Shock & Awe

I'm in agreement with the Vatican. I honestly can't think of a time this last happened. Yeah, I was about the Pope standing against war, but that was a given.

But I digress. This post will most certainly induce self-retaliation, so I should just keep focused.

This post also has the high honor of being the first I've made with a BBC story. I'm not sure how long the story will stay online, but above is a link to check it out for as long as you can.
The Vatican has taken a stance against pharmaceuticals that manufacture anti-AIDS (Aids according to the BBC) drugs for putting money before goodwill.

Amen!

OK, enough of that.

Yeah for the PR! But what about all the others with AIDS in this world, the ones who are too poor to buy the drugs as well. Is it OK for pharmaceuticals to charge such high prices when the disease ravages the poor?

Personally I have problems with the pharmaceutical industry for essentially being an industry for those who can afford it. I can't go into it all, but the way the brand names stall their drugs from generic issue is problematic. And yes, studying and creating these drugs is expensive, but the federal government provides money and incentives to cut those costs, at least in the area of AIDS.

But this is about the Vatican and their conflicting policies.
The Vatican does not support birth control and that means condoms. Condoms prevents the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Does this seem just a little hypocritical? Certainly the Catholic Church doesn't have the sway it once did, but it's archaic and harmful policy can be found in the policy of our Methodist "President" George W. Bush.

Please, does any of this make sense to any real people? If more people were using condoms, had access to condoms, there wouldn't be orphaned children from HIV. There might not even be children, which honestly can't be that bad, seeing as how famine is regularly ravaging Africa where AIDS is a serious pandemic on a scale not seen elsewhere in the world.

And here is a summarized quote from a Jesuit priest in agreement with the Pope:

It was a moral issue which showed lack of social conscience on the part of the international drug manufacturing companies, he [Father Angelo D'Agostino] added.

Doesn't the stance of the Vatican show a lack of social conscience?

I think so.