Sex, Condoms, AIDS, an "Immoral" Pope, and What Everybody Knows

Here's the deal:

• The Pope's going to Africa
• AIDS is a major health problem in Africa
• AIDS is spread very easily through sexual intercourse
• Condom manufacturers say that condoms prevent the spread of AIDS
  • Well, reduce
  • Generally
• The Pope is stuck with fuddy-duddy old rules

Obviously, "...The Vatican's stance is not simply irresponsible; it is immoral...." (g.c.u.)

'As is well known,' people are incapable of not, ah, being real friendly with the nearest member of the opposite sex when those ol' debil hormones hit. Or, for that matter, of the same sex. Everybody knows that.

Walking Away from God, or Siding with Giants: Yeah, a Really Hard Choice

I was brought up in a mainstream protestant church. Among the many things I "knew" was that contraceptives were perfectly okay. Again, everybody knows that.

When I married a Catholic woman, I needed to know about the Catholic faith. Including that stuff about contraceptives. I really didn't want to exercise self-control.

So, I read Humanae Vitae. Cover to cover. English translation, of course. Then I read it again, very carefully. Studied it, actually: looking for a loophole. Looking for a knot I could poke out and make into a loophole.

After that, I did have options: I could give God the one-finger salute and walk away, or I could side with some of the best minds that western Eurasia has produced over the last two millennia.

When I put it to my self that way, it wasn't really that hard a choice.

That was over a quarter-century ago. I won't claim that using the outer layers of my brain, like the frontal cortex, to override parts of my endocrine system is easy. But the payoff, aesthetically and otherwise, has been great.

"No Sex" - Close But Not Quite

The Australian almost got it right. Their headline was "No sex is the best AIDS solution - Pope Benedict XVI". The article said, somewhat accurately, that "...The Vatican encourages sexual abstinence to fight the spread of disease...."

If they'd said "chastity," they'd be closer to the mark. That's not the same as "abstinence." Married Catholic couples are expected to live chaste lives. Not sexless ones.

Good grief! Where does The Australian think little Catholics come from?

More-or-less related posts:

• "The Catholic Church and Homosexuals: Harsh and Soft, Judgmental and Understanding"
  (March 13, 2009)
• "Dying to Ourselves, Dying to Self: Not Exactly a Feel-Good Religion?"
  (March 3, 2009)
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)
• "The Pope, the Antichrist, and Fu Manchu"
  (October 2, 2008)

News and views (all are Google News links):

• "Pope in Africa reaffirms 'no condoms' against AIDS"
  Reuters (March 17, 2009)
• "The Pope is dangerously wrong about condoms in Africa"
  Ottawa Citizen (March 17, 2009)
• "The wrong message on condoms"
  guardian.co.uk (March 17, 2009)
• "Anger as Pope Benedict XVI says condoms make Aids worse"
  telegraph.co.uk (March 17, 2009)
• "Pope's ignoring a lot more than the Internets (Topic of the Day)"
  Dallas Morning News OPINION Blog (March 17, 2009)
• "No sex is the best AIDS solution - Pope Benedict XVI"
  The Australian (March 17, 2009)