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Pope's condom message resonates with many
Mar. 18, 2009
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Benedict talks to journalists during his flight from Rome to Africa March 17. (CNS/ Reuters)
Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionYaoundè, Cameroon
Pope Benedict XVI’s claim yesterday that condoms actually aggravate the problem of AIDS may seem an explosive claim internationally, but it’s barely made a ripple here -- in part, because it simply repeats an argument made so often by Africa’s Catholic bishops that it long ago lost any shock value.
In a nutshell, the bishops’ position -- expressed both by individual prelates and by whole conferences -- is that wide availability of condoms encourages a sense of invulnerability among Africans, especially the young, that leads to riskier sexual behavior and increases the possibility of infection.
While the bishops may be nearly unanimous in that judgment, other Africans who spoke to NCR today didn’t seem quite so sure.
(One point virtually everyone here concedes is that condoms are easy to come by. In Yaoundè, a condom can be purchased from street vendors for 100 Central African Francs, roughly twenty cents. Today, it was actually easier to find condoms than water, as Yaoundè’s public water system broke down for several hours.)
While the claim that condoms promote promiscuity and thus increase the risk of disease may fly in the face of most sentiment among anti-AIDS activists, African bishops insist that it reflects their real-world experience.
“Condoms tend to give a sense of freedom to be sexually reckless, and obviously that is a major cause of the spread of HIV/AIDS,” said Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, who is in Cameroon for the papal visit.
“The Catholic church is not the only one saying this,” Onaiyekan said. “NGOs who want to promote condoms in my country run into resistance from many other organizations and movements, including the Muslim community as a whole.”
Bishop George Nkuo of the Kumbo diocese in Cameroon made a similar argument.
“I live in an area hit hard by the disease,” Nkubo said. “I have huge amounts of testimony that the display and the spread of condoms has only promoted promiscuity. … People believe that using them makes everything safe.”
Onaiyekan also argued that the condoms that are actually distributed in Africa, especially rural areas, are often unreliable.
“A condom in New York is not the same thing as a condom twenty kilometers inside the bush,” he said. “Some of them sat in a container in a port, under the sun, for maybe two or three months. By the time they bring them out on bicycles, passing them out in the bush, many are no good, but what people hear is: ‘Put this on, and you’re safe.’ ”
In contrast, prelates such as Onaiyekan and Nkuo argue, promoting more responsible sexual behavior is the most effective anti-AIDS strategy.
“The whole idea that fidelity and abstinence doesn’t work is not based on concrete evidence,” Onaiyekan said. “I thought scientific people were supposed to look at the evidence. If you do that, you find that young people can actually change their mentality.”
African prelates often point to the experience of nations such as Uganda, where abstinence has been a cornerstone of anti-AIDS efforts. Among other things, they cite a Harvard study last year concluding that in African nations where the infection rate has dropped, “reduction in the number of sexual partners was probably the single most important behavioral change” responsible for the drop-off.
Roughly 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV, according to the United Nations. In 2007, three-quarters of all AIDS deaths worldwide were in Africa, as well as two-thirds of all people living with HIV.
A decidedly unscientific survey in the streets of Cameroon’s capital city Wednesday afternoon suggests that among ordinary Africans, the anti-condoms argument is playing to mixed reviews.
“It’s not true that condoms make someone more likely to have sex,” said Donald Mepep, a 20-year-old student. Mepep predicted that if condoms were somehow to disappear, “people would still have sex -- they’d be scared, but they’d do it.”
Vanessa Balla, however, a medical doctor who treats AIDS patients, said the pope has a point.
“With condoms, people think they can do whatever they want,” she said. “It just encourages them to engage in really risky sexual behaviors. I’ve seen it myself … they take as much risk as possible.”
Balla, who said that as a physician “it’s incredibly hard to watch young people dying of AIDS,” insisted that the solution to the crisis is “not condoms, but changing behavior.”
Julienne Christelle Bekono, also a student, said that Western donors and African governments both seem to think that if they shower a country with condoms, they’ve solved the problem of AIDS, she said. Instead, Bekono called for greater investments in finding a long-term cure -- although she said that condoms should remain part of an across-the-board approach.
Mve Louis Etong, a 52-year-old teacher of linguistics at the University of Yaoundè, said he agreed with the pope that condoms aren’t the answer. He offered a logic, however, clearly distinct from that of Benedict XVI.
