We live in a world where over 90% of Catholics use artificial birth control (well, NFP is artificial too because it uses unnatural things like calenders and thermometers) and yet he still supports an outdated, dangerous view on birth control invented by the men of the Church and supported only by the fundamentalist extremist Christians.
We could save millions of lives in Africa if the Pope supported condom use. If he is truly "pro-life" then why doesn't he support something that will save lives of millions in Africa?
Would the Pope want his relatives to have sex with someone with HIV and not use protection?
What can we do to end this sick pattern of fear governed control? How can we send a message to the Pope? Because the Pope does what the Church tells him. The Catholic Church is not about moving forward, it's about following tradition, no matter how stupid it may be. Readers, wrong on everything I can tell.
NFP is not unnatural.
The Catholic inventor of birth control has now (after decades) sided with the Church !!
http://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2009/01...
And we KNOW from the case in Uganda that the Pope is right.
I have a message for you -- forget the Pope -- you have been caught lying. God is not pleased with that NO MATTER WHAT. tRY LOOKING AT THE PRESIDENT AND ALL THE PEOPLE VOTING FOR DEMOCRATS WHO ARE FOR ABORTION
SOME CATHOLICS I RUN INTO SAY OH ITS ALREADY HAPPENING SO NO REASON TO VOTE FOR SOMEONE WHOS AGAINST IT.
LOL YEAH PATHETIC EXCUSE!
WHY TRY AND STOP IT LETS JUST LET IT GET WORSE The Catholic Church is neither a republic nor a democracy. Catholics get two votes: The left foot and the right foot. "Would the Pope want his relatives to have sex with someone with HIV and not use protection?"
Would YOU want one of your relatives to have sex at all with someone who had HIV? No. Catholics must obey Pope. He has the keys of kingdome of heaven. Pope is not a popularity contest, he is not going to say 'if it feels good do it' 90% of Christians are then bending the rules of their own beleifs.
What does god think of this??? The Pope isn't listening to anyone. you tell me! NFP doesn't require calendars or thermometers -- it's only observing the signs of ovulation and using that information to make informed choices. I don't use a thermometer or a calendar, so your argument holds no water. It never ceases to amaze me how many people run down NFP when it's only a fact-finding system that leads to informed choices!
The Pope's view on birth control is NOT dangerous. He encourages absolute abstinence before marriage and absolute fidelity afterwards, because that is the safest and BEST way to avoid getting HIV. It's proven over and over and the World Health Organization says the exact same thing. Do you call the WHO "dangerous"? I didn't think so. Nice double-standard you got going there.
Giving people condoms and telling them it's okay to have sex with HIV is like giving a suicidal person a revolver with one bullet and telling them it's okay to put the barrel in their mouths and pull the trigger. CONDOMS BREAK, dude. They have a KNOWN failure rate.
Condoms have been freely distributed in Africa for more than 2 decades by groups like Doctors Without Boarders. It's not working. HIV is still a major problem there. And as long as that's true, they are the second-best solution. So the Pope promotes the BEST solution. And you say that's dangerous?
The Pope is NOT telling people to have sex with HIV partners and no protection. He's telling people not to have sex with HIV partners at all, because that works better.
It's not a "sick pattern of fear governed control." It's the BEST solution, and the Pope, out of love, stands by that solution even though ignorant people lambast him for it again and again. Christianity and the Catholic Church are not democracies. We do not vote to change doctrine every year based on the changing tide of public opinion.
Please do not to redefine standard terms like artifical birth control and natural family planning.
That said, the Catholic Church has never asked unmarried people to have unprotected sex. Neither has she asked married couples with diseases to have unprotected sex.
Judeo-Christian tradition has taught for thousands of years:
1. Single people should be celibate.
2. Married people should be faithful to each other (adultery is wrong).
3. Married couples should welcome God's gift of children and, therefore, artificial birth control is against the will of God.
If the world is going to ignore teachings about chastity (1 & 2), then why is the world so upset about teaching artificial birth control (3)?
