Catholic Teachings: Not Fashionable

'Everybody knows' what those Catholics are like.

'Catholics are Stupid and the Church is Icky'

Details vary, depending on who the 'everybody' is.

For many American Bible-thumpers, the Catholic Church is the epitome of evil. Dedicated secularists and folks who want to be very up-to-date with the latest intellectual fashions seem convinced that the Catholic Church is the fountainhead from which comes all intolerance, hatred, and - for all I know - climate change.¹

Whatever the trimmings, the basic idea is that the Catholic Church is icky, and that Catholics are pretty much stupid, deluded, or pedophile priests.

That's an oversimplification, and there are folks in this country who aren't particularly near either of those extremes.

Self-Control and Other 'Shameful' Ideas

It's not just America, apparently. Here's something I found on an op-ed website:

"While the world is joining hands to find better ways to curb the spread of the killer HIV/Aids pandemic, the Pope's comments on condom use in 2009 provoked shame and dismay over the church's role in issues relating to sexual health.

"On his journey to Africa in 2009 - where 22,4 million people are reportedly infected with HIV, two- thirds of the world total - the Pope seemed very clear that condom use was the cause of more infections across the globe...."
"Where Does Pope Benedict XVI Stand On Condom Use?"
Munesu Benjamin Shoko, NewsTime (May 31, 2011)

That's on the newstime.co.za website - presumably based in South Africa, given the .za country code.

The second paragraph is sort of true. The Pope was in Africa, and did mention condoms. What he said didn't assume that

• People have no self-control
• Condoms solve all problems

Hence, in my opinion, the standard-issue "shame and dismay" claim. I've been over this before.

• "Sex, Condoms, AIDS, an 'Immoral' Pope, and What Everybody Knows"
  (March 17, 2009)
• "Good News from Africa: But Some People Won't Like It"
  (March 17, 2009)

Again, I'm over-simplifying - but not, I think, by much.

Free Will and Responsibility

Me? I'm a practicing Catholic. I assume that free will exists,² that people can decide what they do and what they don't do - within certain parameters - and that technology won't solve all our problems. Not even if the technology is that mainstay of grooviness, the condom.

I've put a couple links to articles with a somewhat more informed look at what Father Juan Jose Perez-Soba - and the Vatican's representative to the United Nations in Geneva - said, under News and views.

Freedom of Religion - No, Really

I'm a practicing Catholic, so I have to believe that freedom of religion is important.² That's "freedom of," not "freedom from," and I've been over that before.

About the Church, AIDS, and assumptions? That's for another post.

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Update (June 8, 2011)

The Church, AIDS, and assumptions:

• "Sex Isn't a Product for Consumption?"
  (June 8, 2011)

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Related posts:

• "Steve Jobs, Censorship, and Who Gets to Choose"
  (January 7, 2011)
• "Religious Freedom, Niemöller, and Muslims in America"
  (April 7, 2011)
• "Cultural Chaos, Divisiveness, and CNN"
  (April 1, 2010)
• "Hating People: Not a Good Idea"
  (January 22, 2010)
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)

News and views:

• "Fight against AIDS should combat promiscuity, expert says"
  CNA (Catholic News Agency) (June 7, 2011)
• "Thirty years after AIDS discovery, appreciation growing for Catholic approach"
  David Kerr, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (June 5, 2011)
• "Where Does Pope Benedict XVI Stand On Condom Use?"
  Munesu Benjamin Shoko, NewsTime (May 31, 2011)

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¹ See:

• Assumptions About Religion, and American Rules of Etiquette"
  (April 14, 2010)
• "Catholics Don't Believe the Bible: Who Knew?"
  (September 26, 2008)

² Background and sources:

• Free will: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1730
• Freedom of religion: Catechism, 2104-2109

Not an exhaustive list.