From a CCL Teaching Couple — Some Critical Observations Regarding CCL’s New Student Manual, The Art of Natural Family Planning: Student Guide.
1. Much of the new CCL manual seems to be written for 5th grade reading level adults—perhaps suggesting CCL’s regard for today’s young Catholic adults. Accordingly, it emphasizes simplification of STM—a method already easily grasped by virtually all in our classes.
2. Curiously for an organization touting simplification of STM to fewer rules, pages 233-235 introduce idiosyncratically useful rules that belie simplicity. NFP and STM do have some complexity, even richness, and many of our students have appreciated that complexity and richness.
3. Lesson 2 “Theology of the Body as It Relates to Sexuality” appears to undermine traditional Church teaching on sexuality and contraception. Especially noteworthy is its characterization of Humanae Vitae (and Aquinas) as archaic, out-of-step, difficult, and therefore irrelevant for today’s young Catholic adults. Wow! Our students have no trouble understanding the old CCL’s presentation of the Church’s teaching on contraception and marital sexuality. In fact, most appear to enjoy it and many come to embrace it.
4. JPII’s profound Theology of the Body receives short shrift in the new Student Guide’s curiously shallow, simplistic, contrived “man is not a machine” two-page treatment. It could have been much more compelling. Also, the CCL treatment does not make it clear how being respectful to our and others’ bodies is a convincing argument for NFP and against contraception. It could have been convincing, and it is convincing in the old Art of NFP with its recourse to covenent theology and not separating the unitive and procreative aspects of marriage.
5. The new CCL Guide’s treatment of breastfeeding is inadequate, perhaps token, and even misleading. Lactational amenorrhea needs to be addressed, and there is no mention of La Leche League. The Ecological Breastfeeding portion of the old CCL course has arguably been for us the most well-received part of a well-received course.
6. Finally, it is interesting, perhaps telling, that the new, “better” CCL Student Guide so frequently has to tell us it is new and better.
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From a CCL Teacher: A cursory glance [at the Student Guide] indicates that the right-hand photo of tacky mucus on p. 29 appears to be a photo of stretchy mucus. In the chart form the types of mucus have been reduced to 3: nothing, tacky, stretchy. The height of the cervix (high, low) has been left out, leaving only two aspects: open, closed and soft, hard. On the other hand every new manual has flaws, which then get corrected in subsequent printings.
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From a former CCL Teacher: Once my stored quilt got chewed up by vermin; my treasured heirloom was ruined. This is how it is for me with the “new” Art: a treasure has been ruined. I feel misled being told The Art would be “improved.” I think the right word is “impoverished” due to discarded theology, diluted rules, and deleted breastfeeding information. The talk of The Art being “infused” with JP II theology also seems misleading to me; in my opinion there are half portions or sparing servings of any theology in the new Art.
I thank God for the Kippleys’ new “heirlooms”: The NFP: The Question and Answer Book plus their new teaching notes. We taught an NFPI class on December 15 and it went great. One sterilized couple talked at length about how they want this for their grown daughters. Let folks know that they can teach for NFPI. Even our Billings acquaintance was glad to hear about NFPI.
Sheila Kippley
NFP International
www.NFPandMore.org
Author: Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood and Natural Family Planning: The Question-Answer Book (e-book at this website)