Comments on: During Africa Visit, Pope Knocks Condoms for HIV Prevention

By: What?

What? — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:26:58 +0000

My response is to 28. Riby Says.

I’ve been to Africa too. How can you say you’re trying to save bodies not souls. The way the epidemic has spread no one is saving either. They’re passing out condoms thousands millions of condoms yet the new number of cases rise on a daily basis. Abstinence and fidelity is not just an ideal for western religon. It has to be a way of life. It is the only way to cure and stop this epidemic. The disease is spread and propigated by having sex. Condoms may reduce your chace of contacting the disease(I say may) but it is not a cure. We have cases of those who wore condoms contracting HIV because of residual DNA left on condoms that found its way into open sores or lesions. Do you know of a sure way to stop the spread of aids. Stop having sex or have sex with one partner. Like it or not. That’s reality and the only purpose driven solution for this epidemic at the present.

By: Rigby

Rigby — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:59:22 +0000

Have any of you actually been to Africa? Have you seen the devastation casued by this disease? Have you seen the sexual culture there? I have, and that vision is powerful and gutwreching. Try feeding people when you can’t stop crying. Try telling them not to have sex because we westerners think its immoral. In a country where it is a daily struggle to survive, people sell or trade anything they can. I have been solicited by schoolgirls – they laughed at my shock. I don’t fault you for wanting to save souls, but there is a real and immediate need to save bodies and something as simple as a condom has a HUGE impact. These statements by the Pope add the superstition and misunderstanding surrounding sex and the spread of disease. Abstinence is an ideal for western religion but, sorry folks, reality bites and clearheaded, purpose driven solutions are needed to stop this horror.

By: Mount Bachelor Academy

Mount Bachelor Academy — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:01:58 +0000

sex is the devil. you must cleanse your soul from your previous sins.

TELL IT ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS

SERVE THE HIGHER POWER. COMPLETE THE EXPERIENCE FOR REDEMPTION

save yourself, join us at Mount Bachelor Academy JOIN US REDEMPTION

By: Bruce

Bruce — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:31:21 +0000

I’m not sure that’s what is happening here. I think the Church is just clinging to ancient beliefs, that have become outdated. I’ll grant that the power that comes with control over such a large religious organization can corrupt, and has before (Pope Alexander VI for example). It’s the main reason I recommend taking anything you read in a religious text with a grain of salt.. No telling what was put there in the past by a corrupt leader. However, I doubt the modern church would be able to get away with much, and I think that in this case at least is simply doing what it believes is right. Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t agree with them, but still.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:11:07 +0000

Do you people really believe that God is a little old man with a white beard sitting on a cloud watching our genitals!!!
The false sense of power that comes to one with great control over the masses is an aphrodisiac for one with no moral code. God is within each of us folks…not in a church…
Hopefully this will begin to open more eyes to the sins of this church. Most of the wars fought in this sad world have been about religion…as is now happening in Iraq…my ‘God” is better than yours. etc., etc… When will people wake up to the truth that is in everyone and stop giving their minds and wills to those that do not promote the true growth of the soul…but only want to control and manipulate others for it’s own material gain and expansion of control and power.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:38:11 +0000

I’m not quite sure where you get your 95% figure… The people who are actually posting arguments, rather than comments, are not bashing religion in any way. Misguided, outdated practices yes. I personally don’t believe, but I do think Jesus was a great man, and his morals should be followed.

As I said, Uganda has achieved the results it has not so much through abstinence, but by educating the populace about WHY they should be abstinent and protect themselves. Their children have stopped having sex at an early age, casual sex has decreased, and guess what? Condom use has gone up. Condoms are, and most likely always will be, an important part of any STD solution. Abstinence will ALWAYS be a better method, but is generally against human nature. The most important thing a country can do is EDUCATE their citizens. The countries passing out free condoms are failing in this regard, and their methods teach children it’s ok to go out and have sex, which they WILL do, with or without protection. The vast majority of AIDS patients became infected while young, at least partially as a result of that practice. I doubt anyone is arguing that this isn’t the wrong way to go about it, but the importance of condom use cannot be ignored.

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc310/Valkrionn/UgandanCondomUse.jpg

By: Brian Mangravite

Brian Mangravite — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:01:00 +0000

YRAG – I don’t know it. All I see is 95% of this forum using this as yet another opportunity to bash religion. Now, IN THE REAL WORLD, countries that freely distribute and promote condoms have climbing infection rates. Whereas Uganda, with an organized program of abstinence has dropping infection rates. That’s real.

By: FILTHpig

FILTHpig — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:52:03 +0000

Wow. “The comdom is the Devil’s prophylactic! Now, everyone in Africa, STOP HAVING SEX!” That’s realistic.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:43:14 +0000

I couldn’t put it better. No, condom use is not and never will be a perfect solution, but abstinence can not be the only facet of an anti-aids program. While the Ugandan government may credit an abstinence program, I would hazard a guess that most of the benefit did not come from abstinence itself, but rather the TEACHING that went along with the campaign. The world is not the place it was when Jesus was alive, and while many of his teachings are good ones, not all of the still apply. The world was nowhere near as crowded 2000 years ago, and birth control has become necessary. It is long past time for the Church to acknowledge this, and focus efforts on helping people who live in crushing poverty, rather than teaching them that the only ‘good’ thing to do is never practice birth control, and therefore have many more children than they can afford to feed, pushing them further into poverty.

By: yrag

yrag — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:59:17 +0000

“Condoms alone don’t even come close to correcting the issue.”

To both Deanna and Brian Mangravite—nobody on this forum or in the larger world is proposing that and you know it.

That’s simply another read herring thrown out by the religious right—All abstinence or all condoms—black or white—no shades of gray—just like the ideology from whence it came.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:40:39 +0000

wawawewa!

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:47:11 +0000

Nick, who called the pope a ‘Nazi sympathizer.’, would you have had the courage to perhaps face death as a teenager for not joining a mandatory organization? Please people, stick to the discussion topic and lets avoid slinging mud.

I think that reading the full statement helps people understand what the Pope was saying. It may or may not validate it, but at least it will allow an educated discussion to take place. It is quoted in this article from Catholic News Service, the news service operated by the US Conf. of Catholic Bishops and presumably a good source for news on Catholic things.

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0901232.htm

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:40:23 +0000

Deanna, I find it unfortunate that your responsible and concerned parents kept you tied up and locked in a closet for the entire duration of your teen years. Perhaps a little exposure to the real world would have done you some good.

However, your comments are so over the top that I may need to invoke Poe’s Law on this one.

By: Brian Mangravite

Brian Mangravite — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:45:07 +0000

As usual let’s just use this opportunity to bash religion. I would point out that, contrary to “common” sense on your part, Uganda, which once had the highest infection rate in the world — fully one-third of it’s population was infected in the nineties — now has an infection rate of 8%. And the Ugandan government itself credits an abstience program for that decrease. Whereas throughout the rest of the continent, despite condom distribution, infection rates have continued to climb. So, the Pope is right, and you’re wrong. Condoms alone don’t even come close to correcting the issue.

By: Jumblepudding

Jumblepudding — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:30:34 +0000

Because starving, unwanted children, a fraction of whom grow into impoverished, growth stunted adults have been the lifeblood of the Catholic church for about 1500 years.