The Pope, The Catholic Church and the condom ban.

Could we possibly be seeing a slight change of tack by the Catholic Church. Speaking over the weekend, the Pope allowed for the use of condoms in a case by case basis, especially when it comes to protection from AIDS.

The grounds being that although contraception prevents life from occuring, in cases where it can prevent death it can be a good thing. However, side-stepped the general opposition to contraception, by citing the case of a male prostitute in which case procreation is not generally an outcome.

Now, the Vatican is clarifying that these are his private thoughts and not those of the position, so as far as the teachings go, nothing has changed. But is this perhaps a first step towards a different outlook?

Maybe. But one of the biggest problems I have with the RCC's pro-life policy is that it's ultimate outcome is that of women as second-class citizens. The Pope's statement highlights the fact that there are loopholes for men, but not for women. So what else is new?

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Originally posted by CatInASuit

Could we possibly be seeing a slight change of tack by the Catholic Church. Speaking over the weekend, the Pope allowed for the use of condoms in a case by case basis, especially when it comes to protection from AIDS.

The grounds being that although contraception prevents life from occuring, in cases where it can prevent death it can be a good thing. However, side-stepped the general opposition to contraception, by citing the case of a male prostitute in which case procreation is not generally an outcome.

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:confused:

Is he also then condoning male prostitution? If male prostitution didn't exist, then the need for condoms for that case also wouldn't exist. Working backwards, if the need is condoned, then the activity is condoned also?

No, I doubt it...it's probably more of an acknowledgement of some of the realities of life.

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Originally posted by Sarahfeena

No, I doubt it...it's probably more of an acknowledgement of some of the realities of life.

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I know you're right. But it does seem odd to me to be condoning something for examples that are all not condoned. There wouldn't be any situations where using condoms is condoned where the situation would not be.

Well if Westerner women weren't all a bunch of raging sluts with zero morals, birth control and condoms wouldn't be necessary. Your inability to control your body is disgusting and you're reminding me of rutting animals.

Sad but true. :(

Just trying to show the other side's point of view.

Here are two things to ponder:

When was the last time a guy got a sheep pregnant?
Up the bum, no babies! Anal sex is God's form of birth control!

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Originally posted by Heffalump

I know you're right. But it does seem odd to me to be condoning something for examples that are all not condoned. There wouldn't be any situations where using condoms is condoned where the situation would not be.

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Sins can be forgiven, but if you die before your sins are forgiven you're shit out of luck. So I imagine from the Pope's perspective it's better to preserve the lives of sinners than to leave them to die in their sin.

He has since clarified that he believes condom use by female prostitutes is permissable as well, BTW.

As a semi-practicing Catholic, my biggest problem with the Church is that the hierarchy tends to be too removed from the realities of the world. Not to say that their ideals are wrong, but that they can't seem to accept that we don't live in an ideal world. I would never have thought that THIS pope would be the one who starts turning that around, but if he is, good for him.