Condoms suck

So now that I have your attention…

Cardinal George Pell has come out and made it a really Good Friday for Pope Benedict XVI (they need more papal names it seems) and supported his recent comments made to the media. Seems nothing so sinister and isn’t all that surprising, considering his position within the Catholic Church. Until you read into it more. Then you realise that it is disturbing and quite dangerous.

The Cardinal, who sadly I have to admit is an Australian, has come out in support of the Pope’s comments that the use of condoms was actually making the AIDS issue worse in Africa, and not better. Instantly I know that the scientists and politicians of the last 10 to 20 years are wrong and the Catholic Church are unbiased and trusted source of science on this issue. Please.

We should not be quick to judge. We should check whether this is what the Pope really said. Perhaps it is some misquote from a rouge journalist who picked up something he is supposed to have said from an unreliable source. No, it’s a Reuters journalist and it was uttered at a media conference.

Here is the part of the article, from http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/mar/19pope-views-on-condom-use-create-a-stir.htm:

“AIDS cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems,” he told media persons on March 17 while on his way to Cameroon.

They also reported that the Pope has a better solution for this AIDS epidemic:

According to the Pope, combating the spread of AIDS requires a ’spiritual and human awakening’, friendship for those who suffer, and a ‘responsible, moral attitude toward sex’.

Awesome. A very viable suggestion. We will stop people who are having sex knowing that they might get AIDS by giving them a spiritual awakening. They don’t need to know about AIDS and be told of all the possible ways to help stop its transmission. Just get them to pray that they won’t want to have sex anytime soon.

What needs to be done is that out of touch organisations, who are more concerned about their own pontificating than the wellbeing of its followers, should get a grip and come around to the 21st Century. It isn’t going to go away any time soon. There will be no apocalyptic horsemen, although global warming might make them think they are in Hell anyway.

Start providing the right sort of education to all people around the world about the dangers of AIDS. Be sensitive to their backgrounds and current education levels so that they can understand what they are being old. Provide good quality condoms only and provide them for free so that everyone has some. We shouldn’t be making money out of fighting an epidemic.

Edit: You can here his media stop in this AFP video on YouTube. It seems AFP won’t let you embed their videos, even if you are a paid affiliate. And I’m not even close to that.)

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Posted by Nicholas Perkins at 9:48 pm on April 10th, 2009. Comments
Categories: Religion. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

  • tim
    fact - condoms are not the best known defense - abstainance is.
    fact - condoms are not perfectly safe - they are good but not perfect - there is a fail point
    fact - teach people that a thing is safe when its not and they rely on it you cause unecessary death

    the blood is on the hands of the condom promoters not the abstainence promoters.

    now all that aside if you read my comment i did not agree with the popes comments. i do not support him or is ideals and i am not excusing him.
    however i challenge you to show that my three stated facts are inaccurate. they are not. dont put up straw men regarding the catholic churches action in africa - i'm not debating that.
  • Abstinence isn't the best defense - human beings are animals who have sex. It's hard coded into our DNA, we have the same urge to propagate our species as fleas, cats and dolphins. Sex is going to happen and it's best to have access to protection rather than to slag it off wholesale. Confusing values with safety (the issue of abstinence is a "value" issue, NOT a moral issue) is side tracking the issue massively.

    No birth or disease control is perfectly safe. Access to birth and disease control increases safety. Why on earth would you refuse access just because there's a chance it might not work? One may as well commit suicide at birth in that case. Seatbelts aren't effective in 100% of car crashes, would you suggest that they aren't the best method of safety in a car?
  • @Tim Frankly? Complete and utter nonsense.

    Quote all the medical studies and religious excuses you like. Here are the facts:

    1. The Catholic Church is making great inroads in Africa and the Pope has enormous influence in the region.

    2. Condoms are the BEST KNOWN DEFENSE against sexually transmitted disease. Preaching abstinence is to put your head in the sand - particularly given some of the cultural behaviours in Africa that are a long way from the church's no-premarital-sex nonsense.

    3. Influence + misinformation = unnecessary death. It's that simple. The Catholic church and every one of its leaders has blood on its hands in Africa. And ANYONE who supports successive popes' views - and I include those who go to church each Sunday and say NOTHING - is entirely implicated.

    I think it is ABHORRENT and NOTHING will convince me otherwise.
  • tim
    he may have been referring to two commonly known problems about attempting to use condoms to stop the spread of aids.
    first of all there are numerous studies indicating the efficacy of condoms and a latex barrier itself as an inhibitor to the transmission of liquid carrying viruses - they are in most cases quoted as "These findings demonstrated that use of latex condoms can significantly reduce the risk of HIV transmission, but it does not eliminate that risk." or similar.
    the second is the fallacy that is promoted amongst sexually active gay men initially, and then amongst uneducated aids infected victims that the use of a condom makes you safe. As such then those who are at risk or are indeed infected are then far happier about continuing or increasing their activity thus increasing the potential chances for infection where they might otherwise desist for fear of contraction.
    without apologising for the pope who is an ineffectual figurehead of an anachronistic religious monstrososty, he might have been trying to say that educating people to abstain might be more effective than continually handing out condoms. I agree. Abstainence has a much higher failure rate for infection! Didnt say it was going to be easy though.
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