People who follow, or try to follow, the whole of the Pope’s advice can work to reduce the availability and social acceptability of condoms, which will reduce condom use among people who may or may not care what the Pope has to say. Additionally, since abstinence is apparently very difficult for a lot of people, trying to be abstinent will not reliably result in abstinence; I suspect the number of people who go “well, I can’t seem to manage abstinence, but at least I’m not using condoms! That part’s easy!” is depressingly high.
“well, I can’t seem to manage abstinence, but at least I’m not using condoms! That part’s easy!”
I don’t see why any such person would continue calling himself a Catholic in that situation. Clearly the options there are ‘not a Catholic’ or ‘Catholic who believes he’s going to Hell’. And non-Catholics shouldn’t listen to the Pope at all.
It might be worth saying that Catholicism is somehow harmful to society, but it’s hardly a fault of the Pope that he informs people about Catholic doctrine.
I don’t see why any such person wold continue calling himself a Catholic in that situation.
This… is religion we are talking about.
I am pretty sure that you can confess to a priest that you have been un-abstinent and be forgiven for it and not be destined for hell, although I am not an expert on Catholic doctrine. Adding condom use on top of lack of abstinence would have the consequence of having to do more penance, most likely.
I don’t expect the Pope to do anything other than advise people according to Catholic doctrine. That’s the job description. That doesn’t make it a harmless activity. I wouldn’t expect someone whose job title was “assassin” to not kill public figures for money, because that is the task of assassins. That doesn’t make it a harmless activity.
I wouldn’t expect someone whose job title was “assassin” to not kill public figures for money, because that is the task of assassins. That doesn’t make it a harmless activity.
Of course, if assassins were a socially acceptable profession and a high-profile assassin killed someone, it would not be appropriate to call the assassin out for doing his job; rather, one should question the wisdom of allowing assassins in the first place. If you’ve got a problem with the Church, then “The Pope should not have done his job” is an inappropriate way to make that complaint.
It wouldn’t be beyond the scope of the job of the Pope to choose less harmful doctrines to concentrate on. For instance, instead of concentrating on the evils of condom use, he could encourage charitable giving, which (while less uniquely Catholic) is something that the church approves of.
It wouldn’t be beyond the scope of the job of the Pope to choose less harmful doctrines to concentrate on.
It really isn’t something that he’s concentrated on, just something the press went on about a lot. On the Africa trip, he was answering written questions from reporters, so it’s not like he brought it up out of nowhere. Also, it’s something the Church gets criticized for, so it was appropriate for the Church to recently re-evaluate their position on it.
The Pope has certainly come out and encouraged charitable giving, without any reporters pestering him about it.
I am pretty sure that you can confess to a priest that you have been un-abstinent and be forgiven for it and not be destined for hell… Adding condom use on top of lack of abstinence would have the consequence of having to do more penance, most likely.
You do have to be repentant, which kindof implies that you’ve changed your ways and are not going to do that sort of thing again. The ways of penance are a bit mysterious, but it couldn’t possibly be a concern since it would probably involve 5 prayers instead of 4 or something like that.
A better response though, is that the person who has condoms and then is unexpectedly not abstinent will likely use them, and someone who is against condom use will probably not find himself in that position, which seems to be harmful. But I still don’t think it’s the Pope’s problem to be giving advice to people for what to do if they’re going to go around breaking the rules; why then follow his advice at all?
It’s hardly without precedent to give people backup plans for what to do if they break rules:
“Don’t you dare go to a party where there is any alcohol, young lady! But if you do, and you get drunk, for the love of God call me and I’ll pick you up, don’t drive!”
“Do not do anything that would cause you to get set on fire. If you do, stop, drop, and roll.”
“Don’t wear socks with sandals. But if you must, at least have them be short socks, not knee-length jobs in a heavy fabric.”
“Don’t drink the water there—if you do, boil it first.”
But the Church expects people to be perfect, and isn’t particularly concerned about minimizing harm in the case that you break the rules. Picture this conversation:
“Don’t have sex before marriage, and don’t use condoms”
“Okay, no sex before marriage. But what if I do, then should I use a condom?”
“What do you mean, what if I do? Don’t do it at all. Have zero sex before marriage. Also, don’t use condoms. It’s simple.”
“Oh, okay. So avoid having sex before marriage, and if I do have sex before marriage, then I shouldn’t use a condom.”