“You just don’t get the same pleasure from sexual intercourse [with a condom] as you do with full contact,” Etong said. “That’s why many Cameroon men won’t use them.”
Also on Wednesday, the Vatican spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, issued a statement outlining the position of the Catholic church on fighting what he called “the terrible scourge of AIDS.” Lombardi summarized that position in three cornerstones:
- “Education in the responsible use of sexuality … reaffirming the essential role of marriage and the family”;
- “Research and application of effective cures, getting them to the largest number possible of sick people through many initiatives and health care institutions”;
- “Human and spiritual assistance for AIDS sufferers, and all the sick.”
The church, Lombardi said, believes that “emphasizing the more widespread diffusion of condoms is not really the most far-reaching and effective means” for combating AIDS and defending human life.
(Allen is NCR senior correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@ncronline.org.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Allen is in Africa covering Pope Benedict XVI’s March 17-23 trip to Cameroon and Angola. Watch the NCR web site for his daily reports.
Reports he has already filed include:
- Accent on 'peace, fraternity' sets tone for Angola
- Benedict in Cameroon a tale of two trips
- Pope to Muslims: 'Religion rejects all violence'
- Pope demands halt to sexual, financial scandals
- Pope addresses corruption, conflict in Africa
- 'Africa in miniature,' warts and all, awaits Benedict
- Five reasons the papal trip to Africa is important
- Cameroon journalist warns of 'cheap political points' from pope’s visit
- Benedict needs to show that he 'gets' Africa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can you give any credence or
Can you give any credence or credibility to these bishops who see homosexuality as a perversion and sexuality as sinful?
They are actually saying that the condom encourages people to exercize their God-given sexuality which, for them, is a terrible gift, phenomenon or aspect of a human being.
Furthermore, many of them are promiscuous themselves, polygamists and sometimes cannibalistic. The pope is simply encouraging their ignorant and evil stance on sex and other, even greater, matters like the endemic corruption of their governments and leaders.
Homosexuality is a perversion
Homosexuality is a perversion - the twisting of a natural, self-giving thing into something self-seeking.
Where do they say sexuality is sinful? Engage with the article, not your preconceptions.
You have some issues which should really be resolved before you spout off in public!
For the pope and you.
For the pope and you. LOL!
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/03/19/240369.html
The Catholic Church DOES NOT
The Catholic Church DOES NOT teach that sexuality is sinful! I get SO TIRED of hearing this lie!
The Catholic Church DOES teach that the ABUSE or MISUSE of sexuality is sinful.
Any use of the sexual faculties outside of marriage IS sinful, and that includes HETEROSEXUAL as well as homosexual sex. These things are gravely disordered, and do not discriminate against homosexuals, as ANOTHER frequent lie alleges. Heterosexual sex, outside of marriage is EVERY BIT as disordered as homosexual sex.
Sex within the bonds of covenental marriage is not only NOT sinful but is beautiful and holy! (THAT IS authentic Church teaching!)
Get it right! Stop promulgating lies!
Didn't the Church used to
Didn't the Church used to teach that sexual pleasure within marriage was sinful?
Medical Journal Criticizes
Medical Journal Criticizes Pope's Comments on AIDS
By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
27 March 2009
The prestigious British medical journal, Lancet, has said Pope Benedict's recent comments against the use of condoms to combat AIDS problem were not only inaccurate but distorted science.
Heavy criticism continues of Pope Benedict's comments that condoms exacerbate the problem of AIDS. The latest attack has come from the prestigious British medical journal Lancet which wrote that the pope had publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue.
Speaking on the plane to journalists on his first visit to Africa, the pope said HIV/AIDS was a tragedy that could not be overcome through the distribution of condoms, saying it could even increase the problem. He added that the teaching by the Catholic Church of abstinence and fidelity was the only way to combat the problem.
His comments ignited a firestorm of criticism from health officials and activists who said his words were unrealistic and unscientific.
In an interview, aids researcher Dr. Anthony Fauci reacted to the pope's comments.
"It is very clear from good scientific data that condoms play a major role in the prevention of HIV. If the point that he was trying to make is that that is not the only way, that there are other ways that you can prevent then that's a fair statement," Fauci said. "But to say in a negative way that condoms are not important is not really consistent with the facts, the scientific facts. The other issue that was brought up in the conversation, at least from the quote that I heard, was that he thought it could make matters even worse. And in fact, that also is not the case because there is no indication whatsoever that the widespread distribution of condoms in fact encourages people to practice risky sexual behavior, that just is not the case."
