Today's STUPID News - From, Where Else, the Vatican

[bily4]

Originally Posted by jojajn

What should a married couple use for birth control when they can no longer afford to have more children?

The Church advocates the rhythm method. This does not work. Actually I can vouch for that personally.

One of the reasons for AIDS in Africa is the people are being taught that unsafe sex is not what is causing the AIDS. They are also taught that AIDs can be cured with witchcraft and voodoo. The Politicians and Church leaders all implicitly or explicitly support this misinformation to help keep themselves in control of the ignorant masses.

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by katzenfreund

People are going to have sex outside of marriage, always have and always will. No matter how much certain people want to stop this, or think they can stop it. It has NEVER worked and NEVER WILL. Why, they can not even keep some of their own priests from having sex (with young boys at that!), so it must be pretty hard to control this urge!!!!

I wonder which the pope would prefer...
1.a couple that has sex, doesn't use condoms and the man gets the woman pregnant and infects both the child and the woman with AIDS.
2. a couple that has sex, uses condoms and the man with AIDS does not infect the woman, nor does he cause a pregnancy.

Looks like a no-brainer to me.

No brainer for me, too; but if you give the Pope (or several posters in this forum) that choice, they will take neither and choose 3. the couple shouldn't have sex. It is like talking to my 3 year old. I ask if he wants the red shirt or the green shirt, and he pick the blue one!

[Mike from back east]

Harbor Lady Bless you for the marvelous thoughts you expressed so very well, far better than many clergymen. IMO, you are ideally suited to be a member of the clergy; and it's truly a shame that virtually all religions ban women from the collar. Your thoughts are whole and your view of humanity is that of understanding the nature of humans while steadily steering a course to a higher ethic. That is exactly what we need, always have, and need now more than ever. AFAIC, the best clergy (and nurses, and teachers) are the "good mom" types, they innately know how to empathize with the hurting, yet have the facility for guiding people to do the right thing. Men are too judgmental, too quick to swing the sword instead of extending a gentle hand. This Pope, by standing against the use of condoms in the African AIDS epidemic, has swung a sword of judgment on those illiterate masses.

I agree with you about being embarrassed. I'm embarrassed that when the world thinks of America, in the context of religion, they think of clowns like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jesse Jackson, James Dobson, Rev Ted, Jimmy Swaggart, Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker, Al Sharpton, Robert Tilton, et al, ad nauseum. The only good one, ever, was Billy Graham, whom I supported for years before I threw in the towel and let go of all religion.

I wish this Pope saw the horrible AIDS crisis in Africa as a golden opportunity to get sensible about birth control. He is one of the few persons who plays on a worldwide stage. He could have crafted a statement to at least allow the use of condoms and birth control within the context of married couples in that educated, developed world of which you spoke. Then he extends use of condoms for persons in the epidemic areas as a humanitarian gesture, not that it pleases the church, but he'd say that adherence to doctrine must wait as he leads the urgent moral imperative to slow or halt the overwhelming suffering now seen.

s/Mike

[katzenfreund]

closed at the request of the OP.
Thanks to all those that participated.