Pope claims condoms could make African Aids crisis worse
Pontiff's remarks on first visit to continent outrage health agencies trying to halt spread of HIV and Aids
58 comments
@Cirno:
Yes. Yes he does.
It is better to die of a horrible disease than to prevent future Catholics from being conceived. Rape, you ask. If the woman won't produce children for us, then it is up to the men to force the issue.
It is better to die of a horrible disease than to have sex that is not sanctioned by the Church. Our parishes in Africa do not bring in the cash flows needed to keep our Pope dressed in dresses and stupid looking hats. A steady stream of marriages ensures that the local parish priests get a cut, from which the cash flows upward to the Vatican.
Besides, this epidemic is not affecting clean-living white Catholics anyway.
This makes me so angry. Just like when I got married in the Catholic Church we had to go to marriage instruction from a bunch of celibate, unmarried men who thought they had all the answers to marriage problems.
Well at the time we thought they were celibate, I guess we know different now, for some of them anyway.
No one should listen to anything spewed from the mouth of the catholic church.
When Galileo was arrested, it was not so much for his heliocentric beliefs - they didn't wave the instruments of torture under Copernicus' nose - but because he tried to reinterpret scripture to agree with his science. Now the Pope turns the tables; he reinterprets science to agree with his religion.
Listening to, taking notice of, and commenting on (even negatively) the medieval shit spouted by Ratzinger and his cult of boy-botherers just offers validation.
It would amuse me no end if his comments went unreported or (better) reported but completely uncommented on by anyone.
OK,OK, assuming the Pope is celibate, he Pope doesn't have to wear a condom. Sexually active persons? That's another story.
This man may appear a buffoon, but he has real power:
religious power over his followers
coercive power over those who give room to religious belief
political power as a head of state.
In many cases the RC (and other churches) interfere in political decisions: they ough to have tax=free status removed except for specific charitable activities (but don't hold your breath, the politicians are pusilanimous!!)
Laugh all you want, but the truth is that people are suffering and dying because of this bullshit. The Catholic church has had tremendous impact keeping countries from supporting family-planning and AIDS prevention in Africa.
People are dying of AIDS because a bunch of celibate priests and cowardly politicians are squeamish about sex.
"Pope claims condoms could make African Aids crisis worse "
Condoms will lower the risks of pregninces, thus lowering the number of starving children.
"The Roman Catholic church encourages sexual abstinence and fidelity to prevent the disease from spreading,"
That won't help in the case of rape.
@Illuminatie: "Since condoms only stop 99% of the problems, they don't work at all and actually make the problem worse."
a.k.a., the ol' "perfect solution" fallacy.
I could be wrong but I believe in an interview, the "Saintly" Mother Teresa on the way to Ireland popped by England, to show her support for her friend Lady Diana in her decision to divorce Prince Charles, stating she was well rid of such an awful man. Yet then went to Ireland to increase support to say NO to divorce, even if the wife was being abused.
I also know in the UK many Catholics use contraception and that seems to be OK. (My source is a Catholic). So divorce and contraception is acceptable among the well off. However it seems a sin for the poor. This to me makes them hypocrites and liars that when it suits them change their beliefs. Why? Because they realise they need the support of the middle/upper class, but the poorer population they continue to dictate their dangerous belief, because they can get away with it.
Catholicism is all about control and they need the rich to support this. It's all political at the end of the day.
I've heard that the vast majority of Catholics use birth control and that many women who have abortions describe their religion as Catholic. Hence groups like this:http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/
If anyone can find that "have children you can't feed" advice pope picture and post it here they will be awesome.
OK let's look at the math here.
Number of people with Aids/HIV = A
%age of infected that would have sex with condoms = E
ok
oh and remember studies for G show beteen 1% to 30% depending on level of education and skill in use of condoms.
That this bottom-feeding parasite is treated as an honored and great person by the leaders of the world, who lick his boots and sing his praises whenever he makes a state visit, is one of the prime examples of how deep and dangerous the influence of religion still is in the 21st century.
I gotta be honest, I kinda see The Pope's logic here; People could think that condoms are 100% protection, go around having sex with everyone, but then whoop-dee-doo, it turns out the odds, although very large, turned against them. Then again, I have no clue how things work out. *shrugs*
I don't think he was trying to say 'using a condom will give you AIDS'.
I think he meant that the complacency that comes with using a condom will make things worse.
Which is still pretty much bullshit, but a little more sensible.
Oooo-kay, I have heard the pope say some pretty dumb stuff over the years. But this is just plain evil, on so many levels.
How can using condoms make the issue worse? Can it really get that much worse, in any way? A whole generation is almost obliterated in some places, only elderly people and children are left. ANYTHING that might alleviate the catastrophe is worth trying, m'kay.
PS, that picture with the pope in his bulletproof cage is very funny, indeed.
I think thaat the Pope's point here is that goverment should only focus on condoms, but also promote abstinence and fidelity.
BTW, why so much hatred here? I mean, I understand that a lot of people don't like the Catholic church, but saying that they are a bunch of child rapists is being as unreasonable as the same fundies this site is so against.
Is that a fact, Masker?
The Catholic Church hierarchy shields the child-molesting priests among them from secular justice, moving them from parish to parish so they don't get caught. If they do get caught, they can count on the Vatican's full support.
That's why all the hatred. If hating that is unreasonable and fundie, so fucking be it. How reasonable is it to turn a blind eye to child rape and the subsequent coverups?
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.
