The Pope Sees the Light...

Pope Benedict XVI has seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and it is not Jesus. The Pope, God bless his soul, has finally worked out that abstinence, although the best solution, is not a reality that the Catholic Church can make happen. Well, not unless they start forcibly restraining unmarried or un-partnered couples.

Condoms, particularly the use of them, are not a 100% effective way of preventing the spread of STD or STI. However, they do significantly better than the option of taking a shower without a raincoat. In any event, the Pope's support is not blanket support for the idea that the Catholic Church facilitate a program of condom distribution through its parishes.

The Pope's support suggests that prostitutes, and in particular male prostitutes,would be beginning to act responsibly if they were to start using condoms. I might have to go out and get the book from which the Pope's comments are sourced: Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times. And, the news story that I pilfered for this piece was quoting from excerpts that were published in The Vatican rag, L’Osservatore Romano.

The Catholic Church has adopted a position that is anti-condom use. It has maintained this position in the face of some intense and harsh criticism. So, is this statement by the Pope indicative of a softening in the position of the Catholic Church? No, it is not. The Pope was very explicit in restricting his comments to a very narrow range of condom use. His choice of male prostitutes was undoubtedly a conscious one that was sort to deflect any concerns about condoms being used as a contraceptive device. The position of the Catholic Church with respect to the use of condoms as a form of contraception remains unchanged.

Yet, when it is all said and done, there is an argument to be made that this may in fact be a first step in recognising that the issue of HIV / AIDS and other sexually transmitted disease and infection is an issue that transcends simple arguments of morality. It is an issue that has and will continue to be a measure of the times in which we live, particularly if you live in Africa or Asia.

Progress is progress even if it is in small and scripted steps.

Julia Perez on CNN...

Julia Perez and CNN in the same sentence conjures up the images of another celebrity sex scandal. However, in this instance CNN Go have interviewed Julia Perez not about her reputation as a sex siren, but rather her politics and her work on issues such as sex education and safe sex.

Yet, it was the lead in that piques the interest in reading all the way through; she wants to be "just like Obama". The interview in and of itself does not tell me much about her that I did not already know. Nevertheless, it might be surprising to some as she comes across as reasonably articulate and knowledgeable on the issues that she seemingly cares about. I am yet to be convinced that she has what it takes to be just like Obama or even Evita Peron, but perhaps time will tell.

Perez is currently running for the Deputy District Chief position in Pacitan. Sometimes elections in Indonesia are run more like popularity contests rather than choices between differing political philosophies. So, it will be interesting to see how Perez goes. To this end, it would seem that much of her political platform is going to be based on fighting corruption which she sees as a much more important issue than the 'porn' stuff that currently occupies much of the government's time.

If nothing else, a post on Julia Perez or Jupe lets me post a picture of her to accompany the text that perhaps no one will read as they probably have not gone beyond the picture.

Ho hum...

Logical Fallacies...

1. The best place for a child to live is with his or her biological parents.

2. Unless gays are banned from the military, no heterosexual military personnel will be safe.

3. Making condoms available in high school is like giving a thief a license to steal.

4. His repeated failure to find a job indicates that he lacks ambition.

5. Either you support anti-abortion legislation, or you're not Christian.

Just a few logical fallacies as thought provokers. Adapted from the Prentice Hall Handbook for Writers (1995).

God is Love -- Jesus Supports the Use of Condoms

I fully expect to offend people with the picture that leads off this post. I do not apologize for the message of this piece. Thanks to the Freethinker for illuminating this controversy for me here and here.

Sexually transmitted diseases of all types are slowly but surely decimating our collective future. The idea that abstinence is the answer has proven to be clearly not the case. The need here is to ensure that people are fully educated and therefore able to make informed decisions on their own. If abstinence happens to be that choice, then all well and good. However, if the choice is a different one, then at least those individuals will have at their disposal the knowledge that may just save their lives.

The art work is by Ben Heine, a Belgian, and was in direct response to the statements of the Pope and his fellow clergy members who seem to believe that it says somewhere in the Bible that condom use is strictly prohibited and that the use of condoms actually makes the HIV / AIDS tragedy in places like Africa even worse. The art work was posted on a site called DeviantArt. Unfortunately, DeviantArt in their infinite wisdom deemed the work too offensive or controversial or something because they removed it, and then ultimately banned Heine from the site.

I fully support the right of websites to determine their own content. However, a quick look around the DeviantArt site turns up quite a lot of art that would best be described as pornographic and perhaps even offensive to some, not to me though. So, why single out this piece of art for censorship? Come to think of it, I am not offended by Jesus wearing a condom or the idea that the Christian God is a God of Love and would be cool with a pro-condom message. This is not because it encourages promiscuity but to the contrary because it saves souls from agonizing and pointless deaths.

The right to freely express one's ideas is a core tenet of my philosophy on life. I have not and do not advocate that there are no limits to free speech, in fact quite to the contrary. However, sometimes free speech sometimes offends, and causing offense does not necessarily mean that it has crossed that uncrossable line in the sand where it is no longer protected. My personal opinion is that I can accept some people will be offended by the image, but I do not believe the image crosses the line.

Is it in bad taste? To each their own.

