Do Roman Catholics see AIDS as an opportunity?

Question

to my (slight) surprise a roman catholic regular here defended their church' prohibition of condoms in central and southern africa (which has greatly helped the spread of aids there)

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuGsavlqs7V2xVF3gR6zphzd7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20071216141423AA8MMw4

i am surprised to find any christian church promoting aids as a useful ally in the drive for recruitment.

but if any christian church were going to do so, i suppose it would have been the catholics.

susan j: in zambia, uganda, botswana, malawi - and probably in other countries i don't know as well - the government would be only too happy for their people to use condoms. it is catholic lobbies who prevent free condoms from being delivered to bush pharmacists, and catholic congregations who threaten - and often attack - pharmacists who dare to distribute free condoms.
when you have seen a close friend die of aids you might feel differently about this. (or perhaps your faith is strong enough that you won't).

imacatholic: your cult was formally rebuked by the world health organisation for spreading the myth that condoms increased the likelihood of contracting aids.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3176982.stm
why would you spread such stories unless you thought aids a good thing?

Answer 1

The Church is simply doing what genuine Christianity always did.

Few realize it today, but before 1930 all Christian churches opposed contraception as an unnatural and thus impermissible interference with God’s design for human sexuality.

That changed when, at their 1930 Lambeth Conference, Anglicans began permitting the use of contraception on a limited basis; other denominations quickly absorbed the secular sexual morality that flooded into the Protestant world. Today no Protestant church maintains the historic Christian faith on this issue. Only the Catholic Church has stood firm and resisted the onslaught of secularism in sexual ethics.

Things grew so bad in the Protestant world that by the early 1970s some Evangelical leaders were advocating not only contraception, but even abortion. At that time abortion and contraception were viewed as "Catholic" issues. When abortion was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973, these Evangelicals rethought the issue and became firmly prolife.

In recent years, as the prolife mindset has grown strong in Evangelical circles, some are even reconsidering the issue of contraception and are rejecting the contraceptive mindset. In doing so, they are returning to the historic position of Christianity and the position of their own Protestant forebears. In this column we look at what historic Protestants—those prior to the twentieth-century—had to say on the subject. Next time we’ll look at more recent Protestants.

MARTIN LUTHER
(SIXTEENTH-CENTURY FOUNDER OF LUTHERANISM)

"[T]he exceedingly foul deed of Onan, the basest of wretches . . . is a most disgraceful sin. It is far more atrocious than incest and adultery. We call it unchastity, yes, a sodomitic sin. For Onan goes in to her—that is, he lies with her and copulates—and, when it comes to the point of insemination, spills the semen, lest the woman conceive. Surely at such a time the order of nature established by God in procreation should be followed. Accordingly, it was a most disgraceful crime. . . . Consequently, he deserved to be killed by God. He committed an evil deed. Therefore, God punished him" (Commentary on Genesis).

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JOHN CALVIN
(SIXTEENTH-CENTURY FOUNDER OF CALVINISM)

"The voluntary spilling of semen outside of intercourse between man and woman is a monstrous thing. Deliberately to withdraw from coitus in order that semen may fall on the ground is doubly monstrous. For this is to extinguish the hope of the race and to kill before he is born the hoped-for offspring" (Commentary on Genesis).

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LUKAS OSIANDER
(SIXTEENTH-CENTURY LUTHERAN)

"[Onan’s contraceptive act] was an abhorrent thing and worse than adultery. Such an evil deed strives against nature, and those who do it will not possess the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9–10). The holier marriage is, the less will those remain unpunished who live in it in a wicked and unfitting way so that, in addition to it, they practice their private acts of villainy" (Commentary on Genesis).

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JAMES USSHER
(SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ANGLICAN BISHOP)

"How doth a man exercise uncleanness in [the sexual] act? Either by himself or with others. How by himself? By the horrible sin of Onan (Gen. 38:9), lustful dreams and nocturnal pollutions . . . arising from excessive eating and unclean cogitations or other sinful means" (On the Seventh Commandment).

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SYNOD OF DORT
(SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY CALVINIST COUNCIL)

"[Onan’s contraceptive act] was even as much as if he had, in a manner, pulled forth the fruit out of the mother’s womb and destroyed it" (Dutch Annotations on the Whole Bible, authorized by Dort).
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COTTON MATHER
(SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PURITAN)

"It is time for me to tell you that the crime against which I warn you is that self-pollution, which, from the name of the only person that stands forever stigmatized for it in our Holy Bible, bears the name of ‘onanism’" (The Pure Nazirite).

