Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I don't understand...

Some people seriously ask for bad stuff when they do stupid things:
Like meeting a stranger they met on IM in a non-public place at night.

No, no one deserves it, but seriously, play smart and you minimize your risk.

In other news, apparently the Pope got France all riled up when he made the announcement that fidelity and abstinence are a better solution to stopping HIV/Aids than freely distributing condoms.

Hmmm...lets look at the stats. Condoms have <100% chance of preventing aids when used correctly and abstinence has a 100% chance. Yup, abstinence is better. And which is easier to use "correctly"?

Rebecca Hodes, of the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa said: "His opposition to condoms conveys that religious dogma is more important to him than the lives of Africans."


And Rebecca Hodes conveys that political dogma is more important to her than the lives of Africans.

Go figure.

5 comments:

Learner said...

And Rebecca Hodes conveys that political dogma is more important to her than the lives of Africans.


They never seem to get that part, do they?

Lost in The World said...

This is a bit Persnickity but...Abstinence will not prevent the transmition of AIDS in any blood based transaction (sharing needles, etc.) nor will it prevent one from getting AIDS in the one way that South Africa was infamous for a few years ago. Namely, Rape.

Of course I'm not advocating using a condom for pre-marital sex, or even the having of pre-marital sex (Bible clearly said it's wrong. Full Stop.) Just saying...

Of course, it's ironic that Rebecca Hodes has the arrogance to declare what is and is not the important part of someone else's religion. When that person is the person chosen to lead a religious sect...Well, that's just hubris.

But what can you do? Hubris always wins in the end. The Greeks taught us that.

Christina said...

This is a bit Persnickity but...Abstinence will not prevent the transmition of AIDS in any blood based transaction (sharing needles, etc.) nor will it prevent one from getting AIDS in the one way that South Africa was infamous for a few years ago. Namely, Rape.

Where you are completely correct, condoms won't stop AIDS in those scenarios, either.

How many male rapists do you think are going to stop long enough to adorn himself?

And how many female rapists are going to cap their victim?

Lost in The World said...

Well, actually...You're right, it is unlikely that a male/male rapist will wear a condom (here, shame of the victim is what they rely on to not get caught), As to women, however...in recent years the number of rapists wearing condoms has drastically increased, because it is harder to get caught if you wear a condom.

Of course, the Catholic Church is anti-rape to begin with so there is already a disconnect, so as I said, just being persnickety. They train us to argue in Law School. It's what we do. :-)

Anonymous said...

Fidelity also doesn't prevent HIV transmission in discordant couples (where one is positive and one is negative). In many countries married women are the group at the highest risk of contracting HIV.

And, many children are born HIV positive.

Also, this is a bit unfair to Rebecca Hodes. She has spent years in the trenches (and continues to). In fact I was looking for her, and her work, and that's what led me here!

Not wearing condoms because you don't believe in them, is different than preventing others from accessing them (or, even more perverse going around puncturing them).