Catholic condom ban helping AIDS

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Sarabande said:
I just loved this quote :rolleyes: “…but the Church’s position on premarital sex and contraception often clashes with modern values.” :confused: What values?

Although I’m a professional musician, I also have a degree in journalism. We were taught to be as unbiased as possible in our writing. The entire article, especially this one quote, screams bias. The writer is obviously trying to sway public opinion into thinking the Church is “behind the times”. “Her values are soooo medieval and backward compared to our society’s ‘values’. No one else thinks like that anymore.”

If the writer wanted to be fair and equal, he/she could have substituted “modern” with a more neutral word. He/She could have even used “…often clashes with the ‘UN’s’ values” or “with the values of secular society.” In that case you are not making the Church look outdated and bad and are just demonstrating that two different ways of thought are at odds. The Catholic Church is “modern”. If we weren’t, I think the Church would be dead by now.

Sorry… even though I no longer write for a paper, I still get wriled up by the way stories like this are worded.
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estesbob said:
I’m always amazed at the ignorance shown by people who make this contention, that Catholic teachings on contraception helps to spread AIDS. If people follow Catholic teaching no one would get AIDS or any other STD.
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:yup: :yup: :banghead: :amen:
 
Dale_M said:
osb.org/gen/medal.html

Distributing medals of St. Benedict, which help protect against evil, might be better than distributing condoms. The experience of Uganda shows that a strong policy of fidelity works better than a mixed message which includes condoms.
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/28/AR2007032802510.html
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The medals can be used to remind one of the fact that an action is sinful and might be enough to stop the actual sin from being committed.
 
Pax vobiscum!
Brazil, the region’s largest Catholic nation, regularly distributes free condoms to try and bring down HIV infection rates.
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So Brazil regularly distributes free condoms…and the article didn’t mention that their AIDS rate has gone down because of it. That is because it hasn’t. I guess condoms don’t work as well as the UN thinks they do.

In Christ,
Rand
 
Here’s an article on Life Site News:
Ugandan AIDS Activist’s Facts Trounce UN Official Claim that Catholic Church to Blame for AIDS Crisis

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Martin Ssempa, a Ugandan AIDS activist who has long decried the United Nation’s anti-abstinence position, denounced the statement in an interview with LifeSiteNews.
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"There is absolutely no scientific evidence to back up what Mr. Alberto is saying," said Ssempa. "Condoms have not reduced HIV-AIDS anywhere in the world…in fact, to the contrary, higher condoms across Africa have resulted in higher HIV. If we look across Africa, the countries with the highest condoms, they include Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, these are the countries which also have higher HIV. And if we look at countries with less condoms, such as Uganda, Senegal, Kenya, these are the countries also with less HIV."

Ssempa noted that "UNAIDS is demonizing the Catholic Church unfairly. In fact, in countries where the Catholic Church is strong, there is lower HIV than places where the Catholic Church is not. Higher condoms have not resulted in lower HIV. In fact, it is the contrary."

As LifeSiteNews reported earlier this year, statistics bear out Ssempa’s contention. Reporter Hillary White noted on March 5th that "2003 statistics from the World Factbook of the US Central Intelligence Agency, shows Burundi at 62% Catholic with 6% AIDS infection rate. Angola’s population is 38% Roman Catholic and has 3.9% AIDS rate. Ghana is 63% Christian, with in some regions as much as 33% Catholic and has 3.1% AIDS rate. Nigeria, divided almost evenly between the strongly Muslim north and Christian and “animist” south, has 5.4% AIDS rate"
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http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/oct/07102507.html

"Dirty Little Secret, Why Condoms Will Never Stop AIDS in Africa" in Crisis Magazine is a lengthier analysis:
http://www.crisismagazine.com/june2006/browder.htm
 
JayK said:
To understand the pope’s dilemma regarding condoms read:
www.davidranan.com
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That is just a terrible, uninformed, biased article.

