PHA-Exchange> Condoms and the Church

[Aviva]

From: "David Patient" <patient at mweb.co.za>> 
> 
> Condoms and the Church
> ----------------------
> 
> A posting from AF-AIDS (af-aids at healthdev.net)
> 
> From: David Patient, South Africa/Mozambique
> 
> 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 very outdated 'period' messaging.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 at mweb.co.za>