The Pope and Condoms

The Pope commented on condoms during his recent trip to Africa. But saying that the use of condoms contributes to the spread of HIV AIDS is just plain irresponsible. Perhaps even Jesus is against such unscientific malarky.



Instead of being afraid of sex, perhaps it is time for the church (Protestant and Catholic) to make peace with human sexuality. One way to do so would be for the Pope to recognize that of all the commandments in the scriptures, the only one we have kept is "be fruitful and multiply." In fact, we have been so good at keeping this command, while ignoring the others like caring for the poor, the widows, and orphans, that 33,000 children die each day of hunger and waterborne illnesses. If we were to celebrate how well we have filled the earth, perhaps we could focus our energy on reducing the number of children we have - to spend more time with them. If we recognize that the gift of our sexuality provides an intimacy that is essential to human flourishing, we could reclaim the beauty of our sexuality. Then protecting our sexual partners with the use of a condom would be seen as an act of love and respect, not as a threat to a biblical mandate we have already kept.

What do you think?