Typically I will agree or at least be able to reasonably accept Ronald S. Martin’s point of view on any number of subjects as a well thought out and intelligent argument, but his article posted today on CNN.com, ” Commentary: Pope wrong on condoms”, is just lunacy. In this article Martin presents the Catholic church’s steadfast resistence to the condoning of the use of condoms as a catalyst in the spread of HIV/AIDS. I cannot describe to you all the epic head scratch that commenced about a paragraph into reviewing this.
Martin calls the Catholic Church’s resolve an “ignorance of reality”. I call his article ignorant. Part of the very foundation of the Christian religion is abstinence from sex outside of marriage. The Pope’s job is to preserve the integrity of the Catholic Church and set straight any questions that may be challenged by an increase in demand for religious modernity by the community. The Pope is responsible for the interpretation of the Scriptures as they apply to the congregation. By asking the Holy See to make an exception to the rule on contraception is asking him to condone blatant disobedience of God’s Will.
Martin says the Pope has “sparked outrage” in Africa, “where Catholicism is spreading like wildfire”. He quotes the Pope as responding to the outrage with:”You can’t resolve it with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem.” The Pope is correct on all levels. As he is the religious true North for Catholics, and an example for all, for him to compromise on a fundamental is the stuff heracy is made of. The church murdered for less blasphemous rhetoric. By condoning the use of any contraceptive under any circumstance, the Pope would be opening the door to further corosion of the faith. The Pope is right to continue his sermon on abstinance.
Further into the article, Mr. Martin attempts to substanitate his stance by likening the corrosion of a fundemental to that of not recommending the use of a seat belt while driving or not hiring an accountant to keep the records of offerings made to the church. Wearing a seat belt is the law of man in many countries, and wearing one doesn’t contradict an order from God. Having clean and tracable records of manetary dealings is a requirement of doing business legally. Abstaining from sex when you are not married is God’s Law, not man’s.
While I agree that the spread of HIV/AIDS is tragic, and a global humanitarian burden, I cannot, will not, berrate the Pope for remaining true to his faith and requiring that all persons wishing to claim that same faith as he follow the rules set forth by his God as interpreted by his successors and by him. The Pope is meeting with modernity on a vaild issue of infected people that are married being able to use condoms. These are the issues that are able to be compromised upon for the greater good- the welfare of the spouse and the potential of bringing more suffering into the world through infected pregnancy. If the people that Martin is campaigning for want to continue to disobey their God’s Will as interpreted by the Pope(who is the leader of their chosen faith), and continue the spread of a devastating disease to meet a selfish end (lustful satisfaction), then they need to find a different interpretation of their God’s Will that does allow for contraception and pre-marital sex. The fact that infected people are not behaving responsibly is on the conscience of no one but the individuals themselves.
Link to article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/18/martin.condoms/index.html
