While Christians take a variety of stances on contraception today, this diversity of opinion and practice is a relatively recent historical development. The majority report in Christian history has been overwhelmingly vocal in its opposition to birth control. The Early Church fathers condemned the use of contraception, leaning heavily on the negative example of Onan in Genesis 38 as evidence for their position and arguing that procreation was the primary purpose of sexual intimacy. This same basic stance was reiterated and reinforced by the Medieval monks and theologians. Even with the sweeping changes which the Reformation brought to Christians’ views of marriage and family, leading Reformers (such as Luther and Calvin) maintained the church’s historic opposition to contraception. Up through the 19th century, both Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic church stood united in their condemnation of contraception. The first official break with this view came with the 1930 Lambeth Conference, in which the Anglican Communion cautiously opened the door for Christian use of contraception. Within a few decades, the Christian consensus on contraception had collapsed and a range of attitudes and approaches towards contraception began to develop (Ben Franks).

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CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Vegetables, Grains	Vegetarian	Vegetarian, Vegan, Salads, Main dish, Side dish	4	Servings

INGREDIENTS

2	cn	Beans, black (15 oz ea); drained and rinsed
6		Scallions; green part only; thinly sliced
1	c	Tomatoes, cherry; stemmed and quartered
1	sm	Bell pepper, yellow or red; seeded and finely diced
2		Peppers, jalapeno; seeded and finely chopped
1		Pepper, serrano; seeded and finely chopped
1/4	c	Cilantro, fresh; finely chopped
1/4	c	Vinegar, sherry
2	tb	Canola oil
2	tb	Vegetable stock
1	ts	Mustard, Dijon
2	ts	Cumin, ground
1/2	ts	Oregano
		Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, combine beans, scallions, cherry tomatoes, yellow or red
peppers, jalapeno and serrano chilies and cilantro.
In a small bowl, whisk together sherry vinegar, oil, vegetable stock,
mustard, cumin and oregano. Pour over the bean mixture and toss until all
ingredients are coated. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4 as a main
dish; 6 as a side dish.
Adapted from a recipe in Eating Well, July-Aug 1993/MM by DEEANNE
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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