Pope

On the Pope on condoms:
The pope was in Africa this past week and made some comments regarding
condom use and the AIDs crisis. He said that condoms won't solve the
problem and that they actually make it worse. Aside from the fact that
I think he is underestimating the scope of Aids in Africa, I read an
interesting quote on a message board on cnn.com -

"It's funny how people are surprised that the catholics are
disregarding scientific evidence...isn't that what they do best?
Ignorance of reality is what Christianity thrives on...sit down, shut
up an write us a check."

A Christian could respond to such a statement in a lot of ways. To a
certain degree, this may be a valid perception: it seems that often
times Christians can insist on holding ridiculous things to be true:
that global warming and pollution is a lie for instance. Furthermore,
I wonder if the spirit of his comment might have some truth in it –
that church leaders hold their members in the dark so that they can
continue to cash checks. Chilling thought – although I'm not certain
that dynamic has been present in any churches I've been in leadership
at.

Not to sound proud however, but there are times when the teachings of
Jesus might appear to be foolishness (turning the other cheek) when
indeed they are not. The Pope's underlying point that the AIDS crisis
can only be fully resolved through a revolution of the heart is very
much correct. Condoms will help notwithstanding – but they won't fix
it all – because not everyone will use them, rape will still happen,
mis-education will still flourish. But if hearts were changed – if
every person saw the value of humanity and sex, it would stop today.

Fantasy?

Reality.