Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Jesus Saves...Allegedly

Christian groups are wary of HPV vaccine because they say it might “advocate promiscuous behavior”.

Just what the hell? I notice that every year our global medical aid is diminished by a million here, ten thousand there, because groups that lean Christian conservative are continually lobbying to restrict said funds.

Don’t believe me? Would you believe such a rag as the New York Times? (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/102305E.shtml)

President Bush has again decided not to let the U.S. give money to the U.N. Population Fund, which helps women give birth…after they family pays $42 for such “luxuries” as bandages, antibiotics, and thread (!). Otherwise, African women and babies die, in horrible pain, unclean situations, and all for the want of the price of a pair of jeans.

Even if these women survive, they often develop fistulas (holes) between the vagina and anus or urethra, leaving them incontinent. What man would want an unclean woman back? How would she care for his children? Why would he want an unclean wife? For the number of goats it would cost to get his “old wife” (who may be in her 30’s, heaven forfend) sewn up, he can buy that cute thirteen-year-old. Conserving the nuclear family, yup, that’s how it’s done.

The African gentleman in question can’t, of course, avail himself of condoms because they’re terribly expensive. Why? In part because the Global Population Fund and other organizations have had their funds restricted by “compassionate Christian conservatives” who don’t believe in distributing condoms. They don’t believe in providing any kind of birth control to anyone. So, they are partly responsible for the woman who showed up at an African “hospital” with lethally high blood pressure. For the lack of a $13 dose of medicine, she hemorrhaged and died on the operating table, along with her 12th child.

Bush’s loyal minions don’t like the Population Fund, first because it has U.N. in its name, no doubt. Secondly, because it offers birth control options, as well as prenatal and birth care. Thirdly, because it offers the same medical care to women in China, and they don’t like the One Child Policy.

Fine, go ahead and put tariffs on Chinese goods then. What? It makes all your Wal*Mart cronies cry? Well, then, let’s just let African women die in childbirth, because Lord knows, THEY won’t be contributing to the RNC anytime soon.

People on the Right wonder why black people don’t support the Republicans. BECAUSE WE’RE NOT STUPID. We can connect the dots between “letting Africans die as a result of our global health care and family aid policies” and “letting African Americans die as a result of our national health care and family aid policies”.

We can also figure out what policies are simply asinine, such as the HPV vaccine controversy (why don’t we teach the controversy on contraception?). Christian groups are saying “we don’t like the HPV vaccine because if there’s no threat of STD’s, then girls will be having sex.”

The mind boggles, really, it does. First, what seven year old lining up for a shot in the arm thinks, “Hey, I’m getting a tetanus shot, how about I go impale myself on the first pointy fence I see?” Second, I certainly haven’t noticed people getting negative TB test results applying for a vacation stay in Russian prisons.

Third, I also don’t see a rash of children on AIDS drugs creating brothels because they’ve already got AIDS, so why not? This compassionate Christian conservative is not logic, nor is it compassionate, conservative, nor particularly Christian. It’s idiocy and it should be called idiocy.

Cervical cancer is a very real threat. Giving a child a shot to prevent them from getting it is not going to lead to Hugh Hefner suddenly getting 8000 more girlfriends under the age of 10. It’s going to lead to better health for young people, lower costs to our health care system, and may possibly save the fertility of many young women. What’s not to like?

So there won’t be as many costs to young women AND young men to having sex. I can live with that. 4092 women in 2004 died of cervical cancer. How many Religious Righties did it take to ensure that many more women will die in childbirth this year, and possibly die of cervical cancer in the years to come, all because in their compassionate conservatism ,they want to tell us who Jesus loves the most.

Who would Jesus save?

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