Western societies are losing their souls to scientific rationality and frightening believers in the developing world who still fear God, Pope Benedict told an open-air Mass in Germany yesterday.
Benedict -- on the second day of a visit to his native Bavaria-- said that spreading the word of Jesus Christ was more important than all the emergency and development aid that rich churches like those in Germany gave to poor countries.
He also stressed the role of faith in fighting AIDS "by realistically facing its deeper causes," indirectly confirming the Church view that pre-marital abstinence and fidelity in marriage are the way to combat sexually transmitted diseases. (source)
Please Science, don't frighten the believers ... that's our job. The masses in "poor countries" need to fear God, believe in demons, listen to the missionaries, and all will be well. Yeah, that ought to do it.
I find it appalling that the Pope should make such a statement about AIDS when Catholic doctrine, sometimes implemented with outrageous falsehoods, has been a serious impediment to effective AIDS prevention.
South Africa has also had a woefully misguided AIDS policy. However, an open letter recently sent to President Thabo Mbeki from 81 of the world's leading AIDS researchers may have caused that country's blinders to come off. The Catholic Church should cast their's aside as well, but the odds of that happening are probably larger than the odds required for me to win the lottery.
Source
-"He also stressed the role of faith in fighting AIDS "by realistically facing its deeper causes," indirectly confirming the Church view that pre-marital abstinence and fidelity in marriage are the way to combat sexually transmitted diseases."
Wow! The logic of the control addicts is stunningly misanthropic. But I guess, "Them bosses need all the help they can get."
BTW, if you all haven't read it, check out "All That Is Solid Melts Into Air" by Marshall Berman. One of the best works on the effects of modernity and why recourse to religion is so appealing to many: it provides something solid in a constantly fluxuating world. The book is somewhere in the neighborhood of "What's The Matter With Kansas."