That guy is a raging anti-Catholic, just take a look at some of his other writings talking about how evil the Catholic Church (and organized religion) is. The book just rehashes all the same trite, secular, left wing, rubbish that we hear over and over. Another book demonizing the Catholic clergy; thats all the world needs.
 
jmcrae said:
They make their own choices - we teach them not to have sex outside of the bond of marriage, and they do it anyway - yes, they will experience the natural consequences of their behaviour.

We don’t line every bridge with acrobatic netting just in case people violate the law against jumping off bridges, and we don’t tell people to go ahead and drive drunk, just as long as they wear their seat belts - why should we promote the use of condoms in case people violate the laws against sexual promiscuity? People are warned in advance of the consequences, and they make their own choices.

They could violate Church law and wear condoms, for that matter - in for a penny, in for a pound. But the Church is never going to tell them that condoms are okay, for the same reason it’s never going to tell them that promiscuous sex is okay.
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This is not a matter of sexual promiscuity, but a health and disease issue. HIV-AIDS is a life and death issue. They deserve as much protection for their own lives in this matter as at any other time. I do not want a death sentence for them based on one night of bad decisions. Encouraging condoms in this situation is the moral, “pro-life” thing to do.
 
estesbob said:
So tell me why would a person accept the Church’s teaching on condoms butreject its teachings on promiscuous sex? I really don’t think someone who is engaging in premarital sex or adultery is going really care what the church’s teachings on condoms is. Blaming the church’s policy on condoms for the spread of AIDS is just another example of how the secular culture tries to shift the blame for rampant abortion, promiscuity and STDs away from immoral acts that causes problems in the first place
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People are people. Not everyone follows the Church’s teachings all the time (that is what confession is for). We are all sinners, always have been, always will be, that is just humankind.

You appear to be making this out as a “secular vs church” argument and inferring it is an all or nothing matter. This is a medical matter based on the biology of the HIV virus and a supposed “pro-life” approach from the Church.

HIV-AIDS will not go away just on this but it will save a few lives. Isn’t even one life saved worth the effort? One life that was not snuffed out by disease that they could confess for the actions but not the biological cure? No amount of confession or conversion will change the HIV virus in their system. It is a life and death argument.
 
Rand_Al_Thor said:
Pax vobiscum!

So Brazil regularly distributes free condoms…and the article didn’t mention that their AIDS rate has gone down because of it. That is because it hasn’t. I guess condoms don’t work as well as the UN thinks they do.

In Christ,
Rand
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Yet I am sure that some lives were saved by handing them out. Lots of factors can make a rate stable or not, look at more than the overall rate. What are the comparable stats city vs country? If there are more initial HIV carriers when the program started, it would take a while for the word to get out and people to get protected so the effect can just be delayed.
 
NewUlm1976_2000 said:
This is not a matter of sexual promiscuity, but a health and disease issue. HIV-AIDS is a life and death issue. They deserve as much protection for their own lives in this matter as at any other time. I do not want a death sentence for them based on one night of bad decisions. Encouraging condoms in this situation is the moral, “pro-life” thing to do.
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No encouraging a monogamous relationship only within the bounds of marriage is a pro-life thing to do.
 
NewUlm1976_2000 said:
This is not a matter of sexual promiscuity, but a health and disease issue. HIV-AIDS is a life and death issue. They deserve as much protection for their own lives in this matter as at any other time. I do not want a death sentence for them based on one night of bad decisions. Encouraging condoms in this situation is the moral, “pro-life” thing to do.
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The moral pro-life thing to do is to reserve sex for the marriage bed alone - that way, not only won’t you get HIV/AIDS, you will also preserve the bond of matrimony, the harmony of your household, and the secure and happy future of your children.

