Friday, March 20, 2009

The pope: condoms don't help against HIV

It is perhaps old news that the Catholic Church is not a fan of condoms; however, they are rarely as blunt about it as the other day. Pope Benedictines, a man who seems to be dreaming of past times (medieval times), has now publicly announced that condoms is not the way to go if you want to stop HIV. Indeed, the pope is even claiming that condoms make the problem worse because people have more sex.


What evidence does he have for this claim? None, of course, the Catholic Church does not seem to know what evidence means. Their method for finding the truth is asking the pope and whatever he says is the truth, never mind that there are numerous studies showing that the pope is simply wrong in his statement.


Rarely does the distinction between the scientific method and the catholic (or religious) way become so clear. Do you want to trust what the pope says just because he is the pope, or do you want to trust people who have actually gone out and looked at the effects of condom use? Know that choosing the latter will make you a heretic in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Religion or Science? Irrationality or Rationality? Your choice...

13 comments:

kata kata said...

Yeah Condom don't help... So You too..

Anonymous said...

This analysis oversimplifies the Catholic Church's position on these issues.

First, the Catholic Church's over-riding priority here is the nature of human sexuality, the primary purpose of which the Church teaches is reproduction. No one needs agree with this idea (I don't) to understand it as the foundation for a world view (which, remember, is centered on the satisfaction of the will of God).

Assuming that sexual intercourse is going to take place, yes, condoms obviously reduce (though not eliminate) the incidence of AIDS transmission. Is it a stretch of the imagination to think that availability and use of condoms increase the frequency of such sexual activity? I don't think so. Does abstinence, which is the Church's suggestion, reduce the incidence of AIDS transmission nearly to zero? Yes, of course.

Naturally, given that humans will engage in extramarital sexual intercourse, use of condoms would result in a net decrease in AIDS transmission. But focusing on this aspect of the situation assumes a very different priority than that of the Catholic Church.

My point is: Fine, you don't agree with the Catholic Church. I don't entirely agree with them, either (especially about their premise). But I don't think that calls for misrepresentation of the Catholic Church's teaching (which I submit is at least self-consistent) or silly name-calling.

rasmussenanders said...

Thank you for the comments, I know that the church see abstinence as the ultimate solution to the HIV epidemic, and furthermore I agree that more abstinence would be desirable in Africa. However, the pope also said that condoms are worsening the epidemic and this is just not true. My objection is on the way in which the pope just goes out and says things without having to show any evidence. It is his job to speak for God and therefore he does not use terms like "I think", or "according to this and that study", he just speaks the truth, and regrettably people listen to him because according to their religion they have to listen to him. It saddens me that such a powerful and influential man goes out and says things that will almost certainly result in a lot of deaths in the third world. If you perceived any aggressiveness in my tone, that is the reason.

rasmussenanders said...

Interesting. Sounds indeed like a miracle cure. Do you have the references to the scientific papers that you say have been published?

Anonymous said...

Condoms don't help. The data is clear that those countries such as South Africa and Botswana that have the highest condom availability also have the highest HIV / AIDS infection rates.

Dr. Green, Director of Harvard's AIDS Prevention Research Project, says that "relatively simple, low-cost behavioral change programs--stressing increased monogamy and delayed sexual activity for young people--have made the greatest headway in fighting or preventing the disease's spread. Ugandans pioneered these simple, sustainable interventions and achieved significant results." and "partner reduction ... is the single most effective way of reducing the spread of AIDS."

Given what we know, it is irresponsible to continue to throw condoms at the problem instead of working to change behavior -- abstinence and faithfulness really work!

rasmussenanders said...

Thank you for the comment, apostleshadamishe.

Do you have any study that supports your statement about condoms not helping, because they are conflicting with what I have seen.

Even if there is more condoms in countries where there is more HIV that may simply mean that the west is focusing their interventions on countries where there is alot of HIV! Can you show that increased use of condoms increase incidence of HIV?

Anonymous said...

Let's wrap this mother-fucker (the Poop)in Rubber, and Bury him in shit.... and we'll see if rubber protects him.

said...

Here's an amusing video with The Pope in it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m6qC6FCiY0

Unknown said...

I always use condom and I don't have HIV I only have ED and I must take Generic Cialis

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Anonymous said...

I always use condom and I don't have HIV I only have ED and I must take Cialis

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