Life Bulimia

When I try to explain something to someone, I usually start at a point that the person I'm talking to can relate to, and then work back in logical steps to the point I'm trying to make. It's a bit like going for a walk. This particular walk is rather unpleasant because I'm discussing two unpleasant topics: birth control and bulimia.

Many will immediately think "Bulimia is unpleasant, but what's the big deal with birth control? That's just taking a pill or using a condom." The unpleasantness is found at the destination as I attempt to walk you from "bulimia is unpleasant" to an understanding that "birth control is just like bulimia".

Bulimia is characterized by binge eating, followed by a purging. The purging can be accomplished by vomiting, fasting and the use of chemicals to pass the food quickly, among other techniques. The idea is that somebody takes in a lot of food in a desperate grab for comfort, only to need to get that food out of their body because they don't want the calories.

Some of you may have already made the logical leap to birth control. Sex is the binge, while birth control is the purge. People comfort themselves with acts of sex, while believing that any pregnancy is too much pregnancy. The use of a condom in sex is a perfect analogue to vomiting. I told you this would be unpleasant. The seed of creation enters the woman's body during sex, only to be taken out again because the consequences of the action are unacceptable. This is the same as life's sustenance entering someone's body during eating, only to be taken out again because the consequences of the action are unacceptable.

Bulimia is the result of taking the ordered action of eating, using it in a disordered way, and then attempting to deal with the situation by employing another disordered act. Recreational sex is the result of taking the ordered action of sex, using it in a disordered way, and then attempting to deal with the situation by employing another disordered act.

The ordered version of eating is to consume food that sustains a healthy body and mind. The ordered version of sex is to engage in sex to demonstrate committed love for one's spouse. That means sex that remains open to the creation of new life. Birth control is a statement that the two people want to swallow their food for the flavor, but not absorb the calories that are part and parcel of the act of eating. They want to feel the bliss of sexuality, but not accept the creation that is part and parcel of the act of sex.

Bulimia and similar conditions are rightly termed disorders, yet our society views all forms of birth control (including abortion) as relatively normal. Where did we lose our notion of doing things that were natural, complete and sincere? If you don't need sustenance, don't eat. If you don't want to create a new life, don't have sex.

Eating is ordered. Eating that rejects digestion is a disordered use of eating. Sex is ordered. Sex that rejects life is a disordered use of sex. The food bulimic believes that they are somehow worthless, which drives them to seek comfort in the consumption of food that they then reject. The life bulimic believes that the life that they might create is somehow worthless, which drives them to reject the possibility of creating that new life. Each is walking down an ordered path for the wrong reasons, resulting in a desire to reject the very thing that they sought.

Food bulimia and life bulimia. They are the same. Each is a disorder. I can understand people suffering from each and I hope for their successful treatment, but I cannot understand claims that they are not both disorders. Recognize your illness and you're halfway to your cure.