Ignorance is Murder

I was reading the headlines yesterday and ran across this little gem:

"The head of the Catholic Church in Mozambique has told the BBC he believes some European-made condoms are infected with HIV deliberately. "

I can't tell you how much this disgusts me. This archbishop is telling people that he personally knows of two countries in Europe that are making condoms coated in the HIV virus. Why would you even do that?! Is it *that* important that people don't use condoms? He also said that the antiretroviral drugs were infected "in order to finish quickly the African people." Paranoid much? Honestly, I have quite a number of issues with this, but I'll break it down for you.1. I don't go around telling people they're going to hell, why don't you stop going around telling people they're going to get AIDS? I will yield to the Church on dissemination of any and all information about Jesus, if they will yield to someone who knows what the hell they're talking about on the matter of HIV prevention and treatment.
2. If you're going to give information about something you know nothing about, at least give out the right information. Telling people that ARV's are contaminated isn't some shrewd move by the Church to convince people not to use condoms. It's a lie that succeeds only in killing people. As far as I'm concerned, it's murder.

I could go on for days about everything that's wrong with the Catholic church's approach to AIDS. In the end, it's about being consistent. If the Church is pro-life, they cannot be anti-condom. Condoms in countries where the virus is spreading like wildfire are not to stop reproduction, they're to stop death. Not only for the sexual partner, but for the HIV-positive children that they might have produced.

Honestly, I have a really hard time seeing what's not to understand in this whole situation. It's the "fight against HIV/AIDS" but I think activists spend more time in the fight against ignorance. And public figures spreading misinformation isn't making that fight any easier. Ugh.

*If you're interested in reading more, I enjoyed this article (actually posted in a Catholic magazine!) It's old, but whatever. Unfortunately not much has changed.