Rex and Yabby,
AIDS is spread from one person to another by unprotected sex. If both parties have exclusive sexual relationships with only one partner how is AIDS spread?

I am not Catholic but they cetrainly do not teach fornication, buggary and adultery as acceptable practise. The spread of AIDS is caused by persons not following the Catholic doctrine, of chastity and purity. Deal with the cause stop blaming the Pope. You know I have little time for the Pope but if people followed the tenets of the faith AIDS would not spread.

Philo, I had not even mentioned HIV in my post, but am happy to discuss it. Its interesting that you don't see a problem, that if
people decide not to follow Catholic dogma, that they should receive a death sentence. Is this what Xtian love and foregiveness
are all about?

HIV can be spread in various ways. Eating chimps, as the population in Africa grows and grows, it seems is how it broke the species barrier and infected humans. Dirty needles are another and African
health budgets are such, that needles are not wasted. Forced sex
is common in Africa and alot of the third world, where women are often treated as mere chattels. Trying to force young teens and even a 9 year old to have a baby due to rape, seems part of Catholic dogma too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/3147672.stm

Lots of people in the third world would love the snip, but even that
is denied them, due to Catholic dogma. Fact is, the Vatican is in a corner. Their pope came up with his crazy humanea vitae, he was meant to be infallible, so they can't back down and admit he was wrong. So they plod on regardless, no matter how much suffering they are causing in the third world.

But then suffering seems to be ok by Catholic dogma. As a humanist
my own philosophy is to try to reduce it, not accept it as being
ok, sorry.

Yabby,

Thanks for your comments as I found your reference source to be very interesting.

The conclusions reached did not include blaming the Catholic Church for the Rwandan situation. It pointed to the terrible economic situation, including poverty and hunger as the primary cause. Tribe then picked on tribe. I think the real issue was the vulnerability of Catholicism's efforts to promote human dignity when faced with deep seated traditional tribal and ethnic violence. The distribution or destruction of condoms is irrelevant.

If anything it demonstrates the pressing need for nations, churches, international organisations and ordinary people to stand up for human dignity. It also re-emphasises the importance of policies directed towards economic growth and good education.

Thanks for your references, Yabby. They were excellent. How TonyD can believe that the Catholic Church doesn't share some of the blame for what happened in Rwanda is beyond me. Another good reference on this is an article by Joseph Gasana, Rwanda's former Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Defence, in the Sept./Oct. 2002 Worldwatch Magazine (see Worldwatch Institute site). He blames a number of factors but puts population number one on his list. He also presents a table showing the correlation between calories per person and massacres in the different districts of his country.

Keep fighting the good fight. I am reminded of Thomas Huxley, 'Darwin's Bulldog', who used to debate the creationist Bishop Wilberforce. The bishop died when he fell from his horse and struck his head on a rock. Huxley is reported to have said that at last the bishop's brain had been brought into contact with reality. I will be happy to stop criticising the Catholic Church when they stop trying to turn our lovely planet into a factory farm for people, erasing all national boundaries along the way.

Hi Philo,
Promoting abstinence, to the exclusion of other safety measures, often has a high failure rate and can result in higher rates of unwanted pregnancies and abortion. I have twice posted a website relating to this and I will do so again. As in so many matters, education is the key.

'On the topic of sex education, I posted the following link, together with a warning for those who have psychological problems regarding the human body:
http://www.clothesfree.com/pregnancy.html
[NB This website is nudist. I don't know what the attitude of On Line Opinion is to such things, but if you are offended by a very small amount of non-sexual nudity, then don't go to it.]

This is an article showing the comparative lower rates of teenage pregnancy and abortion in some Western European countries, compared to the US. And isn't that what we all profess to want in Australia too?

There's a pattern here which Australia could easily follow, provided we had politicians and bureaucrats who refused to be led by the nose by religious extremists and instead used their common sense.'

I twice invited you to comment on the points raised on this website, but you chose not to do so. Well, I'll invite you once again.

Trying to rely on everyone avoiding sexual activity both before or outside of marriage just does not work. And I'm not promoting adultery or rampant promiscuity either, but accepting [as most people do] that there is nothing morally wrong with sex outside of formal marriage, provided that the participants are honest, respectful, well informed adults.

As a former Christian (now agnostic) who has read The Bible, could a member of the Catholic church please tell me...

Where it says that contraception is a sin?

Where it says that priests/reverends/pastors can't marry?

Where it says that MARRIED couples may only have sex if they are trying to conceive?

Where it says that a fallible human (i.e. The Pope) has the authority to make rules on the behalf of God?

Looks like the only one on this thread who needs a reality check is Reality Check.

Surely the Catholic Church has realised the error of it's ways when their own priests start molestering children and then others cover it up, such as people endorsed by our own moron PM to be the Governor General.

Theocratic, lunatic, radical excuse for a political party...oh but the interest rates!