Again - why would someone who has sex outside of marriage be worried about the Catholic law against condoms? If he is going to have sex outside of marriage, what further harm could it do him to use a condom? He is still going to the same Hell, either way - the Catholic Church does not actually need to permit condoms, in order for the promiscuous (who have already broken several more important Catholic laws than the law against condoms) to be able to use them. :confused:
 
Rosalinda said:
Here’s an article on Life Site News:

"Dirty Little Secret, Why Condoms Will Never Stop AIDS in Africa" in Crisis Magazine is a lengthier analysis:
http://www.crisismagazine.com/june2006/browder.htm
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This article has a flawed thesis. It is saying that condoms can be the “magic bullet” alone in stopping it, and if it is not the “magic bullet” it is not worth trying. The ultimate cure will be some kind of medication/treatment in the future. Using condoms are just one tool to control the epidemic and to keep some people from getting the virus. Any lives saved by condom use are still worth it. Isn’t all life precious?
 
estesbob said:
No encouraging a monogamous relationship only within the bounds of marriage is a pro-life thing to do.
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And in real life this does not happen. You can encourage all you want but it is a pipe dream to think that encouraging this alone will do it. It should still be promoted of course, but alongside condom use. It is part of the ABC program (A - Always be faithful).
 
jmcrae said:
Again - why would someone who has sex outside of marriage be worried about the Catholic law against condoms? If he is going to have sex outside of marriage, what further harm could it do him to use a condom? :confused:
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Exactly. The whole argument is specious. The delay in attemptto lead the blame for the spread of AIDS on the church rather than rampant promiscuity.The whole approach the pages been an absolute disaster-a Band-Aid attempt to stop the spread of the disease without stopping the behavior that causes it or even dare there suggests that there something wrong with the behavior in the first place.

Pope Paul VI Humana Vitae laid out exactly what the results of a contraception society would be. Now that his predictions have proven to be true he is blamed for causing it.
 
jmcrae said:
The moral pro-life thing to do is to reserve sex for the marriage bed alone - that way, not only won’t you get HIV/AIDS, you will also preserve the bond of matrimony, the harmony of your household, and the secure and happy future of your children.

Again - why would someone who has sex outside of marriage be worried about the Catholic law against condoms? If he is going to have sex outside of marriage, what further harm could it do him to use a condom? He is still going to the same Hell, either way - the Catholic Church does not actually need to permit condoms, in order for the promiscuous (who have already broken several more important Catholic laws than the law against condoms) to be able to use them. :confused:
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I partly answered this in my previous post. It is one thing to push, but not the only thing. Why? It is an imperfect world. No matter how much preaching, the biological problem is still there. For the HIV epidemic the best approach is a broad approach to reach and save as many as possible.

Actually if the Church would encourage the use, more would use them as the “taboo” is a double edged sword. While it keeps some from not doing it, it ill-informs the others who would do it. The best approach for the real life situation is a broad-approach which does not overturn current teachings, but adds more protection into them.
 
NewUlm1976_2000 said:
And in real life this does not happen. You can encourage all you want but it is a pipe dream to think that encouraging this alone will do it. It should still be promoted of course, but alongside condom use. It is part of the ABC program (A - Always be faithful).
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Which is why in real life you get AIDS. No couple who follows the teachings of the Catholic Church will have a child out of wedlock or catch any STD. The solution to all these problems is out there. The problem is is that people want a solution but do not want to change the behavior that causes the problem.
 
Bubble said:
The person who wrote this article is obviously very confused.

The article seeks to blame the Church as if people have become infected with AIDS because they dutifully adhered to the teaching against artificial contraception. If these people were following the Church’s teachings then they wouldn’t be having sex outside of marriage and spreading the virus to begin with.

What’s this reporter smoking? AIDS is going to be resolved by the use of condoms? Reality shows otherwise. There are non-Catholic countries, where condoms have not been ‘demonized’ suffering from AIDS epidemics as well.

Saying condoms are will stop AIDS from spreading is a niave position. Artificial contraception increases sexual activity in the population and thus, increases the risk of exposure to AIDS and other sexually related problems. Contraception is counterproductive to society. Since, the pill, condoms and other forms of birth control – people are more inclined to risk sex outside of marriage. The result is a huge increase in teenage pregnancy, more children living in poverty, the spread of STD’s and AIDS.

It’s sad how so many people turn to the mainstream as their moral compass in life. The media potrays sex as something recreational and not a sacred union shared between a husand and wife.

Following God’s laws, reserving sex for within marriage only, is the only real cure.
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Well said.
 
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