Pope Benedict XVI says in a new book that condoms can be justified for male prostitutes seeking to stop HIV, a stunning turnaround for a church that has long opposed condoms and a pontiff who has blamed them for making the AIDS crisis worse.
Okay ... that's sort of a step in the right direction - at least the Pope seems to be acknowledging that condoms do have an effect on the spread of HIV. However, to limit the use of condoms to male prostitutes is stunningly short sighted.
Condoms have the same effect for women, but it would seem that under this Pope, women are not considered important enough to protect from STIs. Does this man think that women do not get infected by STIs? Or is it just that fertilizing an egg is so much more important than the risk of a life-shortening disease like HIV/AIDS? Has he not clued in yet that the vast majority of Catholics in developed countries ignore him entirely on the subject of birth control? Not to mention the moral vacuity of his insistence that women must always take the risk of not just pregnancy but also of STIs? (I would argue that it is an immoral act to demand that someone take such risks without their full knowledge and consent regarding the consequences)
The double standards and misogyny that are so clearly embedded in this Pope's theology are disappointing to see in this day and age.
3 comments:
Halle: I apologize profusely - I accidentally deleted your comment when I intended to publish it. Here it is:
Yup, the labels at the bottom pretty much sum up the irrelevance of the 'universal church' and it's leadership!
Birth Control, Contraception, Pope, Stupidity
It has been clear what is most important for a long time; the perpetuation of their institution. Not women, that has always been obvious.
So sad that people cannot vote with their feet in this case, supposedly out of some irrational fear.
Actually, it's consistent for the Catholic Church to oppose contraception of any form for women, considering that it impedes pregnancy. Which I suppose means that it's the Church's view that life begins *before* fertilization. I'm just surprised that they're not still constantly extolling the evils of masturbation.
"Every sperm is sacred..."
I don't think I was accusing them of hypocrisy, rather of ideological blindness.
(oh yes, I have to imagine that it has been lost on the Pope that there are heterosexual male prostitutes too...)
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