The name Margaret Sanger is nearly synonymous with birth control in the United States. A controversial character even now, she founded the predecessor to today's Planned Parenthood and dedicated her life to working tirelessly for the legalization and promotion of birth control and abortion. While scholars have directed some attention toward Sanger's provocative statements on race and ethnicity, few have documented her vehement anti-Catholicism or shown the way she cleverly used anti-Catholic propaganda to promote her birth control crusade. Kaminsky has now done so. In this book, he demonstrates the way in which Sanger exploited powerful anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States to portray her fight for birth control as a struggle for American Freedom against a moral domination by the Catholic Church. As she phrased it, "All who resent this sinister Church Control of life and conduct - this interference of the Roman Church in attempting to dictate the conduct and behavior of non-Catholics, must now choose between Church Control or Birth Control. You can no longer remain neutral. You must make a declaration of independence, of self-reliance, or submit to the dictatorship of the Roman Catholic hierarchy." Kaminsky further demonstrates that Sanger did not choose this course as a matter of mere convenience, but that she genuinely viewed the Catholic Church as her arch-enemy in a battle to overturn the traditional moral order of western civilization and usher in a new era based upon a pragmatic moral code. Anyone seeking to understand the displacement of Judeo-Christian morality from the American public square should read this book.

A revised and improved translation of Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter, Humanae vitae.

The ongoing debates on the morality of artificial birth control sparked a heated public debate in the early twentieth century in an already religiously fragmented United States. Many denominations took part in the deliberations both publicly and privately. In examining the ideas about contraception and birth control at that time, this book considers the cultural environment, religion and its connection to the roots of birth control, the questioning of religious doctrine, the Protestants' view of birth control, the Lambeth conferences of 1930, the influence of conservatives, and the influence of Catholics. Also discussed is the historical context of fundamentalists versus modernists, neo-Malthusianism, eugenics, immigration, the movement for legalization organized by Margaret Sanger, and how the Catholic Church came to lead religious resistance to artificial birth control.

Historians and interested observers agree that the Vatican decision to go against the majority report of the Papal Birth Control Commission is one of the most important events in Catholic history in this century. Award-winning journalist McClory brings to life the incredible events surrounding that decision.

The Contraception Deception: Catholic Teaching on Birth Control by author Patrick Coffin is a comprehensive assessment of the Church’s sexual ethic. In this expanded revised edition of Sex Au Naturel: What It is and Why It’s Good for Your Marriage, Coffin demonstrates how the rejection of Humanae Vitae impacts more than just our national birthrates. With relevant insight into the development and reception of Paul VI’s landmark 1968 encyclical, Coffin explains why Humanae Vitae is more timely than ever. In The Contraception Deception, you’ll learn where exactly the Bible teaches against birth control, the differences between contraception and natural family planning (hint: they’re more profound than you think), why other reproductive technologies fall short of God’s vision for marriage and family, and—most importantly—how to rely on the ever-present grace of God rather than your own strength in faithfully following this challenging, life-giving aspect of Christian discipleship.

As Americans rethought sex in the twentieth century, the Catholic Church's teachings on the divisive issue of contraception in marriage were in many ways central. In a fascinating history, Leslie Woodcock Tentler traces changing attitudes: from the late nineteenth century, when religious leaders of every variety were largely united in their opposition to contraception; to the 1920s, when distillations of Freud and the works of family planning reformers like Margaret Sanger began to reach a popular audience; to the Depression years, during which even conservative Protestant denominations quietly dropped prohibitions against marital birth control. Catholics and Contraception carefully examines the intimate dilemmas of pastoral counseling in matters of sexual conduct. Tentler makes it clear that uneasy negotiations were always necessary between clerical and lay authority. As the Catholic Church found itself isolated in its strictures against contraception—and the object of damaging rhetoric in the public debate over legal birth control—support of the Church's teachings on contraception became a mark of Catholic identity, for better and for worse. Tentler draws on evidence from pastoral literature, sermons, lay writings, private correspondence, and interviews with fifty-six priests ordained between 1938 and 1968, concluding, "the recent history of American Catholicism... can only be understood by taking birth control into account."

This book uses original oral history material and secretive Vatican papers to explore the sexual and religious experiences of Catholic women in post-war England. It offers a fresh perspective on the idea that 'sex killed God', reframing dominant approaches to the histories of sex, religion and social change.

Conservative and progressive religious groups fiercely disagree about issues of sex and gender. But how did we get here? Melissa J. Wilde shows how today’s modern divisions began in the 1930s in the public battles over birth control and not for the reasons we might expect. By examining thirty of America’s most prominent religious groups—from Mormons to Methodists, Southern Baptists to Seventh Day Adventists, and many others—Wilde contends that fights over birth control had little do with sex, women’s rights, or privacy. Using a veritable treasure trove of data, including census and archival materials and more than 10,000 articles, statements, and sermons from religious and secular periodicals, Wilde demonstrates that the push to liberalize positions on contraception was tied to complex views of race, immigration, and manifest destiny among America’s most prominent religious groups. Taking us from the Depression era, when support for the eugenics movement saw birth control as an act of duty for less desirable groups, to the 1960s, by which time most groups had forgotten the reasons behind their stances on contraception (but not the concerns driving them), Birth Control Battles explains how reproductive politics divided American religion. In doing so, this book shows the enduring importance of race and class for American religion as it rewrites our understanding of what it has meant to be progressive or conservative in America.

A man's character is revealed by his actions. Author Michael Little suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage, which left him unable to speak intelligibly, crippled, blind, and senseless. Michael refused to be defined by his injury, choosing instead to let his struggle and recovery speak for him. Stranger in the Mirror is the story of one man's journey through his dark night of soul to enlightenment. Michael shows us that our lives are full of choices and our limitations are often self-imposed. Facing tragedy with humor, grit and grace, Michael found redemption. In writing this remarkable book, he shows the way for all of us, to reassess and redirect our lives in a more positive meaningful direction. Stranger in the Mirror is a highly literate book that may send some readers scrambling for their dictionary. The author isn't showing off, but he is careful to use the words he means, and mean what he writes. This joyous book is a dazzling tour de force, filled with humor and wisdom. It is sure to inspire courage and bring hope to stroke and brain injured survivors and their families. Michael shows all of us we, too, can have the happy ending we deserve. This powerful book will lift you to new heights where the air is thinner. This is the owner's manual stroke and brain injury survivors need. Brain injury needn't be the end. It can be a beginning. More than half this wonderful book is of a medical nature; what families and survivors should know to help them move forward. The balance focuses on the author's struggles, his blunders, and his insights into a brain damaged world. "The author should be immensely proud. This book is good medicine. You ll laugh out loud!" said author Mark Twain.

The abortion debate in the United States is confused. Ratings-driven media coverage highlights extreme views and creates the illusion that we are stuck in a hopeless stalemate. In this book Charles Camosy argues that our polarized public discourse hides the fact that most Americans actually agree on the major issues at stake in abortion morality and law. Unpacking the complexity of the abortion issue, Camosy shows that placing oneself on either side of the typical polarizations -- pro-life vs. pro-choice, liberal vs. conservative, Democrat vs. Republican -- only serves to further confuse the debate and limits our ability to have fruitful dialogue. Camosy then proposes a new public policy that he believes is consistent with the beliefs of the broad majority of Americans and supported by the best ideas and arguments about abortion from both secular and religious sources.