Accuracy of religious document against condoms (9)
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In response to Andrew Hobbs 8-Jul-1998 03:14
Your original post made the important point that people's sexual behav-
iour is influenced by religious teachings and related perceptions.
Judging from the response on this list and by the work we see today in
the field, the effect this has on behaviour is not well understood,
documented nor appreciated by many who are developing health education
approaches and methods.
It is easy to dismiss people who respect a different belief system than
our scientific knowledge base. Rather than closing the door to these
people we should be listening carefully to see where we might better
fit our message and get the important information across in a way that
is likely to have some effect. It is those of us in public health and
science of all kinds who must be attuned to these perceptions and find
a way to work within them. It's time to jettison the elitist attitudes
that serve merely to put up a barrier between the scientific community
and those external to it. A better understanding of religion and hence
the relation between perceptions of risk, rights, retribution and re-
ward are indeed essential if we are to reach these people.
Dr J Dzenowagis
WHO Geneva
mailto:dzenowagisj@who.ch
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