...
The sorts of rules you cite make sense when you’re trying to minimize physical harms. When your job is protecting the immortal souls of people, that’s a secondary concern at best.
“Don’t do something that damns your immortal soul to an eternity of torment. But if you do, make sure you wear a sweater” makes about as much sense in this context.
People who follow, or try to follow, the whole of the Pope’s advice can work to reduce the availability and social acceptability of condoms, which will reduce condom use among people who may or may not care what the Pope has to say. Additionally, since abstinence is apparently very difficult for a lot of people, trying to be abstinent will not reliably result in abstinence; I suspect the number of people who go “well, I can’t seem to manage abstinence, but at least I’m not using condoms! That part’s easy!” is depressingly high.
I don’t see why any such person would continue calling himself a Catholic in that situation. Clearly the options there are ‘not a Catholic’ or ‘Catholic who believes he’s going to Hell’. And non-Catholics shouldn’t listen to the Pope at all.
It might be worth saying that Catholicism is somehow harmful to society, but it’s hardly a fault of the Pope that he informs people about Catholic doctrine.
This… is religion we are talking about.
I am pretty sure that you can confess to a priest that you have been un-abstinent and be forgiven for it and not be destined for hell, although I am not an expert on Catholic doctrine. Adding condom use on top of lack of abstinence would have the consequence of having to do more penance, most likely.
I don’t expect the Pope to do anything other than advise people according to Catholic doctrine. That’s the job description. That doesn’t make it a harmless activity. I wouldn’t expect someone whose job title was “assassin” to not kill public figures for money, because that is the task of assassins. That doesn’t make it a harmless activity.
Of course, if assassins were a socially acceptable profession and a high-profile assassin killed someone, it would not be appropriate to call the assassin out for doing his job; rather, one should question the wisdom of allowing assassins in the first place. If you’ve got a problem with the Church, then “The Pope should not have done his job” is an inappropriate way to make that complaint.
It wouldn’t be beyond the scope of the job of the Pope to choose less harmful doctrines to concentrate on. For instance, instead of concentrating on the evils of condom use, he could encourage charitable giving, which (while less uniquely Catholic) is something that the church approves of.
It really isn’t something that he’s concentrated on, just something the press went on about a lot. On the Africa trip, he was answering written questions from reporters, so it’s not like he brought it up out of nowhere. Also, it’s something the Church gets criticized for, so it was appropriate for the Church to recently re-evaluate their position on it.
The Pope has certainly come out and encouraged charitable giving, without any reporters pestering him about it.
You do have to be repentant, which kindof implies that you’ve changed your ways and are not going to do that sort of thing again. The ways of penance are a bit mysterious, but it couldn’t possibly be a concern since it would probably involve 5 prayers instead of 4 or something like that.
A better response though, is that the person who has condoms and then is unexpectedly not abstinent will likely use them, and someone who is against condom use will probably not find himself in that position, which seems to be harmful. But I still don’t think it’s the Pope’s problem to be giving advice to people for what to do if they’re going to go around breaking the rules; why then follow his advice at all?
It’s hardly without precedent to give people backup plans for what to do if they break rules:
“Don’t you dare go to a party where there is any alcohol, young lady! But if you do, and you get drunk, for the love of God call me and I’ll pick you up, don’t drive!”
“Do not do anything that would cause you to get set on fire. If you do, stop, drop, and roll.”
“Don’t wear socks with sandals. But if you must, at least have them be short socks, not knee-length jobs in a heavy fabric.”
“Don’t drink the water there—if you do, boil it first.”
But the Church expects people to be perfect, and isn’t particularly concerned about minimizing harm in the case that you break the rules. Picture this conversation:
“Don’t have sex before marriage, and don’t use condoms”
“Okay, no sex before marriage. But what if I do, then should I use a condom?”
“What do you mean, what if I do? Don’t do it at all. Have zero sex before marriage. Also, don’t use condoms. It’s simple.”
“Oh, okay. So avoid having sex before marriage, and if I do have sex before marriage, then I shouldn’t use a condom.”
...
The sorts of rules you cite make sense when you’re trying to minimize physical harms. When your job is protecting the immortal souls of people, that’s a secondary concern at best.
“Don’t do something that damns your immortal soul to an eternity of torment. But if you do, make sure you wear a sweater” makes about as much sense in this context.