Originally posted by TrashMan
Condoms aren't 100% effective, everyone knows that.
There are countries where peeople breed like rabbits, alltough they allready have 11 children they cannot feed.
So I say, yes, in cases like that apstinency (or an operation) is the way to go.
Sadly, most people lack the willpower or common sense to do so.
And as far as homosexuality goes...scientificly, it is surrently most likely it is a gene disorder. I'm strongly opposed to homosexual marriage in the church.
He did very, very much good. On the issues you described the choices he made are not evil, nor can be called that.
I don't wish to get involved in an argument justnow, so I'll just say this & no more;
- the effectiveness of condoms is not the key issue (AFAIK it's around 99.9%), the fact that the Vatican lied about it is
- you can't just revoke thousands of years of instinctual behaviour; abstinance is not and probably never will be a solution on its own
- blaming the people for the conditions they live in and using emotive terms such as 'breed like rabbits' (reducing them to animal status) is IMHO the wrong way to address a problem, as it seeks to abdicate responsibility rather than look at solutions.
- your opinion of homosexualty is just that; an opinion. Whilst I believe the Catholic church should be free to have that opinion, IMO using terms such as 'evil' is only inciting hate; to me that's not a very tolerant or dare-I-say Christian attitude. The issue of homosexual marriage goes beyond the issue of church weddings - as private institutions IMO they should be free to deny access or service - and into the issue of equal rights vis-a-vis heterosexual marriage or even the 'life partner' status accorded to unmarried, stable couples.
Having disagreed with so many of the Catholic churches policies in these areas and others, I can't hold the Pope in the unimpeachable, unquestionable position which dead 'celebrities' in general and him in particular seem to now be placed in. IMO, he has done 'bad', and history should remember and analyze that alongside the good..