Religion vs Superstition

The Pope has been in Africa this week, and performed mass there.

He urged the Catholic Africans to help their countrymen to abandon superstition, magic, reliance on shamans and witch doctors. They should rather accept Christianity (in its Roman Catholic form, of course).

It is dangerous to believe in such superstitions, Benedict said.

Indeed! I agree with His Holiness entirely.

It is dangerous (as well as emotionally harmful) to believe such superstitious things as these:

- sprinkling with magic water while a witch doctor says magic words will wipe away your faults;
- a priest saying the proper words will turn a cracker into actual flesh;
- eating a bite of magic cracker-flesh will make you acceptable to the gods;
- if a demon possesses someone you love, you can get a witch doctor to "exorcise" the demon by waving a cross over him and saying certain magic words;
- you had better participate in the magic rituals on special magic days, at least twice a year;
- you can ask holy dead people for special favors;
- burning candles on an altar has a magic effect and will bring you your wishes;
- a Jewish rabbi who was executed two thousand years ago for treason wants you to devote your life to him.

Yes, superstition can be a terrible thing, if you let it get hold of your mind.

The Pope's Solution to AIDS

The Pope is visiting Africa now, and speaking there about the many problems that plague that great continent.

One of the most troublesome problems is the prevalence of AIDS, a withering disease that is usually (but not always) transmitted by sexual contact. The easiest and most widespread preventive measure is the use of condoms. Where condoms have been widely distributed and have been easily available, the incidence of AIDS has dramatically decreased.

But the Pope is opposed to promoting the use of condoms in Africa as a means for preventing the spread of this life-threatening disease. His alternative solution?

Abstinence!

Yes, His Holiness suggests that an entire continent become celibate. No more sex, no more physical love, no more children.

Why, one must ask, is the Pope so opposed to condoms? The answer seems obvious: for so many years the Roman Catholic Church has been opposed to any form of birth control (except abstinence, or the so-called "rhythm method"), and condom use was one of the most widely used contraceptive methods. One must suspect that it is only that long aversion to condoms as contraceptives that now colors the Catholic pontiff's rejection of a simple and effective method of preventing death for millions of Africans.

Another example of narrow-minded religious dogma causing human suffering.

Fortunately, most people ignore the pronouncements of the Pope. Thank God for that!