Wholesale Ban of Condom Use By Vatican on Faithful Flock Leads To Rise of AIDS Virus in Latin America

It's a pathetic, frustrating & almost hapless situation: Every year, millions of people are infected with AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), and millions more will die as a result of it. According to UNAIDS, 38.6 million people are currently living with the HIV virus, with an estimated 25 million killed since the virus was discovered in 1981.

The figures are staggering, and the sheer numbers of lives lost to such a devastating disease should probably jolt our senses and make our hairs stand on end. If anything else, all efforts should not be spared to halt this viral scourge..... unless, of course, religious "sentiments" are weighed in and factored with nary a thought for those afflicted with the disease.

The Vatican's Stand: No Condoms Please, We Prefer Altar Boys

Inevitably, when sexual issues crop up, the Vatican surely has a say in such matters. As the de facto moral police (oddly, they seem to have more than a fair share of sexual anomalies amongst their ranks, some of whom have weird fetishes with altar boys) for two thousand years, the Vatican loves to impose sexual boundaries & proprieties upon its members: Women can't be priests, homosexual sex is a sin against God (Even if Jesus is depicted gay in almost every god-damned church on this planet), and yes.........no condoms during sex.

For some unfathomable reason, the Catholic Church views sex as a one-way street: You can only engage in sexual acts as a means of pro-creation. Leisurely masturbation is forbidden (and sex with altar boys not???). Hence, the natural progression to this weird ban on condoms, which, rather conveniently, prevents insemination and the spread of........yes, you got it, AIDS, plus a whole host of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

While such a ban has no bearing as far as the right to using condoms is concerned, the Catholic Church's self-enforced ban on its roughly 1 billion members means that a fair portion of the more pious, fundamentalist flock are going to take the words of those perverted Vatican priests seriously, and in tandem with the Church's continuous smear campaigns against the safety of condom use (check out my previous post, here), countries with Catholic-dominated populaces are suffering from a huge resurgence of the AIDS epidemic.

Catholic condom ban helping AIDS spread in Latam: U.N.

Tue Oct 23, 2:31 AM ET

The rapid spread in Latin America of the virus that causes AIDS is made worse by the Roman Catholic Church's stand against using condoms, a U.N. official said on Monday.

Some 1.7 million people across Latin America are infected with the HIV virus or full-blown AIDS, and the epidemic is spreading swiftly with up to 410,000 new cases in 2006, up from as many as 320,000 new cases in 2004, according the UN AIDS program, UNAIDS.

"In Latin America the use of condoms has been demonized, but if they were used in every relation I guarantee the epidemic would be resolved in the region," said Alberto Stella, the UNAIDS Coordinator for Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

The Catholic Church, which holds sway in Latin America despite the rise in evangelical churches, opposes all forms of contraception and instead promotes abstinence as a way to avoid spreading AIDS.

"The fact young people start to be sexually active between 15 and 19 without sex education contributes to the spreading of the virus, as well as the fact that the evidence shows abstinence is not working," Stella told Reuters.

Latin America is home to nearly half the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, but the Church's position on premarital sex and contraception often clashes with modern values. Brazil, the region's largest Catholic nation, regularly distributes free condoms to try and bring down HIV infection rates.

My Suggestion To The Pope: Go Smoke Dope

Good Ole Popey..........

Why these demons of an old, archaic, utterly immoral institution can hypnotize the masses in America does stump me, even though I understand that much of it has to do with the Inquisitors. 21st century modernization and Bronze Age mythology doesn't seem to click together too well.

I have a suggestion for the Pope and his crazy legions of old, sneering priests: Instead of spreading lies and uttering bullshit, why don't they just lie on their couches like old folks do, and smoke some good, old fashioned dope?

The world sure is a better place without these meddling old buffoons around.

The Importance Of Church and State Separation

Most modern countries would, at least in the official sense, expound some form of separation between religion and politics (otherwise known as "Separate of Church and State).

While some democratic nations, such as Great Britain, do recognize an official religion (E.g: Anglican Church for Brits, Roman Catholicism for Italians), these nations are largely secular in terms of jurisdiction (One would be hard pressed to find anyone in Great Britain being persecuted for the blameless crime of blasphemy today), and the idea that a full-fledged theocratic nation can function efficiently in today's largely globalized world is, to put it bluntly, archaic in the worst possible sense.

Having said that, secularization of governments have often been vehemently opposed, or even denied, by some sections of the religious community (Usually Fundamentalist).

United States of America

One of the prime examples of this secularization is none other than the United States of America, although judging by the ubiquitous harangues of the fundamentalist rights movement, who seem hell bent on drowning out the voice of reason, it seems almost sacrilegious to claim that America was, and is still essentially a secular, democratic nation.

