Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Gods (Representative) Must Be Crazy



Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI gained headlines when during a tour of Africa, he pontiff claimed that condoms were not the answer to the continent's fight against HIV and AIDS. In fact, according to Benedict XVI, condoms could make the problem worse. Speaking to journalists on a flight frm Cameroon, the Pope stated that while HIV and AIDS was a terrible affliction, it is in the end "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems." Throwing science out the window, it's not certain what alternative means the Catholic pontiff is suggesting. And, deservedly so, he was swiftly rebuked by health officials, activists and others world wide. A rather good rebuttal posted below. And to think, it was written in 2003!

More after the fold...



Is the Pope Crazy?

By Katha Pollitt

www.thenation.com

There are many things to be said against condoms, and most people reading this have probably said them all. But at least they work. Not perfectly--they slip, they break, they require more forethought and finesse and cooperation and trust than is easy to bring to sex every single time, and, a major drawback in this fallen world, they place women's safety in the hands of men. But for birth control they are a whole lot better than the rhythm method or prayer or nothing, and for protection from sexually transmitted diseases they are all we have. This is not exactly a controversial statement; people have been using condoms as a barrier against disease as long as rubber has been around (indeed, before--as readers of James Boswell's journals know). You could ask a thousand doctors--ten thousand doctors--before you'd find one who said, Condoms? Don't bother.

But what do doctors know? Or the Centers for Disease Control, or the World Health Organization, or the American Foundation for AIDS Research (Amfar)? These days, the experts on condoms are politicians, preachers and priests, and the word from above is: Condoms don't work.

read full article here.

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