Last week, Pope Benedict fired up the world with irresponsible comments about the use of condoms and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Protests sparked in France and now Facebook users are joining in, utilizing the networking/social site to organize action against the Pope for his continued stance that condoms do not help combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. Facebook users have pledged to send millions of condoms to the Pope to make their point clear. National governments of France, Germany and Belgium, as well as the UN, have spoken out against the Pope’s insistence that the distribution of condoms increases the spread of the virus, rather than fighting it.
The Vatican joins in the sex talk all too often. Decades, or rather centuries, of continued reliance on antiquated ideas of sexuality and sexual behavior have led to the spread of multiple STDs and unplanned pregnancies. It is extremely difficult to understand why the Vatican continues to insist on joining discussions on sexually related issues, when their track record proves their ancient ideas are flawed.
The Vatican is comprised of celibate men. Where does the audacity to dictate sexual behavior arise from when they have neither participated in the act, nor employed the opinions and ideas of women into their highest ranks? The patriarchal institution needs to step out of sexual morality and safety, and stick to topics where they can be more trusted. They are in no place to be an authority on decreasing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa or anywhere else in the world. Statistics actually prove the Pope wrong in his stance against condoms, and reliance on abstinence.
President Bush and the Pope have something in common. The two figureheads rely on the idea of abstinence as means of fighting the transmission of STDs, in addition to preventing unwanted pregnancies. President Bush’s “ABC” program enforced ideas of abstinence first, condoms last in youth sex education. Recent statistics show an increase of teenage pregnancies. Correlation? Most likely. It is time the Pope gets out of the bedrooms of global citizens and stops dictating when we should have sex, who we should have sex with and what we should use when we have it.
The time has come for the Vatican to step into the 21st century and realize that people have sex. They have sex out of wedlock. They have sex with the same sex. They have sex with birth control. The insistence of maintaining 19th century ideals on sex is only making the Church more out of reach for global citizens. If the Pope and his Vatican minions would stick to ideas of peace and love, they could do far more good in the world than their current actions of ostracizing groups of people in the sexual arena.
In conclusion, when we are sick, we get medical advice from doctors. When we have a broken car, we take it to a mechanic. When we need sexuality advice, do we really trust the word of a patriarchal institution of abstinent men? Pope Benedict, and the Vatican alike, stay out of our bedrooms and leave the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS to those more qualified.
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March 28th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Michel Foucault wrote the History of Sexuality where he argues that controlling and repressing the public’s sexuality is a powerful means of social control. Historically we see it manifest itself in the Victorian age where women were basically forced to hide their bodies. We see it now in the middle east by forcing women to wear veils and in Africa and clitorectamies. We even see it in the US with the slut/prude double-standard for women, laws that attempt to regulate pornography, and of course laws the deny gay men and women equal rights.
The point is, the Pope sticks to antiquated views of sex and abstinence as a way to not only attempt to stay relevant in a progressing society but as a means to reinforce his own global authority. It really is a shame though that his attempt to maintain power may cost thousands of lives because people will contract AIDS who, with proper education and access to condoms, would be safe from it.