selling contraceptives

[ashiiee]

i work at a pharmacy and is completely against contraception. my fersen teacher has advised me to find a new job becuase i am put in the postion of selling contraceptive things and it is also then a sin on my behalf for selling them but will the sin still be on my behalf if i have no other choice as i need the job for personal reasons and no other workers are there to serve? also if there is another worker there wont the sin still be on me as i am making them serve and make sin? :S

[DavidObeid]

Hi ashiiee,

You need to make some careful distinctions.

There is nothing intrinsically evil about a condom. I know farmers and vets who use them to keep thermometers clean when examining animals for example. The condom does have a usual use that is sinful (ie artificial contraception), but that is not it's only use, and so selling them is not in and of itself, a sin.

Likewise the oral contraceptive pill for women does have some therapeutic applications where the contraceptive side effect is undesired. In and of itself it is not evil. It's use for artificial contraceptive purposes is what is intrinsically evil. That said, the significant harmful side effects of the oral contraceptive pill for women (including this one! (http://davidobeid.blogspot.com/2009/10/real-men-attract-real-women.html)) might make its use for other therapies a bad idea anyhow.

You aren't necessarily sinning in selling these things (so long as you are not promoting them for an immoral use yourself).

Different story if you are selling abortive "morning after" pills whose only purpose is to cause abortion. If that's the case then I strongly advise you to find another job or to insist that you not be forced to deal with those poisons in any way.

[MelanieM]

Hi David,

Don’t mean to step on anyone’s toes, but can’t we fairly assume that someone who buys condoms will be using them for the wrong reasons? Would it be better for ashiiee to ask the person what they will be using it for, so that way aishiiee would be completely not involved in any wrong doings?

[DavidObeid]

If the person makes it known that that is why they are buying them then perhaps, but ashiiee doesn't have a duty to check or assume either way.

Of course, if ahiiee feels in any way uneasy about the situation then another job (or an arrangement with the boss) is better than a guilty conscience.

[MelanieM]

Without asking the person what they would be using them for, wouldn't she be partaking/co-operating in the wrong doing?

[ashiiee]

thank you for all your answers but im just a little confused about: There is nothing intrinsically evil about a condom.
isnt condoms or the pill stoping life that jesus wants?
god bless =)

[DavidObeid]

Without asking the person what they would be using them for, wouldn't she be partaking/co-operating in the wrong doing?

No more than if a shop assistant fails to ask what you intend to do with a kitchen knife. If, on the other hand, the intention was clearly expressed that it was to be used for artificial contraception then that is a different story.

[DavidObeid]

thank you for all your answers but im just a little confused about: There is nothing intrinsically evil about a condom.
isnt condoms or the pill stoping life that jesus wants?
god bless =)

That is the common use for them, but they do have other applications too. For example, condoms are often used in taking a body temperature where the thermometer needs to be inserted into the rectum and the oral contraceptive is sometimes prescribed for excessive pain and/or bleeding during menstruation or for the moderation of hormonal mood swings. If the application is not for the direct purpose of artificial contraception the device or drug is not an evil in and of itself.

[ashiiee]

thankyou :) god bless!

[DavidObeid]

One (VERY IMPORTANT) point of qualification:

If a woman is taking the oral contraceptive for therapeutic reasons she is required to be celibate for the time she is taking the pill. This is because the pill has an abortive effect (if a baby is conceived the pill will kill the baby).

[Stephen Spiteri]

Some interesting trivia: WWII soldiers also used condoms to water proof their guns when they made water/beach landings such as those made at Omaha (France), June 6, 1944.

[Anthony Succar]

Don't forget, they also make great water balloons:D

[Charbel Labban]

Some interesting trivia: WWII soldiers also used condoms to water proof their guns when they made water/beach landings such as those made at Omaha (France), June 6, 1944.

Never heard that before...quite interesting!

[DavidObeid]

How could I not post this?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57ndLGhffwE&feature=player_embedded