s “Humanae Vitae,” and encouraged Catholic married couples to disobey the Pope and “follow their own consciences” on the matter of contraception.
I am filled with gratitude to have been able to be married, 47 years so far, and to received the gift of fatherhood with my daughter and two grandchildren.
My greatest regret is not having been open to God’s additional blessings of more offspring.
I thought that this might be about the fact that the anti-abortion movement has not courageously spoken out against contraception. He didn’t make that connection, just confessed having prevented the conception of however many children God meant him to have.
The myth is that contraception prevents abortions. But contraception fails for at least 5 out of every 100 women every year who use it perfectly. Then when they conceive, they think they’ve done something wrong. Our culture tells us we can separate intercourse from babies. When the baby is conceived against their will, they usually pay someone to kill it. Most women who come for abortions have been using contraceptives. A large percentage of married women have had abortions by the time they are 40. Contraception is a major cause of the millions of abortions every year.
Campaigning against abortion without campaigning against the combination of sexual immorality and widespread use of contraception is bound to be ineffective.