"On the basis of data from the World Health Organization," reports Abboud, "in Swaziland where 42.6% have HIV, only 5% of the population is Catholic. In Botswana, where 37% of the adult population is HIV infected, only 4% of the population is Catholic. In South Africa, 22% of the population is HIV infected, and only 6% is Catholic. In Uganda, with 43% of the population Catholic, the proportion of HIV infected adults is 4%."
Isn't this the point where their's supposed to be some shocking melodramatic and slightly corny sound effect?...
At least that's what they had at this point in the CBC documentary they made on JPII. Except that they never mentioned the infection rates in Africa and how in those countries with more Catholics, people seem to live just a little bit longer. Instead they flat out said that the Pope was probably responsible for the deaths of millions in Africa because he was too "conservative."
Now I could go on tooting the horn of Catholicism more, but to be fair Uganda had another thing going for it. It started a campaign years ago that stressed abstinence first, and condoms second as a strategy to combat AIDS. The results are pretty clear. Now whether this was the result of the efforts of the Uganda government, or the result of more Ugandans being Catholic only God knows. Either way, it seems the crucial elements in the fight against aids is a sense of moral values.
Uganda is like a light in Africa right now. People should be looking to it as a model to fight AIDS. But that would mean the UN and the rest of the fanatical socialist agenda warriors in Africa would have to stop throwing condoms from airplanes and would have to start stressing abstinence and fidelity...
That aint likely to happen. If they don't believe in it, they'll never teach it to someone else. You ever get the feeling that sometimes the worst of our society is getting exported all around the world?
The statistics doesn't change the fact or the moral obligation to use condoms if one decides to have sex. I think any policy should emphasize that abstinence is the best prevention but it should also make condoms available for those who choose not to abstain.
ReplyDeleteI'm just curious if you would argue that if these countries were "more catholic", they'd have "less AIDS"?
ReplyDeleteNo I couldn't. There are many countries that call themselves Catholic, but in reality they are "cafeteria Catholics" - they pick and choose what to follow and what to forget from the Catholic faith. What's worse, many people call themselves Catholic, without practicing or truly knowing the Catholic faith. I'll be the first one to admit that I was once one of those people...
ReplyDeleteHowever, what I would argue is that if people in those countries start to follow the teachings of the Church by practicing abstinence more, and having more self respect then yes I believe AIDS rates will be lower.
To say, as some have, that the Pope is responsible for the AIDS epidemic in Africa is just a stinking load of something else in my opinion.
Jason,
ReplyDeleteI'm not Catholic, but I have to say that there is a rather silly disconnect going on with critics of your Church trying to blame AIDS problems on your Church's stance on contraceptives. If they are such serious Catholics that they listen to the Pope on contraceptives, why won't they also listen to his teachings about abstinence?
BTW, thanks for the link to my blog.
:-)