Unchaste behaviors fly in the face of the spirit of practicing chaste NFP, and I make no claims as to the number of couples who practice “NFP” in this way. It is one thing for a couple to come to an NFP course already motivated to live according to the norms of Catholic teaching. It is quite something else for a couple to be in such a course solely for pragmatic reasons such as fear of the Pill. And there is a third group—engaged couples who are there solely to satisfy a diocesan or parish requirement of pre-marriage instruction. Some of these couples may have been practicing sodomy since high school. After all, a survey of high school students a few years ago showed that more than half had already experienced “oral sex.” It is quite probable that when they hear abstinence, they may be thinking sodomy.
My point is that all of these couples will benefit from hearing and seeing a clear statement of Catholic moral teaching that these behaviors are seriously immoral. Some will just be reaffirmed and others will be challenged, especially if they have at least some desire to walk with the Lord Jesus. So why not teach these things clearly to everyone in every NFP course? It only takes a few lines of print and a couple of minutes to make such an affirmation. Since we can assume that almost everyone today is aware of these perversities, we can also assume that some or many will interpret the omission of such teaching as tacit acceptance.
John F. Kippley