I agree with Mr Haill that "Honesty is certainly a must"

Therefore, if aid organisations are really concerned about the horror and sadness of AIDS, then they need to be honest and admit that the Vatican's and the Pope's view that abstinence before marriage is the ONLY 100% safe method of sex. They also need to admit that organisations who push condoms as the only way to defeat AIDS have not only failed dismally, but have actually made things worse and are effectively complicit in the infection of, and death of, millions of people many of them, children - especially in Africa.

For an example of what I mean compare countries with the worst HIV infection rates like Swaziland and Botswana, where condoms are pushed, and Uganda, with the lowest infection rate resulting from their ABC program - Abstenace for singles, Being faithful for marrieds, and Condoms for already infected.

ABC worked so well that Dr Edward C. Green, prominent AIDS adviser and medical anthropologist from Harvard, wrote Rethinking AIDS Prevention: "I said it in my 2003 book that the single most important behavioural change (in Uganda) was fidelity, and most of that is marital fidelity". "The second change is the proportion of youth engaging in sex -- that went down in a big way." He adds: "Twenty years into the pandemic, there is no evidence that more condoms leads to less AIDS."

Africa imports about 700 million condoms a year with the help of international agencies, yet they have 25 million people with AIDS.

University of California Professor Norman Hearst, who has studied infection rates in condom-happy countries such as Kenya and Botswana, warns that pushing condoms and the safe-sex message so hard encourages people to be promiscuous, thinking they're protected.

Condom pushing aid organisations need to admit that they are dismal failures who are complicit in the death of millions. People involved in such organisations really ought to hang their head in shame.

Interesting post Aslan, now could you 'please explain'

a) just how you would achieve 100% abstinence before marriage?
b) what relevance does your post have to do with the selection of a new pope?

Thanks

Xena,

the Pope is getting 'blamed' for the ravages of AIDS and many of the liberal commentators and condom pushing agencies are hoping the next Pope will relent and throw fidelity out the window. Sorry, that's not going to happen, nor is 100% abstinence before marriage, but, the goal of it is still worthy of consideration depsite individual failings.

As regards the original "over-population" scare-mongering article, people aren't the problem, it's western lifestyles that denude & spoil our environment. Malthusian principles don't hold water when we act responsibly. A household of 2 adults and 6 children uses less water than 2 gay guys, so who are YOU going to get rid of?

Well China with it's 1.2 billion is fast taking up our consumer habits and India with a billion people will shortly make the west's contribution to world pollution seem miniscule.
If we don't destroy this planet through pollution;population pressures will see us fighting over even scarcer resources in the near future.It will only take one idiot with a nuclear weapon.
Our economies don't work too well without cheap supplies of energy.Our food production,manufacturing,construction industries,need economies of scale to produce affordable products,and use enormous amounts of energy.

Contraception in poor countries will make the world a safer place for them and us.There may be fewer Catholics born,but at least they will have a chance of achieving a more comfortable life style.

Aslan, how can you say that "Therefore, if aid organisations are really concerned about the horror and sadness of AIDS, then they need to be honest and admit that the Vatican's and the Pope's view that abstinence before marriage is the ONLY 100% safe method of sex" when it is clearly obvious that some of the 25 million people in Africa who have AIDS are married?

TheShat questions the utility of abstinence before marriage in stopping AIDS because "some of the 25 million people in Africa who have AIDS are married".

Regarding abstinence, I was talking specifically about young unmarried people. Abstinence before marriage is only part of the solution. Uganda (which is the only African nation to reduce its AIDS infection rates) uses a 3 pronged ABC program: Abstinence before marriage, Being faithful for MARRIED COUPLES, and Condoms for those already infected or in high risk groups.