Michael Coren -- Open Season on Benedict

Michael Coren of The National Post has written a very good column entitled "Open season on Benedict".

He makes five points:

None of this is mentioned when Pope Benedict is attacked for his condemnation of the condom fetish. If we read the man's statements, however, what we see is a sophisticated deconstruction of Western double-standards and a thoughtful critique of the failed attempt to control AIDS.

First, it's not working. In countries where condoms are state-distributed, free and ubiquitous AIDS has not been controlled and is often spreading.

Second, even where AIDS is less of an issue, such as in North America, the increased availability and use of condoms has coincided with an annual increase in STDs and so-called unwanted pregnancies.

Third, one failure of a condom to work -- and the failure rate is significant if not overwhelming --is not a mere mistake but a death sentence.

Fourth, condoms enable promiscuity rather than encourage abstinence. And sexual activity is about more than mere intercourse; a cut finger or a small body wound can allow infection to occur.

Fifth, how dare we treat black people as if they were children. They are capable of self-control and all over Africa, most successfully but not exclusively in Uganda, there are elaborate, empathetic and extraordinarily successful abstinence programs that emphasize humanity rather than lust -- a philosophy that runs directly contrary to the sexual gratification cult so favoured by some of the people in the West now so apoplectic at Pope Benedict's comments.

But to really understand the points he is making, you need to read the rest of his column, here.