Right.
There's been a sentiment bandied about recently which has finally pissed me off enough to say something about it. It goes something like this: By banning the use of condoms, the Catholic Church is responsible for the spread of HIV and AIDS throughout Africa and other Third World areas.
You know what? Bollocks to that. See if you can follow my logic.
In order to acquire the human immunodeficiency virus, you must exchange blood or blood products with somebody alredy infected, the easiest ways being intravenous drug paraphernalia and sex. Now, I'm not familiar with the Church's stance on intravenous drug use, but I think we're all reasonably au fait with its views on sex. They go something like this: Only have sex with the person to whom you are married. It's a pretty simple guide. Before having sex with someone, ask yourself, "Am I bound in matrimony to this person?" If the answer is no, you should not be having sex with them. Thus, if you are married to someone and the both of you have only ever had (and will only ever have) sex with each other, barring other circumstances there should be no chance of either of you acquiring HIV.
Blaming the spread of HIV on the Catholic Church and their unchanged in 2000 years stance is hypocrisy. Quite frankly, if you are going to ignore Church doctrine sufficiently enough to commit adultery, then I do not see how you are unable to further ignore it and use a condom. "The Church says wearing one of those is a sin!" washes about as well with me as "It's like wearing a raincoat in the shower!" They're both pretty lame excuses.
To summarise: People are spreading HIV and AIDS, not just by refusing to wear a condom, but by refusing to wear a condom while having sex with someone who is not their spouse. I know I have ignored things such as the spread of disinformation and lack of education in the Third World, but we are not in the Third World. We know how these diseases are transmitted and how to avoid transmitting or acquiring them. We, I hope, are discerning, intelligent adults able to spot bullshit when it's being fed to us. We know that blaming a bad situation on a governing body is a cop-out and an attempt to absolve ourselves of any responsibility to do something about it.
You know what? Bollocks to that. See if you can follow my logic.
In order to acquire the human immunodeficiency virus, you must exchange blood or blood products with somebody alredy infected, the easiest ways being intravenous drug paraphernalia and sex. Now, I'm not familiar with the Church's stance on intravenous drug use, but I think we're all reasonably au fait with its views on sex. They go something like this: Only have sex with the person to whom you are married. It's a pretty simple guide. Before having sex with someone, ask yourself, "Am I bound in matrimony to this person?" If the answer is no, you should not be having sex with them. Thus, if you are married to someone and the both of you have only ever had (and will only ever have) sex with each other, barring other circumstances there should be no chance of either of you acquiring HIV.
Blaming the spread of HIV on the Catholic Church and their unchanged in 2000 years stance is hypocrisy. Quite frankly, if you are going to ignore Church doctrine sufficiently enough to commit adultery, then I do not see how you are unable to further ignore it and use a condom. "The Church says wearing one of those is a sin!" washes about as well with me as "It's like wearing a raincoat in the shower!" They're both pretty lame excuses.
To summarise: People are spreading HIV and AIDS, not just by refusing to wear a condom, but by refusing to wear a condom while having sex with someone who is not their spouse. I know I have ignored things such as the spread of disinformation and lack of education in the Third World, but we are not in the Third World. We know how these diseases are transmitted and how to avoid transmitting or acquiring them. We, I hope, are discerning, intelligent adults able to spot bullshit when it's being fed to us. We know that blaming a bad situation on a governing body is a cop-out and an attempt to absolve ourselves of any responsibility to do something about it.