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Monday, March 23, 2009

An appeal to the Pope for Sanity and Honesty

(Pity these two qualities are lacking among religious leaders of all faiths - Z)

FROM AVAAZ.ORG

Dear friends,

Pope Benedict's statement last week that condoms may aggravate the AIDS epidemic could put millions of lives at risk. Sign the petition to the Pope to take care not to undermine proven AIDS prevention work!

Take Action Now!


This week, on his first visit to Africa, Pope Benedict said that "[AIDS] cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems".

The Pope's statement is at odds with the research on AIDS prevention, and a setback to decades of hard work on AIDS education and awareness. With powerful moral influence over more than 1.1 billion Catholics in the world, and 22 million HIV positive Africans, these words could dramatically affect the AIDS pandemic and put millions of lives at risk.

Worldwide concern is starting to show results and a willingness by the Vatican to revise the statement - Sign our urgent petition asking the Pope to take care not to undermine proven AIDS prevention strategies:


The personal and religious beliefs of Catholics and all people should be respected, and the Pope does advocate for other effective AIDS prevention methods such as abstinence and fidelity, while the Catholic Church engages in a vast amount of social service work, including the care of those living with AIDS. But the Pope's claim that condom distribution is not an effective AIDS prevention mechanism is not supported by research. It's untrue, and if it diminishes condom use, it will be deadly.

The fact is, HIV and AIDS are prevented by condom use.

There is no easy solution to the spread of this tragic disease, but condoms and education are the best known prevention combination and have not been found to increase risky sexual behaviour. That is why even priests and nuns working in Africa have questioned the Pope's statements.

We may not be able to ask the Catholic Church to change its broader position, but we are asking the Pope to stop actively speaking out against prevention strategies that work. It's important that people of all beliefs, especially Catholics, call on the Pope to exercise care in his leadership on this issue. Sign below then spread the word to your friends and family - this petition could actually save lives:


25 million people worldwide have already died of AIDS, and 12 million children have been left without parents. If enough of us join this outcry, we will win an important battle in the struggle for a world without AIDS.

With hope,

Ricken, Alice, Ben, Graziela, Iain, Brett, Paula, Pascal, Luis, Paul, Veronique, Milena and the whole Avaaz team

Sources:









ABOUT AVAAZ

Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.)

Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva. Call us at: +1 888 922 8229 or +55 21 2509 0368 Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages!

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9 Comments:

OpenID phaixa said...

stupid pope!

No wonder he's been termed as
second biggest loser of the world!

We arent far behind though. Check out number five!

24 March, 2009 11:52

 
Anonymous Ctizen X said...

If I may interject, what exactly is the controversy?

I mean the pope wants Aids to be cured / controlled he is just arguing at the method by which it can be.

There are two ways we can do it (no pun intended)

1. Using condoms
2. Abstaining

Naturally the Pope prefers abstinance.

So once again what exactly is the issue?

X

24 March, 2009 14:02

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree 100% with Citizen X ...

26 March, 2009 08:00

 
Blogger Zakintosh said...

@Citizen X and the agreeing anonymous

The issue - which may not be an issue to the dishonest - is that the Pope's claim that condom distribution is not an effective AIDS prevention is UNTRUE. Given the following he has, who take his word as almost divine (under the doctrine of Infallibility), this is dangerous ... apart from being unbecoming of a religious leader to spread lies. (But that's the general practice, anyway. Be it fundamentalists or evangelists or religio-fascistic elements.)

That there IS an issue is obvious by the fact that the Vatican (in what amounts imho to a subtle admission of the possible fallibility of the Pope) has also amended his statement.

Religious leadership, I maintain, is crappy across the board, today!

26 March, 2009 09:18

 
OpenID phaixa said...

I have to say that you both havent been able to grasp the entire dynamics of the crises; the factors that come into play socially,economically and politically.

26 March, 2009 09:24

 
OpenID phaixa said...

obviously i was referring to x and y.
;)

26 March, 2009 09:26

 
OpenID phaixa said...

may i suggest this piece of writing as an intro to the subject under discussion.

26 March, 2009 09:33

 
Anonymous Citizen X said...

@Zak,

But if you look at the two methods:

1. Using condoms
2. Abstaining

You will admit that while condoms are an effective tool.

Abstaining is a 100% gauranteed tool.

So...once again what exactly is the issue?

X

02 April, 2009 12:22

 
Blogger Zakintosh said...

@ citizen x
I have heard of people who are hard of hearing ... but this is the first encounter with someone who is hard of reading. I guess I'll have to shout out in print, then:

THE ISSUE - WHICH MAY NOT BE AN ISSUE TO THE DISHONEST - IS THAT THE POPE'S CLAIM THAT CONDOM DISTRIBUTION IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE AIDS PREVENTION IS UNTRUE.

02 April, 2009 12:44

 

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