People who are already ignoring the more important teachings about chastity (1 and 2) should have no problem ignoring the less important teaching of artificial birth control (3).
Even if a person infected with AIDS was to use a condom to help protect his or her spouse, condoms are not 100% effective (read the box) and the spouse may be infected and die anyway. A person who truly loves their spouse would not endanger them in this way.
In regards to sex outside of marriage, the Church makes it a practice not to tell people how to sin. With or without a condom:
鈥?Fornication is still fornication
鈥?Adultery is still adultery
鈥?Rape is still rape
+ Expert Opinion +
Last year, Edward C. Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, wrote: "In every African country in which HIV infections declined, this decline has been associated with a decrease in the proportion of men and women reporting more than one sex partner over the course of a year鈥攚hich is exactly what fidelity programs promote."
And: "Many countries that have not seen declines in HIV have seen increases in condom use, but in every country worldwide in which HIV has declined there have been increases in levels of faithfulness and usually abstinence as well." http://www.harvardaidsprp.org/index.html
Sam L. Ruteikara, co-chair of Uganda's National AIDS-Prevention Committee wrote: The proportion of Ugandans infected with HIV plunged from 21 percent in 1991 to 6 percent in 2002. Telling men and women to keep sex sacred -- to save sex for marriage and then remain faithful -- is telling them to love one another deeply with their whole hearts. Most HIV infections in Africa are spread by sex outside of marriage: casual sex and infidelity. The solution is faithful love. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
With love in Christ. 1) Is the Pope listening his Catholic people?
Listening? I'm sure that he is.
2) We live in a world where over 90% of Catholics use artificial birth control (well, NFP is artificial too because it uses unnatural things like calenders and thermometers) and yet he still supports an outdated, dangerous view on birth control invented by the men of the Church and supported only by the fundamentalist extremist Christians.
Over 90%? I doubt that very much. Source?
His "view" on birth control may seem "outdated" to you - but how is it dangerous?
3) We could save millions of lives in Africa if the Pope supported condom use.
This is SIMPLY NOT TRUE. I did a college paper last year on HIV infection reduction programs. Condom promotion programs have demonstrated no reduction in HIV infection rates "at the population level" - which means that they help with special target groups like sex workers, but otherwise are a *complete* waste of money. Don't take my word for it - look at the statistics. Start at UNAIDS.
4) If he is truly "pro-life" then why doesn't he support something that will save lives of millions in Africa?
Well, let's ignore the fact that your claim is false. Let's pretend that condoms prevent AIDS, and that IF the pope were to condone condom use, millions would not contract HIV that would otherwise. Remember, the Roman Catholic Church believes that condom use is WRONG. Still, your position is that permitting condom use is less wrong than allowing these millions to contract HIV by prohibiting condom use.
Now, it so happens I have developed a fool-proof way to eradicate HIV from the planet. Here is the program
a) mandatory HIV testing for the entire world population
b) mandatory quarantine for all HIV-infected people (we can dump them all in Greenland, provide all supplies needed for life, and provide extremely efficient centralized HIV care).
This will eradicate HIV from the planet within a generation - saving millions, or maybe even billions, of lives (and dollars), without harming a single individual.
Now, doesn't the end justify the means? Maybe you think it's not quite right to force people to get tested. Maybe you think it's not quite right to quarantine HIV victims. BUT, this process will actually ELIMINATE HIV from the planet.
You are using the *same* type of argument - that allowing condom use, something that the Roman Catholic Church views as immoral - is less evil, in the long run, than allowing the spread of HIV by prohibiting condom use. You are using the argument that the end justifies the means.
But, we have a much more efficient way of removing the risk of HIV infection. Surely, you want the pope to get behind that?
5) What can we do to end this sick pattern of fear governed control? How can we send a message to the Pope?
a) Get your facts straight (which they very clearly are not)
b) Persuade the Roman Catholic Church that the use of condoms is not immoral
c) Find some way to make condoms effective in reducing HIV infection rates at the population level
Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com/selector_rc... |