Politicians in France, Germany and Spain, and the United Nations also spoke out against the pope's words saying they were irresponsible and endangered public health policies.
In its article, Lancet said the male latex condom was the single most effective way to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDs. It added that whether the pope's error was due to ignorance or a deliberate attempt to manipulate science to support Catholic ideology was unclear.
The medical journal has urged the Vatican to issue a retraction.
In a related development, a Facebook group protesting Pope Benedict comments, urged members to send condoms to the Vatican Friday.
Organizers of the Italian group on the social networking Web site said 60,000 subscribers would send a condom to the Vatican. But deliveries could total millions after similar Facebook groups across the world also pledged to participate.
But rallying round the pope, the head of Italy's Bishops Conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, said the barrage of criticism against the pope had been prolonged beyond good reason.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-03-27-voa37.cfm
Having looked at the Harvard
Having looked at the Harvard site and read the Lancet article it may, just may be fair to say that both are legitimate based on the factors and presuppositions of the studies cited. What I find offensive is that the Pope, of all people, knowingly and deliberately did not tell "the truth, the whole truth". He spoke based on morality, the catholic church and science. As to morality, the policeman who prevented the man from a final dying visit with his mother-in-law feels strongly that he did it all by the book, maybe, but what book? Compassion is a factor, always a factor and the Pope's "morality" is based on control, not compassion, and is suspect. As a religious leader he has an overriding responsibility to be not just truthful, but fully and completely so. By asserting justification for his "morality" based on science, without acknowledging legitimate science to the contrary, and his personal incompetance in that area, is a lie, and, if I may say so, a "sin". With regard to the Catholic Church, he, once again, has embarrased us all and makes a mockery of Christs message and my church.
This information is correct.
This information is correct. Lets pray that truth will overcome humanity-loathing ideologies that have little compassion for people. There are so many half truths and lies out there about the efficacy of condoms that its really very shameful-and always dangerous to life and health. Grace and peace with prayers always...
I find it rather difficult to
I find it rather difficult to believe that Africa was a bastion of chastity until the arrival of the CONDOM.
The argument is disengenous.
The argument is disengenous. What John Allen does not deal with is that the Church refuses to allow the use of condoms in married couples where one is HIV infected. In these sacramental marriages there shouldn't be any question of promiscuity. That condoms are not seen as a primarily therapeutic intervention is criminal and death dealing. Is Humanae Vitae really worth sentencing an innocent spouse to AIDS? Apparently so.
If you TRULY love your spouse
If you TRULY love your spouse (remember, not just the warm fuzzy emotions of attachment some people have downgraded "love" to be, but a true love that puts what is best for the beloved in front of the wants and needs of the lover), would you really have sex, even using a condom, knowing that said condom could fail for any number of reasons (manufacturing defects, left in the elements too long, placed on incorrectly, etc.), and risk infecting your spouse with HIV?
Are humans sexual beings? Yes. Is abstinence the only 100% way to prevent transmission of HIV through sexual intercourse? Yes. Is abstinence difficult? Heck yes. But we're NOT animals who can't help but have mindless sex like other animals; that is degrading to all of humanity (and strikes me as possibly racist particularly in the context of the African continent). Since we were made to LOVE (not just have sex), developing a true understanding of love can help make this kind of discipline easy.
Why must you denigrate other
Why must you denigrate other animals? They are not mindless. To the contary. I am sure we will learn more and more about the intelligence and dignity of other animals. Is not this denigration of animals yet another error the Church has made down through the centuries?
I believe other animals have repeatedly shown they are capable of love. Also, I believe biologists have pointed out that humans are uniquely capable of, and biologically encouraged to, engage in sexual intercourse out of season.
I think the pope got the headline he wanted. "Pope reaffirms ban on condoms in Africa." (Mission Accomplished.) At least he did not accuse those who disagee of wanting to stifle population growth in Africa.
I am a married person. If I
I am a married person. If I were infected with AIDS, the last thing I would want to do is to subject my spouse to the possibility of infection. If a person with AIDS engages in sexual activity, with or without condoms, it is not an act of love but one of use. I cannot imagine that anyone with AIDS would want to engage in any activity that might endanger another person. That to me is the height of selfishness and should not even attempt to be justified.
