Condoms and the Church
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A posting from AF-AIDS (af-aids@healthdev.net)
In Maputo, Mozambique, about 6 months ago, we were invited to attend
a church service, to educate the parishioners about the dangers of
HIV and how they can get involved in home based care, orphan care and
general education around the complexities of HIV.
The Bishop happened to be leading the day's events and when it came
to the question and answer period, the standard questions were
raised. Then came the condom issue. 'What was the churches position
about condom use?' Before we could answer the question the Bishop
stood up and indicated that he would answer it.
"God clearly tells us that we must protect life at all costs. To not
do so is committing a serious sin against God." We were waiting for
the hell fire and damnation speech we have heard so many times be-
fore....he continued,"So what does this mean to you and me?"
He paused, looked around the silent church and continued, "It means
that A is for abstinences and looking around at all of you today,
many of you cannot live by this advice. Let us be realistic, few if
any of you can abstain. Which brings us to B, be faithful." Once
again he looked around the room. "Some of you are faithful...many of
you are not. So that leaves us with C...condoms. Now many of you be-
lieve that condoms are a crime against God...that wasted semen is a
sin and I am here today to tell you otherwise. You see, if you are
HIV+ and you have unprotected sex and you infect someone, you have,
in the eyes of God, committed murder. Or if you are HIV- and you have
unprotected sex with someone who is infected, and they infect you,
you have, in the eyes of God, committed suicide."
You could hear a pin drop!
"So my Children, wear a condom is not a sin....not wearing one IS!"
Can't argue with that logic! Sunday church services will never be the
same as now every Sunday, part of the Celebration is the blessing of
the condoms. That's right, the BLESSING OF THE CONDOMS!
Now there is a leader who has learned the principles of 'adapt or
die'. He is dealing with current reality and not basing his approach
on a 2000 year old dogma, that is riddled with contradictions and
very outdated 'period' messaging. What was once highly appropriate
advice, 2000 years ago, is hardly a guideline for the world we live
in now.
Many churches have the blood of their parishioners on their hands and
this approach towards condoms and human sexuality is not helping to
stock the rank and file of the church, but is driving people away
from God, not towards him. Many leaders in the religious community
are as guilty of killing their flock as the virus itself...but there
again, millions of people have died based on their need to defend
their beliefs. (Like God is incapable of fending for himself?)
The reason that stigma is alive and thriving is based in the initial
and ongoing response from the religious community. It is religion
that has fuelled the stigma fire with their holier than thou approach
to those of us living with HIV. They call us, the infected, sinners,
yet they fail to see that as they point their finger in my direction,
that three of their own fingers are pointing back at themselves. So
who is committing the worse sin? Those who expressed their human
sexuality, their God given gift or those who are self-righteous and
judgemental?
Why is the church not taking an active role in showing people how to
be faithful to one another? Why not teach a man fifty ways to make
love to his wife? Why is a woman not being taught of ways to make
love to her husband, in the hopes that he will be sexually satisfied
and not have to stray outside their relationship? Why not have 50
ways to make love to one partner instead of one way to have sex with
50 partners? Why are we not being taught how to make love to our
partners by the Church? (Yes, I'm talking about hands on classes in
how to make love!!! And we're doing exactly that in Mozambique!!!)
Why are sexual pleasure and intimacy not part of what parishioners
are taught through the church? Sex is a celebration of life, (ref.
Book of Solomon), of God's love, yet the church has manipulated sexu-
ality to serve its need to control. It has made something truly God
given, into something that we are ashamed of and deny. Why is the
church maintaining and often supporting the second class status of
women, ensuring and sustaining gender inequity? Why do some many
women have no status within the church other than the tea ladies? Is-
n't it time that the Church and many of it's power hungry leaders,
took the log out of their own eyes before trying to remove the spec
from mine? At the end of the day, the churches dogma is killing us,
just as quickly as the HIV virus. The Virus kills our bodies and the
church kills our souls.
David Patient HIV+
South Africa/ Mozambique
mailto:patient@mweb.co.za>
Reproduction welcomed provided source is cited as follows:
Copyright AF-AIDS 2002 [Internet: http://archives.healthdev.net/af-
aids Email: af-aids@healthdev.net]
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