Ignoring the facts on sexuality
My dear friends,
Pope Benedict XVI was harshly criticized recently for saying that the distribution of condoms is not only ineffective in fighting AIDS in Africa but might very well make matters worse. He called for a more holistic approach, "a humanization of sexuality … that brings with it a new way of behaving with one another."
While those who protested the pope's statement grabbed the usual headlines, at least one secular commentator - a research scientist at Harvard University - wrote in the Washington Post March 29 that "in truth, current empirical evidence supports" the pope's assertion. (Read the whole article at http://tinyurl.com/dxmczd.)
Edward C. Green, a senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, cited peer-reviewed studies dating back to 2003 that "found no evidence of condoms working as a primary HIV-prevention measure in Africa." One of the reasons Green cited was a phenomenon known as "risk compensation. That is, when people think they're made safe by using condoms at least some of the time, they actually engage in riskier sex."
Green admitted that the notion that the pope - and by extension the Catholic Church - might be right on this issue is difficult for some people to accept. "We liberals who work in the fields of global HIV/AIDS and family planning take terrible professional risks if we side with the pope on a divisive topic such as this," Green wrote. "The condom has become a symbol of freedom and - along with contraception - female emancipation, so those who question condom orthodoxy are accused of being against these causes."
The same thing happens when the Church insists on a holistic approach to human sexuality, one that promotes abstinence rather than the wholesale distribution of contraceptives to teenagers. For fear of siding with a Church that is perceived as out of touch, critics ignore the scientific research and set aside all semblance of logic.
Case in point: A study conducted recently by the Rand Corporation revealed that pregnancy rates are much higher among teens who watch a lot of TV with sexual dialogue and behavior. Previous research by some of the same scientists had found that watching lots of sex on TV can influence teens to have sex at earlier ages.
That conclusion seems not only logical, but is universally accepted when it comes to other issues, such as cigarette smoking. People rarely "light up" today in movies or prime-time television. Cigarette commercials have been banned from the airwaves. Cigarette companies have been warned not to use cartoons or advertising slogans that appear to be aimed a hooking young smokers.
Yet the same logic does not hold true when it comes to sexual activity. In that case, society has no problem with allowing children to be exposed to a constant stream of television characters who spend most of their time either talking about or engaging in sex. And instead of encouraging children to respect themselves and others by abstaining from sexual relations, we send them the message that it's humanly impossible for them to do so. They can "just say no" to drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, but they might as well be ready to "protect themselves" when they inevitably succumb to sexual temptation.
Scientific research and our own human experience tell us that "you are what you eat" - in other words, you are what you put into your psyche. If you want your daughter to grow up to be a musician, surround her with music. If you want your son to grow up to be an athlete, make sure he spends much of his free time on the sports field.
Human beings are more than sex. We don't just have a body. We have a mind. We have a spirit. It seems pretty logical to assume that children immersed in a world of casual sex and sexual innuendo might conclude that's all there is, and therefore be more likely to engage in sex at an earlier age.
Thankfully, research and science are proving the Church's wisdom on this topic. Sadly, too many people in our society - people who should know better -continue to cling to their biases rather than admit the facts. This stubbornness only makes matters worse for our children and all our society.