What if your spouse desired
What if your spouse desired it, nevertheless? Do you say, I decide for you what is best for you? If it were you, it would probably be better to disappear sooner rather than after having made your spouse slave away caring for you. Most people, though, don't love in isolation the way you claim to do.
I am a married person. If I
I am a married person. If I were infected with AIDS, the last thing I would want to do is to subject my spouse to the possibility of infection. If a person with AIDS engages in sexual activity, with or without condoms, it is not an act of love but one of use. I cannot imagine that anyone with AIDS would want to engage in any activity that might endanger another person. That to me is the height of selfishness and should not even attempt to be justified.
A couple of these comments
A couple of these comments deserve a response because they are factually incorrect.
The Church does not teach that "sexuality is a sin". The Church teaches, in fact, that sexuality is a powerful expression of the love of God between spouses, and is ordered to the bonding of the spouses and the procreation of children. Therefore, any expression of sexuality that is outside that order...babies and bonding in a family context is therefore dis-ordered.
We believe that sexuality is so important, so sacred, and so powerful, that to misuse this "gift from God" debases the person and the marriage, especially a sacramental one where the ministers of the sacrament are the spouses themselves.
Why do some people believe that appetites can be controlled for everything except sex?
I recommend www.thrologyofthebody.com for a fuller explanation.
There is reportedly an
There is reportedly an anti-viral (and non-contraceptive) foam that women can use that would allow the couple to guard against the transmission of AIDS (and other viral STDs) while remaining open to life. I doubt the Church would be opposed to such a solution.
Two thoughts. First, the
Two thoughts. First, the Church must speak out on getting expensive AIDS drug therapies to Africa at a lesser price - possibly through its own hospitals. Perhaps the Church should take a loss on these.
Second, modern society has a skewed version of sexuality and marriage. Evolutionarily, we mate at a fairly young age. Our economic and social systems should support this fact. The woman's age at marriage effects the divorce rate - however that may have to do with family finance as well. If money is the intervening variable then the answer is money and opportunity for younger families.
The colored bishop made good
The colored bishop made good point. The progressive solutions havent worked. So he asks them, what's plan B?
They dont have a plan B. Try plan A again.
It would be good if the Pope
It would be good if the Pope and his current crop of “yes men” would take the time and LISTEN TO South Africa’s Bishop Kevin Dowling about condoms.
In a nutshell, he would most likely tell them:
“I would say that, like him (the pope), I believe in the ideals of abstaining from sex before marriage and remaining faithful to your partner within a stable marriage relationship. My problem is that in the desperate situations where I work, the promotion of these ideals does not meet the need. We, instead, need a more realistic approach, to be consistently pro-life from conception to death. I’ve sat with vulnerable women for years in their shacks, have seen them and the babies in their arms dying of AIDS. Their hopelessness has seared my heart and spirit. I believe Jesus’s injunction to the Pharisees applies to me. He said that they are the ones who put impossible burdens on the shoulders of their people but will they lift a finger to help them carry them? Not they. I want to be the one who lifts a finger.”
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/04/10/why-the-pope-is-wrong-abo...
And that, sisters and brothers, is commonsense Christian compassion on the ground.
As a French Catholic pro-Life
As a French Catholic pro-Life woman, minister in Mr. Sarkozy, admitted to the press, even though she defended the Pope: 'Men don't like to use condoms.' Wives, girl-friends, prostitutes are given a very hard time by their sexual partners when they want them to wear a condom. It gets in the way, I guess.
The pope being against condoms shows once again his complete disregard for women. But then, as Jon Stewart pointed out, the Pope's experience in sex explains his declarations.
What surprises me is that there still are some people to defend the pope in his very anti-Life choice...
How can one be against abortion and against condoms in one same breath? How can one be pro-Life and pro-death at the same time?
To NCR: Why are 'anonymous' comments accepted, when anonymous letters are always to be thrown away or forwarded to the police?
Of the usefulness of the
Of the usefulness of the condom to combat AIDS.
A condom will be sent to the pope and his papist supporters to be used according to the instructions illustrated here:
http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/03/19/240369.html
Cute.
Cute.
The Pope is right. This is
The Pope is right. This is the postion of the Church.
