Thursday, May 10, 2007

To Be Like Animals



A New York Times article on Pope Benedict's visit to Brazil focuses on his resistance to abortion and his defense of the family. It is interesting how "family" is code for "no women's rights". This makes me wonder what sort of a creature the "family" is and why its needs never appear to conflict with men's rights.

The same article had an interesting quote:

In another, related statement, the Brazilian church's senior cleric, Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnello, condemned government policies on reproductive health, which have won praise from international public health groups. The cardinal singled out sexual education and condom distribution programs, which have helped cut AIDS transmission rates in Brazil, and attacked them by saying they promoted immorality.

"This is inducing everyone into promiscuity," Cardinal Majella said in an interview with the Portuguese-language service of the B.B.C. "This is not respect for life or for real love. It's like turning man into an animal."

So all animals put on a condom and review their sex-education booklets before engaging in a little bit of wild sex? Animals act much more in accordance with what Cardinal Majella would like to see from humans, actually.