6/13/06 - What Would Jesus Do?

Incredibly, the Vatican is reiterating its policy opposing the use of condoms, even for disease prevention. The Catholic Church hierarchy, which purports to direct and guide a billion Catholics on the planet, can not figure out how to help millions of people protect themselves from the deadly HIV virus beyond the tired and barely helpful directive to abstain from sex until marriage, and then to stay monogamous. It can't seem to realize reality which is that 40 million people are already infected, many of them already married. Following the directive against condom use would be a death sentence for millions.

A slender slip of latex, used for centuries to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, costing today a few pennies each, is against Catholic dogma.

How very very sad.

For decades the Catholic Church couldn't even get hundreds of its own priests to keep their hands off teen-age boys and girls. But they can advise the masses to abstain from all sex, and even if they do have sex, to not use protection.

Anyone who has read the history of the life of Jesus would be dumbfounded at such hypocrisy, ignorance, and denial.

He told people to be kind, gentle, and to care for the weak and the ill. He ranted against the hypocrits and the those in authority who failed to honestly care for the people.

Jesus would be in Africa today, teaching people how to protect themselves from AIDS, showing them how to care for the sick, and he would be handing out medicine for free...and condoms.