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JOHN WESLEY
(EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FOUNDER OF METHODISM)

"Onan, though he consented to marry the widow, yet to the great abuse of his own body, of the wife he had married, and the memory of the brother that was gone, refused to raise of seed to his brother. Those sins that dishonor the body and defile it are very displeasing to God and evidences of vile affections. Observe, the thing which he did displeased the Lord—and it is to be feared; thousands, especially of single persons, by this very thing, still displease the Lord and destroy their own souls" (Commentary on Genesis).

Answer 2

No, Catholics see AIDS as a tragedy.

Judeo-Christian tradition has taught for thousands of years:
1. Single people should be celibate.
2. Married people should be faithful to each other (adultery is wrong).
3. Married couples should welcome God's gift of children and, therefore, artificial birth control is against the will of God.

If the world is going to ignore teachings about chastity (1 & 2), then why is the world so upset about teaching artificial birth control (3)?

People who are already ignoring the more important teachings about chastity (1 and 2) should have no problem ignoring the less important teaching of artificial birth control (3).

Even if a person infected with AIDS was to use a condom to help protect his or her spouse, condoms are not 100% effective (read the box) and the spouse may be infected and die anyway. A person who truly loves their spouse would not endanger them in this way.

In regards to sex outside of marriage, the Church makes it a practice not to tell people how to sin. With or without a condom:
+ Fornication is still fornication
+ Adultery is still adultery

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

Do not generalize all Catholics. There are quite a few Catholics that believe that the use of Condoms is appropriate. As for recruitment and promoting AIDS that is highly unlikely. The key the church is trying to teach is a bit of self control. Besides, how exactly would this drive up recruitment?

Answer 4

I do no find the practises of the Roman Catholic church far from what the Bible says that God wishes us to be like. There is a great deal of pomp and show which a lot of people are taken in by. Jesus was quite the opposite to any Pope. He was humble, preached the coming kingdom, practised adult Baptism (by immersing in water), had no material possessions, nor extravagant palace. Jesus preached that those who would be greatest should be the servant of all. Abuse is a dreadful thing when, because of their 'calling', priests have been trusted. It is shocking to think they would do such things. Nuns also have shown cruelty to children in their charge. What is the value of this closed life if this is what happens? We must try hard to live up to the example given to us by Jesus.

Answer 5

Catholicism is NOT a cult. Look up the definition of 'cult'. Catholicism is not a fake religious practice and it is not backward. It follows a system of values given by God, and is driven by nothing but goodness under God's hand.

I agree with imacatholic; the issue here isn't about aids. Studies have shown that condom usage does not prevent aids. The issue here is about commitment to your spouse. Sex outside of marriage has no commitment and loses its meaning. Condom usage encourages sex outside of marriage, because it also prevents pregnancy. People who have premarital sex have no intentions of having children. If a couple is married and faithful to each other, both would not have to worry about aids in the first place because both would only have one sex partner. Sex gets spread through having multiple sex partners.

Artificial birth control shouldn't be used even without aids in mind. Call me unconventional or backward; I don't care. A married couple should always be open to new life. Sexual intercourse with artificial birth control takes away one of the two meanings of the act itself. Any child is a gift from God, and even married couples should always be open to having children. If the time isn't right for a child, there are other more natural methods of birth control which have worked on tons of people for years.

Condom usage is unnecessary. It encourages sex outside of marriage. If couples only have sexual intercourse only after getting married and are faithful to their spouses, people wouldn't have to bother about aids.

Answer 6

This is the first 'attack' on any pharmecist by Roman Catholic churches, I've ever heard of. Care to give some documentation for that claim?

Answer 7

Sad state of affairs but in their defense, if there were a way of preventing the spread of HIV without using condoms, diaphragms, or other birth control devices, I believe the Catholic church would support that.

Answer 8

We are praying for the stop of the spreading of AIDS and we are also caring for the victims. If everyone would follow catholic morality concerning human sexuality, AIDS would be a non problem in a few years.

Answer 9

Condoms do not stop HIV. They did this study, which i kinda find rude but still, and they gave couples where one of the two had aids free condoms. 80% of the couples both got aids within a year. When the CEOs of the condom companies were asked if they would use their own product if their partner had HIV, they all said no.

Answer 10

Why is the Catholic church the blame, blame their Government

Oh yeah we love to spread Aids, what a silly question

Answer 11

I am a christian, and I think its better to use condoms than get AIDS.