It is good to see that the
It is good to see that the scientific world is in agreement with the Pope. The Pope's stance has been supported by Dr. Edward Green, Senior Harvard AIDS prevention researcher. According to Dr. Green, science is finding that the media is actually on the wrong side of the issue. In fact, Green says that not only do condoms not work, but that they may be “exacerbating the problem” in Africa.
The Pope preaches abstinance before marriage and fidelity within marriage and this has been shown to work.
Dr. Green says: "One country, Uganda, recognized these issues and said, “Listen, if you have multiple sex partners, you are going to get AIDS.” What worked in Uganda, a country that has seen a decline by as much as 2/3 in AIDS infections, was that officials realized that even aside from religious and cultural reasons, “no one likes condoms.” Instead of waiting for “American and European advisors to arrive,” Ugandan officials reacted and developed a program that fit their culture; their main message being “stick to one partner or love faithfully.”
It should also be recognised that the Catholic Church is at the forefront of care for those who are infected by HIV/AIDS.
The issue is what infected
The issue is what infected people who are married can do. Obviously, the unspoken teaching is that infected people who are married must become celibate. Are you saying that Dr. Green claims that if a married couple, where one partner is infected, engages in sexual activity, the condom will be of no use in preventing the infection of the uninfected partner?
John Glesga, you say, "It is
John Glesga, you say, "It is good to see that the scientific world is in agreement with the Pope. The Pope's stance has been supported by Dr. Edward Green, Senior Harvard AIDS prevention researcher."
You don't happen to mean the Dr. Edward Green, senior Harvard AIDS researcher, whom President George W. Bush appointed in 2003 to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS?
Is that the Dr. Edward Green you mean--the Bush-appointee who bought into Bush's failed faith-based abstinence-only approach?
If you mean that Dr. Edward Green, then your statement that "the scientific world is in agreement with the Pope" is entirely wrong. Dr. Green's faith-based approach to these issues is regarded as wrongheaded and very marginal by the vast majority of bona fide scientists who put research ahead of dogma.
The World Health Assembly
The World Health Assembly president says the pope is wrong and sowing confusion in the hearts and minds of the people (of God):
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hsk4RI5cPLSsvXTY9ZEyW...
As he returned to the
As he returned to the Vatican, the Pope was met by angry condom campaigners who protested his wrong-headed and irresponsible comments on the subject during his African visit:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5038303/Condom-campa...
Those reactionary Catholics
Those reactionary Catholics who agree with the pope's statements about condoms are right in line with France's racist and fascist extreme right-wing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Here is what his daughter Marine had to say on the subject.
Préservatif: Marine Le Pen défend le pape
Condoms: Marine Le Pen defends the pope.
Marine Le Pen se dit «scandalisée de la haine» contre le pape. Benoît XVI avait affirmé en Afrique que l'utilisation de préservatifs «aggrave le problème» du sida.
Marine Le Pen says she is "scandalized at the hatred" against the pope. Benedict XVI had stated in Africa that the use of condoms "worsened the problem" of AIDS.
Marine Le Pen, vice-présidente du Front national (FN), s'est dite hier "scandalisée de la haine exprimée à l'égard du pape" après ses propos sur le préservatif et le sida.
Marine Le Pen, the vice president of the National Front, said yesterday she was "scandalized at the hatred expressed against the pope" after his statement about condoms and AIDS.
"Le pape c'est le pape. L'église catholique exprime l'idéal de l'abstinence, l'idéal de la fidélité. Elle est là pour fixer la règle", a déclaré sur LCI la fille Le Pen. Benoît XVI avait affirmé en Afrique que l'utilisation de préservatifs "aggrave le problème" du sida.
"The pope is the pope. Le Catholic Church puts forth the ideal of abstinence, the ideal of fidelity. Her role is to establish the rule", Le Pen's daughter said on LCI (all news TV network).
Marine Le Pen s'est aussi insurgée contre "le président d'Act Up, qui l'agresse, qui quasiment l'insulte grassement". "S'il veut devenir pape, mon dieu, il a qu'à postuler", a-t-elle lancé.
Marine Le Pen also blasted "the president of Act Up, who assaults him, practically grossly insults him." "If he wants to become pope, my God, he needs only apply for the job", she quipped.
"J'aimerais bien d'ailleurs que les militants d'Act Up, plutôt que de venir s'allonger et faire de la provocation devant Notre-Dame, aillent peut-être devant quelques mosquées pour plaider contre la lapidation. Mais ça, il faut avoir un petit peu plus de courage", a-t-elle affirmé.
