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Not an operetta, not by a long shot — 10 Comments

  1. One must wonder, given the solutions pushed here, why AIDS isn’t rampant in the porn industry to the point of having killed most of the non-mated sexual activities filmed (Not the actors, the practice). I’m sure there would always be filmed sex, but it would, if this were a problem, become more amateur married partners than regular performers…

    Apparently, there *are* other solutions besides outright abstinence… LOL.

  2. I’ve always wondered why AIDS is such a “hip” and “cool” cause. Malaria kills 3 times as many and there are very effective ways to prevent and cure it. I hear nothing but crickets chirping when mentioned as number 4 on the list of “worlds deadliest killers”. So pardon my skepticism at the tears shed for AIDS victims. It has nothing to do with caring. I guess Bono or Elizabeth Taylor don’t have friends with malaria.
    10,700,000 children died in the world last year and 57% were from causes incident to malaria. That’s just the children.

  3. Sexual commitment to only one person or total abstinence are the only options. Does God hate promiscuity? Let’s leave this alone. Nature, though, seems to despise promiscuous behavior. The available empirical data are abundantly clear that engaging in unbridled passion will result in rampant diseases of one sort or another. What about condoms? They are not worthless, but an individual is playing Russian roulette when using them. There are just too many “accidents.” No, Africans—and numerous Americans—must learn to practice sexual restraint. You do not need to be a Pat Robertson nor Jerry Fallwell. A convinced atheist is also logically forced to reach the same conclusion.

  4. The harsh truth that most refuse to see is that there is a de facto form of triage going on in the civilized world. Concerts and studies and other efforts aside, the resources of the world are, at any given time, limited and probably do not extend to the task of saving all of Africa from AIDS. Bureaucracy, plutocracy, corruption, ignorance and mendacity on this scale is simply beyond the reach of rescue no matter how noble the intentions.

    Perhaps it could be accomplished if the civilized world put aside every other rescue effort it is engaged in and concentrated resources, financial, political and military on Africa. But that is not at all likely to happen.

  5. Of course, banning sex is worthless and almost totally unenforcable (about the only way to know is by catching them in the act or pregnancy).

    Not only is unenforcable, but when 40%(!!!) of your population with an incurable terminal illness transmitted by sexual activity doesn’t stop you – nothing will.

    I found the comments on the article interesting, things about abstinance being unrealistic. In cases such as here abstitance is going to happen one way or the other (well, unless we cure or find a vaccine for AIDS). Either they will contain it by abstinance or they will all die. Condoms aren’t going to work, medication (the so called coctails) aren’t going to work, nothing is. That number is simply too high for those methods of containment, hell they do not work too well for our .003% of the population (estimates are around one million with HIV, population of the US is around 297 million).

    Not to mention that if seeing people die from AIDS isn’t enough to scare you into, well, not having sex until you are married and only with individuals you absolutely trust, then nothing else is going to work (with 40% infected, they would have had to have seen at least one). Remember, things happen like mold grows on your tounge because your body can’t fight it, colored growths on your body (again, mold), severe constant diaherra, you bleed out of any opening in your body or mucous membrane, lots and lots of terrible things.

    *sigh* I guess these are probably the same people who think that terrorism can be solved by negotiation and talk and violence never solved anything.

  6. Tom,

    Here is an excellent report on the ABC effort in Uganda.

    The problem is relatively self limiting in Africa. Treatment for HIV is so scarce that death comes relatively quickly. Part of the reason for the decline in incidence that is occuring is due simply to that factor.

  7. I can only barely believe you don’t mention A B C.
    Abstinence from sex until marriage.
    Being faithful to your spouse.
    Condoms for all others, all the time.
    (From Uganda; despite the corruption)

    I expect to go to Kenya in October working with a Slovak Medical University and Catholic Parish providing health clinic support.

    How many have to die before behavior changes, making promiscuity taboo (again)?

  8. PS,

    I have often speculated that the sexual license that came with the sixties was part of the breakdown of traditional families and social habits in this country. The two often seem to go together, not just in Africa. As part of the argument I usually posit that traditional society serves to make men bear some responsibility for their wives and children, something that seems to disappear when there are no sexual limits. As the Village Voice article points out, irresponsible male behaviour is a good part of the problem.

  9. A friend of mine taught school in Swaziland back in the mid eighties. I recall that one of her students wrote a “what I did during vacation” essay about spending time as the mistress of a businessman. I also seem to recall that there were a lot of bar/brothel combos serving the border with South Africa. So I tend to agree that a lot of the AIDS problem is related to sexual mores and the breakdown of traditions. Indeed, I would claim that the Aids epidemic is almost entirely due to sexual mores and behavior and that morality has a place in changing that behaviour. In such situations it is better that healthy behaviour be judged as “good” and not as just a good idea.

    Syphilis is another deadly sexual desease whose epidemic spread was pretty much dependent on sexual behaviour. Penicillin and mandatory testing did much to eliminate syphilis from everyday life back in the 40’s and 50’s, something that morality and lifestyle changes alone couldn’t achieve. But I am unconvinced that morality played no role in limiting its effects before WWII and the advent of penicillin.

    Speaking of public health, I recall being tested for tuberculosis before I could get a drivers license. The requirements of public health used to be far more intrusive, something we have forgotten or regard as some sort of archaic barbarism. After 9/11 and at the height of the anthrax scare I spoke with a friend of mine in the Bronx; she was appalled when I mentioned that controlling smallpox might require quarantine. We seem to have become infected with the idea that public health is a freebee and only our due.

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