Sexual Barrier Protection Devices.

The Internet is a great repository for all kinds of stuff that can be used as base materials for teaching. I teach the odd legal drafting, plain English legal writing, and English for Lawyers courses, and have found some more material for this subject.

A bill to be entitled

An act relating to state inmates; authorizing a nonprofit or public health care organization to distribute sexual barrier protection devices to inmates in the state correctional system; requiring the Department of Corrections to develop a plan to properly dispose of used sexual barrier protection devices; providing an effective date.

I have the Silent Majority to thank for the link.

This is a piece of legislation that is on the cards for Florida. I am actually not so much against the legislation and do not have any moral or ethical issues with the provision of sexual barrier protection devices to inmates of correctional facilities. There are good reasons for the provision of these devices, such as seeking to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in jails, including HIV, among others.

I was intrigued by what a sexual barrier protection device is. Unfortunately, the bill does not specify in the limited extract I have as to what might be included. It does mention condoms, but I get the distinct feeling that there is more to this than just condoms. Nevertheless, it is still a good lesson in legal drafting.

When one wants legal certainty then it pays to be specific or in this case explicit. It is worth noting that a simple Google search turns up a lot of hits for the term but not a lot of definitive answers.

Durex -- Get It On!

Get it on indeed!

This is very funny (and no apologies if any of you, "my readers", are offended). In this day and age where abstinence is clearly not working, then a very funny condom ad is worth posting. There are a whole series of outtakes to the commercial which you can also find on You Tube.

I wonder if this would breach the provisions of the Indonesian Pornography Law?



Enjoy!

Virginity Pledge and Abstinence

This is something out of the Washington Post and therefore more focused on what is happening in the US. However, I guess, pre-marital sex is an issue everywhere, including Indonesia. Nevertheless, the US Government is investing considerable sums of cash into abstinence-based programs, some USD 176 million at last count, so it is probably worthwhile knowing whether the programs work.

The survey (a report that appears in the journal, Pediatrics) that the Washington Post quotes suggests that there are plenty of pledgers that cannot go the distance and abstain until marriage. What is disheartening here is that those that cannot go the distance are significantly more likely to engage in unsafe sex by neither using condoms or birth control.

I am guessing I will have to do a little more research to try and track down figures for Indonesia (assuming that they exist) and see what sorts of comparisons can be made.

Julia Perez Blacklisted by the MUI

The Head of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) in Pekanbaru, Ilyas Husti, has decided that the MUI needed to issue a letter rejecting the visit of Julia Perez (aka Jupe) from visiting the city, and he has done just that.

Since when has the MUI been the arbiter of travel in Indonesia and since when have they had the power to ban the travel of private citizens? Furthermore, since when has the MUI had the power to regulate who political parties or any other organization invite to perform at the functions of these organizations?

The MUI really needs to pull its head out of the sand before it gets the communal backlash boot in the arse. This is the same sort of thing you would expect to see from fundamental Muslim elements who deem themselves as arbiters of what is entertainment. I always thought that the MUI liked to consider itself a moderate organization.

A recent example from Indonesia's near neighbours in Malaysia saw an Islamic student organization seeking a ban on Indonesia's "queen of the drill", Inul. Let's face it, both Indonesia and Malaysia have much bigger problems than a little hip wiggling at a political rally or a concert.

The overall expectation was that Jupe would participate in the celebrations that have been planned for Independence Day on 17 August. Independence Day in any country is an important day, one where the freedoms that independence have brought are celebrated by the masses. It is a time to let down the collective hair and enjoy being free. Unfortunately, for the citizens of Pekanbaru, the MUI seems determined to rain on this parade.

The problem seems to be that Jupe's reputation as a bit of a sex symbol proceeds her and the MUI is concerned that this image will get all the local lad's hormones raging and perhaps a bunch of testosterone engorged teenagers will lose the plot. Jupe is a bit of a sensationalist and panders to that image. Her most recent claim to fame involved the packaging of condoms with her latest album release. Considering, the heightened risk of HIV / AIDS in Indonesia, perhaps Jupe should be praised for her convictions rather than blacklisted for them.

Now is a time to celebrate Indonesia's rich cultural and ethnic diversity and not to curtail it. It is sad that the MUI cannot see this simple truth, that sometimes people just need to have fun!

Scrap Rubbers at any Cost

Hot off the press is a story in today's Kompas newspaper that Customs Officials have detained a container load of used condoms imported from Germany. The reasons for holding the imports are pretty clear, being used condoms they pose a potential health hazard unless of course each one has already been individually tested prior to export and then their subsequent import to Indonesia. This did not happen so the risk of disease either through contact or airborne pathogens remains real.

It just goes to show that some people will go to any length to make a buck or two. Interestingly, the Bill of Lading suggests that the scrap rubber in the form of rubbers is in fact new waste. This is interesting because the definition of new waste seems to be 'newly used' waste rather than the offcuts and other unsuitable for sale condoms. There are more than 25,000 kilograms of them sitting in this container at the Tanjung Priok port. It is unlikely that Customs was contemplating the import of used condoms when it was permitted for scrap rubber to be imported.

Anyway, a decision is pending.