I told you so

Posted on 18 March 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Do you remember how I wrote here that lefties the won’t be satisfied until the Pope stands on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and showers the crowds with condoms?

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    16 Responses to I told you so

    1. RichR says:
      18 March 2009 at 6:32 pm

      What dismays me most about the politics of all of this is that none of the lefties are searching for truth – they are set on an agenda and shun all those who stray from their path. When it comes to the HF, he stands up for the Church and Her teachings, and the full force of political coercion is thrown upon him. He is made to look incompetent, irrelevant, or dictatorial and cold-hearted. Rather than listen to his words of wisdom and try to understand the Church’s teaching, they attack the messenger and try to turn the ordinary man against him.

      WAKE UP PEOPLE AND SMELL THE MANURE YOU’VE BEEN READINGIN THE NEWS MEDIA!

      I repeat what I’ve said for months now: it’s becoming more and more apparent to me that we readers of this blog have a moral responsibility to share the truth we learn here. If nothing else, tell all your friends about wdtprs so they are not led astray by the lefties.

    2. Mitchell NY says:
      18 March 2009 at 8:05 pm

      The trouble is that really you can not argue with what the Pope has said is a solution. They may not like it, think it possible, or do it, but it is the simple truth….I wish someone in the media (and there must be someone) could just stand up and make as much noise in support of the Holy Father. I keep praying for him and his Pontificate. I hope he knows how much he is loved, sometimes it can be so hard to feel it when the hatred of many is flyin around your head..

    3. Rob says:
      18 March 2009 at 8:25 pm

      Ha…

    4. CPKS says:
      18 March 2009 at 11:45 pm

      I think the best way to defend the pope on this subject is the good old trench warfare of rational argument, combined with exposure of the fallacies in the opponents’ argument.

      Yesterday the Times (UK) in five separate articles pushed the line (with no balancing material) that “science” tells us that condoms prevent AIDS, and that somehow the moral position of the church is falsified by verifiable scientific data.

    5. Michael Hallman says:
      19 March 2009 at 1:42 am

      You know what never ceases to amaze me? For how long have they been pouring millions upon millions of condoms into Africa, and yet how much better has the epidemic gotten? It hasn’t! It’s just unbelievable how people equate their agenda with intellectualism, so that if you oppose their agenda you must be anti-intellectual. It’s the same thing we see with global warming. Anyone who dares to present a justifiable and reasonable alternative view backed by evidence must be anti-intellectual, because it opposes their agenda.

      But what is the real agenda here? It’s got nothing to do with how best to stop HIV/AIDS in Africa. They don’t really care about that. Rather, if the pope is right and can actually claim moral justification for not distributing condoms, then that means that condoms actually are immoral, and thus this sex-crazed society must admit our own immorality. Admitting the pope is right also means admitting their own lifestyle is wrong, and no one wants to do that, even if it means killing tens of millions of people.

    6. teresa says:
      19 March 2009 at 4:57 am

      I turned the radio on yesterday, and I heard: the German Press started again with words full of hatred to attack the Pope, and still not forgetting to mention Williamson.

      And the auxiliary Bishop of Hamburg Jaschke (a liberal) has again said something. But I was too furious to listen.

      The secular society has a Fetish, and its KONDOM.

      I think the best way is to ignore the Press, and the liberals too. Because we can do nothing to satisfy them, they are enemies of the real faith. What they want is NOT TO SAVE AFRICA, but to destroy the catholic faith. So it is useless to argue with them. THEY WON’T HEAR. We conservatives all over the world should unite us and present us as a whole. And if we are strong enough, people won’t dare to strike at us anymore.

    7. Shane O'Neill says:
      19 March 2009 at 5:18 am

      I don’t see how the seating arrangements of a long-defunct French assembly have any relevance to this debate. Most ‘righties’ are pro-contraception also.

    9. Hidden One says:
      19 March 2009 at 7:55 am

      Time for *somebody* Catholic to trot out the verified and verifiable statistics on these matters to the masses to make it really easy for your average pew dwellers to return fire.

      *cough*

    10. mbd says:
      19 March 2009 at 8:17 am

      Over at NRO this morning, Kathryn Lopez has an interesting article quoting the head of Harvard University’s AIDS Prevention Research Project who indicates that their data suggests that Pope Benedict is precisely correct on the effect of condom use in respect to the AIDS problem in Africa. He also seems to concur with the Pope that encouragement of monogamous marriage would be an important element in any program to reduce AIDS. This is the type of response to the attacks which the Pope is increasingly coming under that need to be brought to a wider public attention in rebuttal to the carefully engineered attacks on the Holy Father and his credibility.

    11. Amy P. says:
      19 March 2009 at 9:49 am

      From Mark Shea, via Curt Jester, this little gem that supports the Pope’s position on condoms in the fight against HIV/AIDS:

      AIDS victims in 1987: Philippines 135 / Thailand 112
      In 1991 the WHO predicted the Philippines would have 80,000 to 90,000 cases and Thailand 60,000 to 80,000 AIDS victims.
      Thailand promoted the use of condoms in massive campaigns where Catholic Philippines promoted ‘Abstinence’ and ‘Be faithful’.
      The prognosis of the WHO was wrong for both countries:
      1999: Philippines 1,005 / Thailand 755,000 AIDS victims

      Source: British Medical Journal, volume 328, April 10th 2004

      That’s pretty telling, isn’t it? But, like with ESCR and abortion, the left’s solution is not to look at what works, but whatever allows people to engage in risky sexual behavior first and foremost. Consequences be damned, as it were.

    12. Elastico says:
      19 March 2009 at 10:04 am

      Benedict Has It Right
      The truth about condoms, and Africa.
      By Travis Kavulla

      http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzJlNzBiNWRlM2IyYzFjZThjNmUwOTcyN2JlZWI0NTY=

      Also a link in the article to Science magazine–subscription required.

    13. Louise says:
      19 March 2009 at 12:06 pm

      Amy P.,
      Unfortunately, some politicians in the Philippines have introduced a “Reproductive Health” Bill which would provide government funding for condoms and other contraceptives, amongst other dreadful measures. The main thrust of the bill is to reduce population growth. The bill is due to be debated I believe next month, and also includes compulsory “reproductive health” eductation in all schools, compulsory family planning education before marriage, anti-conscientious objection clauses for doctors and employers, who have to provide “education” and “devices” to employees, “offers” tubal ligation to all indigent women when they deliver a baby in a public hospital. Also tied in is essential funding to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates – something which could be provided without all the above.
      The Church is fighting hard, but numbers are very close. All the usual criticisms regarding Church teaching on contraceptives, etc. have been rolled out. The text of the bill can be found at : http://jlp-law.com/blog/full-text-of-house-bill-no-5043-reproductive-health-and-population-development-act-of-2008/

      Please pray this bill will be defeated.

    14. RBrown says:
      19 March 2009 at 1:11 pm

      What dismays me most about the politics of all of this is that none of the lefties are searching for truth – they are set on an agenda and shun all those who stray from their path.
      Comment by RichR

      They aren’t searching for truth simply because they think they have already found it: Economic development that provides prosperity to the point that people can do whatever they want, incl “marrying” someone of the same gender.

      Thus, their agenda.

    15. Peggy says:
      19 March 2009 at 1:52 pm

      And here you (Fr Z) thought that the media were not interested in Benedict XVI’s trip to Africa.

    16. Dolly says:
      20 March 2009 at 3:58 am

      I Just commented on the blog of His Hermaneuticalness under his posting about “a Pope with Nerves of Steel” – check it out – it’s good!