Ratzinger condemns condoms

[Sarmatian]

You don't have to have sex. The Pope's point is that condoms allow people to abdicate responsibility for their actions.

Now, whether or not you agree with contraception (no problem with it myself) you have to admit that he does have a point.

People in Africa don't take responsibility for their sexual misadventures, they aren't monogomous and they don't use condoms.

Yeah, you won't die if you don't have sex, but that's not the point. Sex is good. Not just the pleasure you get from it, but it relieves tension, stress, helps people bond. For males, the build up of testosterone can have dangerous consequences, it can even lead to violent behavior etc...

For myself, when I'm in a stable relationship, meaning when I have sex on a regular basis, I feel better, I have more energy and usually I'm more productive in whatever I do. God knows how many experts showed already that sex is good not only for your mental but also your physical health.

So, I believe no one should encourage people not to have sex and tell that sex is bad. We should teach them that sex is good but there are bad things that go along with it and educate them how to avoid them.

That's why I said what I said, meaning it's the wrong way to try to stop STD's and unwanted pregnancies and whatnot, just like trying to solve the problem of hunger in the world with telling people to eat less would be. Don't encourage them not to have sex, encourage them to have safe sex and educate them how to do it.

If both religious and secular authorities did that, the message would be able to reach further and have impact on much more people...

[ajaxfetish]

Yeah, you won't die if you don't have sex, but that's not the point. Sex is good. Not just the pleasure you get from it, but it relieves tension, stress, helps people bond. For males, the build up of testosterone can have dangerous consequences, it can even lead to violent behavior etc...

Don't encourage them not to have sex, encourage them to have safe sex and educate them how to do it.

Eh, I didn't think the Vatican's position was anti-sex. I thought it was anti-extra-marital-sex. Don't they encourage sex between married couples? And isn't monogamous sex comparatively safe? Perhaps the Pope is advocating your position after all, just within the confines of Catholic doctrine.

Also we should start burning witches again because it is a good old church tradition...

Hey, I'm just as much in favor of bringing back witch burnings as the next guy (or hangings, if you want to get technical), but that was always more of a Protestant shindig. Catholics were more into burning heretics.

Ajax

[Sarmatian]

Eh, I didn't think the Vatican's position was anti-sex. I thought it was anti-extra-marital-sex. Don't they encourage sex between married couples? And isn't monogamous sex comparatively safe? Perhaps the Pope is advocating your position after all, just within the confines of Catholic doctrine.

Trust me, Pope doesn't advocate my position. If he did, he'd be kicked out from Vatican before you could say "condom".

On a serious note, it seems to me that Catholic Church advocates two things: no extra-marital sex and no contraceptives, which means only sex within wedlock is sin-free and only for the purpose of procreation (since contraceptives are a no-no). Although, quite naturally, there are instances where married couples engage in sex for the specific purpose of getting children, most of the times it's just about sex.

So, although Catholic doctrine isn't specifically anti-sex, it is so confining that it would allow you to have sex only under very specific circumstances which happen rarely. I'm not Catholic (and even if I were, I'd probably ignore the Pope, just like I ignore the Patriarch) so it's all the same to me, just saying how I see it...

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

To be fair, fundamental Christian doctrine preferences celibacy and always has. This is scriptural, but it also allows that most people want to have sex and that denying that would be bad. So you get married.

tibilicus, I have participated in "youth culture" as you term it. There was pressure to have sex but it eased off by 18, and frankly there was more pressure to drink than copulate.

[Major Robert Dump]

Abstinence will not only make the AIDs situation better, but it will also help to stem off global warming because condoms are not biodegradable and it will decrease the emitting of ozone-damaging vaginal gasses. Abstinence, when practiced properly, can furthermore help pull the world out of recession because it means wall street will stop screwing us.

[rvg]

Heck, if humans at least stuck to just screwing their own species, AIDS would have never happened.

[Strike For The South]

Heck, if humans at least stuck to just screwing their own species, AIDS would have never happened.

AIDS is a CIA conspiracy to get rid of the blacks.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Heck, if humans at least stuck to just screwing their own species, AIDS would have never happened.

Many (most) viral diseases originate among animals and mutate until capable of infecting humans. Though often cited for humor value -- I recall Zappa (Carlin?) asking who was plooking the monkeys? -- there really is no need for any bestiaphilic component.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

On a serious note, it seems to me that Catholic Church advocates two things: no extra-marital sex and no contraceptives, which means only sex within wedlock is sin-free and only for the purpose of procreation (since contraceptives are a no-no). Although, quite naturally, there are instances where married couples engage in sex for the specific purpose of getting children, most of the times it's just about sex.

The church acknowledges sex in marriage for more than procreation. The element of couple bonding that it affirms/generates are also viewed as part of the blessing of matrimony.