If condoms are OK for Zika, why not Aids, Pope Francis? by B. Ellen
This editorial: “If condoms are OK for Zika, why not Aids, Pope Francis? by B. Ellen is farther down the page.
I have explained before on this blog that I am not Roman Catholic, and that I disagree with their theology (ie, their rejection of sola fide, sola scriptura, etc).
However, I find that Protestant attitudes on topics sometimes parallel what Roman Catholics (specifically, the Pope) says or thinks, so I do occasionally post about sexuality, dating, marriage, etc, as it intersects Roman Catholicism.
There are some Baptists and Protestants who seem to feel that the only purpose for sex is for pro-creation. If I am not mistaken, that is the Roman Catholic position on sex as well – all sex is supposedly meant to create pregnancy, that a person isn’t to have sex just for the sheer enjoyment of the act. I disagree.
Anyway, I found this interesting. Some in the media are framing the current Pope as saying it’s acceptable for women to use birth control rather than risk getting pregnant and having a fetus with Zika.
I find this a bit confusing, as a p_r_o_Life Twitter page I follow, which is Roman Catholic, if I am not mistaken, believes that a celibate woman is just as bad as a woman who gets an abortion.
These types of P_r_o_Life Catholics really feel it is a woman’s DUTY or only value in life to have a baby – it’s absolutely contrary to what the Bible teaches and is incredibly sexist. I have blogged on that before here:
(Link): Pope suggests contraceptives could be used to slow spread of Zika
- (CNN) Pope Francis suggested that contraceptives may be used to prevent the spread of the Zika virus, despite the church’s longstanding ban on most forms of birth control.
(Link): Pope Says Contraception Is Okay by Him for Women in Zika Countries
- by R Gross
- While health officials in Latin America have been advising women to (Link): avoid getting pregnant during the Zika virus outbreak, Catholic officials have been rushing to (Link): counteract that advice. This global emergency, Catholic bishops in Latin America have recently said, doesn’t change a thing about the church’s stance on abortion or artificial contraception, which remains: Don’t do it.
-
Except… maybe do use contraception, if you must. This is the essentially the message of Pope Francis, who set a precedent on Thursday when he said that (Link): contraception may be justified for women in regions affected by Zika to prevent the birth of children with microcephaly. According to Francis, in these extreme circumstances, contraception can be seen as the “lesser of two evils”—the greater evil, according to the church, being abortion.
… The contraception news, though, is still a big deal. While Francis has previously chastised the church for its (Link): “obsession” with contraception and abortion—and even caused some confusion with the comment that Catholics need not breed (Link): “like rabbits”—he had (Link): never previously challenged the church’s contraception prohibition. He has supported the church’s ban on condoms even (Link): in places like Kenya and Uganda, which have some of the highest HIV-infection rates in the world.
(Link): Pope Suggests Contraception Use May Be ‘Lesser Evil’ For Those Fearing Zika
(Link): If condoms are OK for Zika, why not Aids, Pope Francis?
- Pope Francis has said that artificial contraception may be used to protect against the Zika virus. But the church will not do the same for Aids
- …While the response to Zika is encouraging, doesn’t it also serve as a disturbing contrast to the Vatican’s continuing refusal to condone condoms as protection in Aids-afflicted Africa?
- ….Why is “permission” being granted to safeguard against one virus, Zika, but not against HIV and Aids? While Zika is horrific, how many lives has Aids claimed and ruined, including babies who are born HIV-positive?
- A disgrace, then, that, in all these decades, the issue has been persistently dodged by the Vatican. In 2009, Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, said that the Aids tragedy could not be solved by the distribution of condoms “which even aggravates the problems”. The following year, Benedict conceded that “male prostitutes” could use condoms.
This person has a different take on the matter:
(Link): What hope has Pope Francis offered to women exposed to Zika? None by E. O’Toole
- In fact the pope didn’t say contraception can be used in such cases. His fluffy, progressive media image conceals the misogyny still at the core of Catholicism
- …Of course, you’re unlikely to have read about these vicious attacks on the ostensibly murderous and materialistic motives of women who have abortions, because what the media reported instead is that Pope Francis suggested
- contraception could be used to stem the effects of Zika. This was (Link): widely praised as a radically liberal departure from Catholic doctrine, with the potential to improve Latin American women’s lives.
———————-
Related Posts:
(Link): Praying for a Child – The Catholic Church makes life impossible for infertile women.
(Link): A Woman’s Fertility is Her Own Business, not Everyone Else’s by L. Bates
Christian Pundit 