This is not the dumbest thing I've thought of

I posted in my other blog about how I wanted to try Natural Family Planning. I was shocked at how critical the reaction was. After reading Marc's statistics - which I really think are based on the Rhythm Method, not Fertility Awareness - Mike got very uneasy, and told me that he thinks that NFP is too risky to try. So it's back to the pills for me. All in all, this has been a huge disappointment. Mike told me that I could keep researching and reading about it, but I'd rather not. If he's going to chicken out in the end, then I'd rather not get my heart set on it more than I already have. I was really looking forward to not worrying about taking a pill at 9 PM every night, not being concerned if I missed one, not worrying about a future that featured cancer or blood clots or any of the other nasty side-effects that can come when you take birth control pills.

So, yeah. So much for that little experiment.

It does raise an interesting point, though. In both the posting on my blog and in my conversations with friends, they've questioned my motivation for trying NFP, which is my religion. There are other reasons I want to try it - reasons too personal, too numerous, and too irrelevant to the topic to go into here - but when they hear "Natural Family Planning," they instantly think "Catholic brainwashing."

Most of the time when I make choices that people disagree with, they say I'm nuts but don't pursue it much farther than that. When I renew my contract year after year at my poor urban high school, my friends roll their eyes but say they understand my decision. When I told Mike that I was going to start using menstrual cups because it was healthier for both me and the environment, he said it was weird, but it was also my body. When I chose to buy my Chevy Prizm based on the fact that it reminded me of my Geo Metro, my friends just shrugged and didn't say a word about researching warranties or resale value or reliability.

But when I make a choice and cite my religion as an influence in that decision, suddenly I'm wrong.

I hate to break it to everyone, but the vast majority of my decisions aren't based on scientific facts or hours of research. I buy things on a whim, I take the easy route, I cave in to peer pressure, I make decisions that will result in an immediate gain without considering the long-term repercussions. In short, I make choices for dumb reasons. I'm shocked that people consider my religious values to be worse criteria than other standards I've used.

Seriously, people. Let's think about this.