So, I've not written a whole lot about religion on my blog, mostly because I try to keep it light and humorous and my opinions on the topic of religion are neither. Well, sometimes they're humorous. (Like this one time, when Sarah and I went to see The Da Vinci Code and there was a girl outside holding a "I love Jesus and he is my Savior" or something sign, we thought we should go home and get a sign that said: "Mary Magdalene: Baby Mama Drama.")

However, lately, I've been really divided between two positions that both seem really important to me. They both are backed up by my religious understanding and, unfortunately they are, to a degree, mutually exclusive.

I've always said that I would NEVER have more than two children. I believe firmly in zero population growth. It could be said that this is not a religious opinion, since I'm really just a tree-hugger and probably a communist. This could be true. However, I also believe that as a Christian one of my greatest responsibilities is stewardship of the earth. Continuing the population explosion hardly seems the responsible thing to do.

Now, I'm faced with another position. Oh, birth control, I am divided in my feelings about you. While I certainly think that everyone should have a choice (EVERY choice) about when to have children, I truthfully believe that sexuality can only be holy when a couple is married and there is a possibility that God can create the miracle of a child through the union. (This does NOT, however, mean that I lived that position in my younger days. I did not. I'm calling myself a hypocrite here; please feel free to think it about me but refrain from leaving it in my comments.) Otherwise, I believe that sexuality has been perverted from God's purpose.

I was talking to Andiclaus about this last night and he pointed out that if God can create life from a virgin (which I hardly think is a fair statement - seeing as I am crazy liberal and am not sure this is true), couldn't God create a child in spite of birth control measures. Certainly. But am I attempting to thwart God by taking those measures?

Wow. I am a religious FUH-REAK.

Clearly, these are opposite positions. And I'm certainly not taking a vote of the Internet to decide my stance on birth control. I'm just talking it out now to see if the pieces fall together.

I think I'm going to close comments on this post. I'm already a baby-starver, according to the Internet, I don't even want to know what kind of names y'all might call me on this one. If you really want to talk about it (and I'm sure you're just DYING to), email me at bethiclaus[at]gmail.com.