The Founding Fathers of America

Founding Fathers of America

The basic tenets of what is known today as the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were authored by a team of enlightened leaders, otherwise known as the Founding Fathers of America.

The Secularist Movement

The Founding Fathers of America were not all atheists (Some probably were, but that is not the point), but they were definitely secularists.

Having witnessed first hand the evils wrought forth by the terrible tentacles of organized religion, the Founding Fathers wisely sought, and even went out of their way, to ensure that such a travesty would not entrench itself in the cradles of a new, emerging nation.

In laying the blueprint for the First Constitution, all the Founding Fathers were quite adamant that religion should be allowed to co-exist amongst the masses, but must remain strictly separate from the affairs of the State.

The First Amendment

The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights was drafted initially by President James Madison in 1789: It was a knee jerk reaction towards the different ideological stances held between Federalists and anti-Federalists.

Realizing the dangers of theocracy and the ill-effects of creating a hegemony under the banner of "state religion", James Madison was quite adamant that future US Administrations must never be allowed to officiate or create an external official religion that would threaten to overwhelm secular governance.

The First Amendment, under the Bill of Rights, explains it succinctly:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Aptly named, The Bill of Rights was a masterstroke of pure genius: Not only did it prohibit the establishment of any form of state religion, it guarantees the right of the average American to free speech, freedom of religion and peaceful assembly.

US Constitution: An Enlightened Document (Not the Bloody Babble, err.....I mean Bible)

You could search through the annals of the damn holy babble/bible and all its 66 nonsensical chapters, and you wouldn't find one damn verse to rival the Bill of Rights.

Religious Lobbying Against Secularized Governance

More often than not, fundamentalists bemoan about the lack of religiosity of secular government:their persistent lobbying to infiltrate official school prayers and the teachings of religious pseudo-science in public schools attest to their continual disenchantment with secular governance.

Like well-oiled machines, religious fundamentalist propaganda has a sneaky ability to over-dramatize issues: They claim that their respective religious creeds are being threatened and undermined because their incessant need to infiltrate their religious creeds are somehow tangible to their individual rights, which really isn't the case.


Migrant Societies and The Need for Neutrality & Solidarity

Different races, different creeds, but most importantly, one united people

The unbridled truth is this: Unlike other homogeneous countries, such as Japan and England, America is a potpourri of many races, cultures and creeds. As in most immigrant nations, America has to contend with people from various racial and religious backgrounds.

For people of multiple, diverse identities and creeds to live and work together, there must be an environment that allows room for almost every religion to co-exist peacefully, and in order to achieve this common ground, a consensus must be reached that allows for neutrality and impartiality to all sides of the fence.

A secular government, free from the bias and influences from any dominant religious group, paves the way to achieving this state of harmony. By not appealing to any religious creed (no matter how powerful it may be), everyone is allowed a fair playing ground to operate on.

For example, a Muslim who works in a government institution will surely not appreciate the sign of a cross being displayed on the wall. While the Muslim will not show his or her displeasure, he or she will be wondering why the cross is displayed in the first place, given that the government institution is not a place for proselytizing. This doesn't equate, however, to a total ban on religion: One could read the bible and the Koran in an official government building, so long as it is kept private and unofficial.

In sum, the separation of church and state is the best status quo for America, as well as nations with large, diverse, immigrant communities. Any attempt by Christian groups or any other religious groups to circumvent this secular status would create a kind of social instability that would breed contempt and distrust towards a quasi-secular, limping government.

The Prohibition Era: Religious-Based Hysteria Gone Awfully Wrong

Party Time: A Bevy of Alcoholic Beverages for all and sundry

Alcohol: The very drink that is always synonymous with mindless fun and partying.

In most countries today (Not inclusive of those that require women to dress in burkas), alcohol is a very popular beverage: Sold in the form of wines and beers, it can be bought and consumed from just about everywhere. From the local convenience store to the trendy nightclubs, the sheer force of consumerism has ensured that as long as one is not under-aged, there really are a whole range of choices for the average drunkard as well as the high-classed wine connoisseur.

In fact, the consumption of alcohol is so pervasive that most people seem to take the right to consume alcohol for granted.

The Prohibition Era (1920-1933)

God: Clueless As to Why He Created Alcohol

Lucie: Lord of The Drunkards???

In the 1900s, the emergence of several fundamentalist Protestant Christian Groups began to voice their displeasure over what they deem to be “rampant alcoholic abuse”. While they claimed that alcohol was indeed a “gift” from God, its abuse was of demonic origins. A strange gift, indeed, from a deity who probably doesn't want his Creation to party in a sea of mass orgies and beverages.