"I'd also really like it if those Act Up activists, instead of lying down and provoking people in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, would perhaps go to a few Mosks to plead against stoning. But, to do that, requires a bit more courage", she explained.
Des militants de l'association de lutte contre le sida Act-Up avaient dénoncé dimanche les propos du pape Benoît XVI sur le préservatif et le sida en s'allongeant sur le parvis de Notre-Dame, à Paris, où ils ont été pris à partie par de jeunes catholiques.
Campaigners for the AIDS-fighting association had denounced on Sunday Pope Benedict's statement about condoms and AIDS by lying down on the steps of Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris, where they were confronted by a group of young Catholics.
(Source AFP)
It would be nice if the cited
It would be nice if the cited African bishops' opinion that condoms increase sexual recklessness were backed by some or any kind of scientific empirical evidence. It does not seem to be. It seems a convenient and imaginative theory to justify the church's already-made-up mind and to exonorate the church from what happens when condoms aren't used -- for which there is plenty of scientific evidence, i.e., AIDS increases.
Someone once told me, when I
Someone once told me, when I was working in Family Planning, that blaming condoms for causing sex was like blaming fire stations for causing fires.
But, for the sake of
But, for the sake of argument, let us assume that the African bishops are correct: that the widespread use of condoms would increase sexual recklessness. What is the greater evil, an increase in sexual recklessness, or millions dying from AIDS? Isn't the Church's #1 ethical priority the defense of human life? That seems to be the gist of the one South African bishop who has argued for allowing condoms.
AIDS and death in the
AIDS and death in the priesthood
by Gilbert Oskaboose
My, my, my, and how the mighty have fallen. Guess they dont make Jesuits like they did in the old days, or is it just that the current lot isnt up to concealing their unsavory and unchristian-like lifestyles as well as they did in the old days. Another sign of the times perhaps?
Just finished reading a three part series by Kansas City Star reporter Judy L. Thomas entitled AIDS in the Priesthood. You can find it on the Web at www. Kansas City Star. Its public knowledge now. Seems like the buggers are dying like flies all over the country at a rate of seven times the national average. Hundreds of Roman Catholic priests have died of AIDS in the last decade - and they died alone, terrified about their families and congregations ever finding out about them. Terrified of their orders and superiors ever finding out Denial even unto Death. My use of the word bugger is entirely appropriate. That is exactly what they died from: buggery, carnal up-the-Hershey-Highway "sexual" intercourse with other perverted priests. Charming, eh?
And why did the Kansas City Star even run the series of articles? Was it to attack and embarrass the Roman Catholic Church? I dont think so. The behaviors originated with the priests, not with the mass media. What about the priests right to privacy? What about the publics right to know? No one is spitefully and viciously "outing" these priests. No names were used without personal consent or family approval. In a nation-wide poll the Kansas City Star has provided a national forum for Catholic priests to share their experiences and private thoughts on the subject of AIDS. 800 priests have accepted the invitation and have spoken openly about their own struggles with AIDS or about the death of friends, colleagues or "loved ones". Many foolishly believe that the church itself can help address and stem the epidemic. The only thing "outing" them is Death itself.
Im a born again heathen struggling to get back to my own Ojibway spirituality. I abandoned Christianity a long time ago. One teaching I still remember is Jesus saying "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Makes perfect sense to me so let us be perfectly clear that Im not chucking shit or stones at anyone. If they want to spend their time up somebody elses backside and to die accordingly then thats their business. Im just doing my regular social commentary on a societal phenomena.
What do First Nations think about this? Priests are in and around your community and they do have access to your children. It was priests, including the Jesuits, who used and abused your children in native residential schools for over a century. Innocent children were horribly abused physically, spiritually, emotionally, sexually, culturally and intellectually for over a century. At present there are over 3000 lawsuits ongoing in Canada to address this flagrant and evil abuse of children and nations. Terrible things happened in those schools. They will not get away with it. How can anyone in their right mind be made aware of these travesties and still cling to what passes for true Christianity these days?
Jeez, wake up and smell the coffee. Lets try and understand what goes on in the real world and conduct yourself accordingly. Perhaps your relationship with God, whatever you conceive Him/Her to be, should be a personal one, just you and the Creator, no one else.
Let the dead bury the dead - and move on in your own life.
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