OF CONDOMS AND CONUNDRUMS. Averthanus L. D'Souza.
A little over a month ago there was an international furore in the media about the observation which was made by Pope Benedict XVI about the problem of HIV/AIDS, specially in Africa. He is reported to have told a correspondent while on his flight to Africa that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is a "tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms which even aggravates the problems." This comment drew some blistering attacks from people who should have known better, and who should have paused to study the observation before launching out on a verbal assault on Pope Benedict XVI. Richard Dawkins, the well known British atheist and an implacable foe of all religions said that "The Pope is either stupid, ignorant or just dim." He did not elaborate on his statement by proving that the Pope is ignorant or "just dim." His statement is comparable to a juvenile's irrational outburst against someone whom he hates. Of course, Richard Dawkins, being the professed atheist that he is, will be infuriated by any statement made by any religious leader on any subject on earth. His own intellectual confusion is evident in the campaign which he initiated of placing advertisements on British buses which said: "There is probably no God. . ." Either there IS a God or there is no God. Richard Dawkins should make up his mind which. Saying that there is "probably" no God only exposes his own ignorance and dim wit. Under the circumstances, he clearly does not qualify to sit in judgment on the Pope's observation. However, there were other criticisms of the Pope's statement, which appear to have been made without due consideration of the facts. Some doctors pilloried the Pope saying that his opposition to the distribution of condoms would be responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS. They claimed that the use of condoms reduced the chances of the spread of AIDS - in complete contradiction of all the studies which show that AIDS is spreading even faster, in spite of (and maybe because of ) the widespread use of condoms. [Space does not permit an elaboration of these research findings.] The problem of HIV/AIDS however, has roots which go far beyond the purely mechanical or even the medical. The problem has been approached with a too limited focus on the mechanical aspects of transmission. Like all other blinkered approaches such an attack on the deadly disease is bound to fail. Sexual contact with unknown persons, or with multiple partners and other such "high risk" behaviour has been demonstrated to spread the disease. Both epidemiological as well as sociological studies have indicated that the control of all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) requires that sexual contact be limited to single partners and also that it be confined within the institution of marriage. "Scientific" studies confirm, (rather than disprove), the moral understanding that sexual activity should be limited to the confines of marriage. Even a dim witted atheist like Richard Dawkins should be able to understand this. (By the way, his atheism is not relevant to this argument.) That Pope Benedict XVI's observation is perfectly rational and reasonable is confirmed by reference to another disease which has plagued humankind for a long time - the persistence of malaria. After many years of battling this dreaded disease, the medical establishment came to the realization that it should place far more emphasis on the "prevention" of the disease, rather than on curing it. The purely "medical" approach to malaria has been conclusively proven to be inadequate. Governments all over the world are now changing their priorities to "preventive" measures, rather than to merely medical measures. For this, of course, the full and knowledgeable participation of the citizens is required. Without dissemination of information about the causes of malaria, its modes of transmission and its prevention, the disease cannot be either controlled or eliminated. It may seem to be clichéd, but the commonly held belief that "prevention is better than cure" seems to have been vindicated in many programmes. During the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade sponsored by the UNDP, this author had the opportunity to do a lot of research into many water-borne diseases. Invariably, what stared one in the face was the need to Inform, to Educate and to Communicate knowledge to the people. The IEC programme, which this author was privileged to be associated with, had a very positive impact here in India. The insight that one gets into the causes, transmission and spread of diseases, including that of sexually transmitted diseases, is that one simply cannot take a limited mechanical or medical view of the problem. The problem has much wider (and deeper) ramifications. Apart from the purely medical, the problem (indeed, any problem) has sociological, political and, above all, moral, implications. This is precisely what Pope Benedict XVI tried to tell the correspondent on board his flight to Africa. His statement, unfortunately, was (deliberately?) distorted and, as is not uncommon with the media, was twisted completely out of context. Read in its proper context, Pope Benedict's observation makes eminent sense and deserves the appreciation of everyone, including self-professed atheists and men of medicine, who often refuse to see beyond the point of their noses. The problem with today's world is that we have become disjointed - emotionally, intellectually and morally. We have lost the connection between functions and ends. The most obvious disconnect is in the area of sexual behaviour. Sexual relationships have been wrenched from their "proper" context of marriage and the procreation of children, and have been glamorized as recreational tools. School children who are just beginning to mature are encouraged to "experiment" with sex. The culture (of the sexual revolution) is condoning pre-marital and extra-marital sexual relationships. Now even unnatural "same-sex" activities are been promoted. It is not at all surprising that the distortion of sex has resulted in many medical and sociological (and psychological) diseases. There are many who will vociferously defend homosexuality as being "natural" but unless they can demonstrate that heterosexuality is abnormal, they will fail to be convincing. The modern world needs to be reminded, as Pope Benedict XVI has sought to do, that tragedies like HIV/AIDS cannot be cured merely by investing more money or providing more condoms. The root lies in the minds and the attitudes of people, who have acquired a condomized culture. Averthanus L. D'Souza, Dona Paula, Goa