Of course, there is always the Devil, who seems to enjoy sloshing himself drunk and slumping his naked body on some run-down bar tops. Boy oh boy, no wonder the fundies are all hot and bothered with Satan's horny ass.

Bloody Morons Of The Lord: No Drinking Please, We are Christians.........

As a result, far right Christian groups, such as the Independent Order of Good Templars (Sounds like a Crusade/Terrorist Organization to me!), the Sons of Temperance, the Templars of Honor and Temperance, the Anti-Saloon League and the National Prohibition Party allied in a bid to impose their arse-while duty to ensure sobriety for every God-damned citizen of America.

As a result of their conniving campaigns, conservative politicians began to sway towards these groups in a bid to seek political leverage against liberal-slanted ones. And the conservative bunch got exactly what they wanted.

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified January 16, 1920) and the Volstead Act (passed October 28, 1919) was thus born: Prohibition began on January 16, 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. Federal Prohibition agents (police) were given the task of enforcing the prohibition, which began to snowball into an obnoxious witch hunt.

Prohibition: A Case of The Forbidden Fruit?

As a result of the prohibition, legitimate alcoholic companies were forced to closed down overnight, and along with them, thousands of jobs went up in smoke.

As in the case of the proverbial temptation of Eve, the prohibition did little to curb the drinking habit amongst the masses; in fact, the reverse happened. More than ever, people turned to alcohol as a recreational drug: The difference, this time, was the source of the alcohol and the ones running the breweries.

The Mafia Steps In

Al Capone: The Infamous Mobster Who Took Full Advantage of The Prohibition Era

As is with today's drug cartels, when legitimate companies are banned from selling any lucrative, controversial product, the underworld of gangsters and evil mobster inevitably steps in and takes over that void.

These shadowy creatures hold utter contempt for the law, and when the legitimate alcoholic beverage companies closed down, these mobsters, like vultures circling dead and dying beasts, could hardly wait to sink their crooked beaks into raw, bloodied flesh.

A bootleg market emerged to fill in the demand for alcohol:The business of selling alcoholic drinks merely transferred from controlled, legalized enterprise to the hands of the mafia.

As a result, underground pubs began sprouting all across America, as non-prohibition countries in the vicinity, such as Mexico, began shipping in bootleg supplies.

As in the case of all gangland activities, violence became the unsavory hallmark of the illegal alcoholic trade: Rival gangs began to fight over the right to sell bootleg liquor, and many a gang member lost his life in shootouts that began to erupt and rage all over America.

In addition, many people died from bootleg alcohol, as the brewery plants that distilled them came from dubious sources. As a result, many people died of liver-related failures as a result of drinking poorly-distilled alcohol.

To further worsen the situation, racketeering amongst the law enforcement officers became rampant: Lured by the promise of bribery and a stake in the bootleg business, many police officers gave advanced tipoffs to mobsters to inform them of impending raids in exchange for monetary bribes.

In short, the Prohibition Era was a major political and civil rights blunder in the broadest sense, and the Christian morons who attempted to impose their stupid moral values on the American public had not only worsened the drinking problem, they had ushered in more problems that accumulated to the point whereby rampant shootouts and widespread bribery became the social norm across the American landscape.

End of Prohibition Era

By the 1930s, it was becoming painfully clear that banning alcohol was not a solution to alcoholism and its negative effects. Not only did the number of alcoholics not diminish, it gave rise to a whole spectrum of social problems, most of which would never have surfaced if not for the ban.

On March 23, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law an amendment to the Volstead Act known as The Cullen-Harrison Bill, allowing the manufacture and sale of "3.2 beer" (3.2 percent alcohol by weight) and light wines.The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed later in 1933 with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, thus officially signaling the end of the Prohibition Era.

Lessons Learnt From the Prohibition

Like the fundamentalist Christians of today, the fundamentalists of the 1930s era were dogmatic, irrational and simply could not view any legal social norm and practice as a protected right of speech.

While it is true that alcohol is a very dangerous drug (many deaths, including liver failure and alcohol-induced driving incidents, have been attributed to alcohol), the right to imbue yourself with whatever you deem fit, as long as you do not threaten the lives and properties of other people, is a right only to be exercised by the individual himself or herself and not the State.

By attempting to arm-wrestle alcohol away from the hands of bevel-eyed drinkers, these fundamentalists did not realize that once you take away the legality of product, there is always someone to replace these legitimate manufacturers.

A precursor of today's "War on Drugs", the Prohibition shares many parallels with today's drug crackdown: Mobsters and mafias with their massive, yet intricate networks of shady dealers, gang leaders and violent turf fights, usually settled with the muzzled end of a gun.

If there is anything society in general can learn from this episode, it is this: Religion should always stay out of the affairs of the state.