A far more likely contributor to lowered sperm counts.When Benedict gave his now infamous "gays and rain forests" speech, I wrote that the new framework for presenting natural law sexuality would be phrased in ecological terms. I saw this as an effort to blend Church teaching on sexuality and gender with the green movement in order to justify it to younger generations. Since then the message has been consistent. Benedict again mentioned this notion of human ecology in his January 1st Message For The World Day of Peace. And in spite of all the flack Reuters has taken for their interpretation of the Rain Forest speech, the Vatican has not attempted to correct Reuters interpretation. That too is telling.
As suspicious of Vatican motives as I am, even I was not prepared for this latest ecological salvo:
The pill "has for some years had devastating effects on the environment by releasing tonnes of hormones into nature" through female urine, said Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, in the report. (Wow, I guess we women better stop peeing, or start disposing of our urine in some toxic waste dump.)
"We have sufficient evidence to state that a non-negligible cause of male infertility in the West is the environmental pollution caused by the pill," he said, without elaborating further. (You mean as in citing valid scientific studies and any collaborating evidence?)
"We are faced with a clear anti-environmental effect which demands more explanation on the part of the manufacturers," added Castellvi.
The article was promptly dismissed by several organisations. (I wonder why?)
"Once metabolised, the hormones contained in oral contraceptives no longer have any of the characteristic effects of feminine hormones," said Gianbenedetto Melis, vice-president of a contraceptive research association, quoted by the ANSA news agency.
The hormones contained in the pill such as oestrogen "are present everywhere... in plastic, in disinfectants, in meat that we eat," added Flavia Franconi, of the Society of Italian Pharmacology. (This notion is backed up with valid studies.)
Pope Benedict XVI in October reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's condemnation of artificial birth control. (and in December he began his human ecology/natural sexuality comparisons.)
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What this Vatican article fails to mention are the real causes of male infertility and the biggest cause is the temperature with in the scrotum. Fertility experts even suggest parents not use disposable diapers on boy babies because they serve to increase the body temperature around the scrotum and decrease sperm counts. At least this makes some sense.
This is the same sort of scientific inventifacting the Church uses about porous condoms and HIV. It's not science, it's criminal fraud. If the Vatican is really worried about the very real decrease in sperm counts, they should advise men to wear boxers, stay out of hot tubs and saunas, quit smoking and stop drinking alcohol.
Oh, but that would imply men have some responsibility for their own infertility. Much better to blame it on women and the pill.
Just when I think I have heard everything stupid that is coming out of the Vatican or the Church somewhere, there is more stupidity on top of it! This really takes the cake. Blaming women seems to be a favorite hobby for some men!
ReplyDeleteNext they'll be blaming women for global warming because we go through menopause!!!
My son was telling me he saw an independent film about corn. The cattle are fed corn and corn it turns out is not healthy for the cattle and will kill them in six to nine months. They are slaughtered before a natural death from the corn. That all goes into our bloodstream when we eat beef. Also, they have been adding hormones to the cattle feed. This seems to be something much more of a reason for low sperm counts, as well as the ones you indicated like wearing boxers and drinking less alcohol.
Colleen, I am so glad you reported on the latest attack on scientific data from the Vatican. I had read about this on the Clerical Whispers website today, and was struck by the disconnect between what these fundamentalist Catholics want to believe, and what real science is saying about the non-issue they are now riding.
ReplyDeleteIt distresses me when the very folks who proclaim themselves the most faithful advocates of "the" Truth are willing to lie--outright lie--to make up pseudo science or to distort scientific findings to "prove" their doctrinal points.
Truth defended at the cost of lying hardly seems like truth to me.
"The female side of God was ignored by Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Without the worship of the female side of the Divine we fail to connect the feminine principle to a higher source. This has led to an unfortunate struggle between men and women. It has led to conflict where there should be love, true intimacy and understanding. It has also led to a technological world in danger of tearing the fabric of our connection to the Earth. . . "
ReplyDelete“Power is man’s secret, creativity is woman’s secret, and man and woman is God’s secret.” J. Armstrong quote
dear Colleen perhaps it is time God had the sex talk with the Vatican?
I find the popes ecological message interesting for a variety of reasons.
ReplyDeleteOne, not 6 months ago, the pope entire magisterial authority was telling us that abortion was the root cause of all of the evil in the world.
After the election, and prior to preparation H8, the rhetoric on abortion ceased, and homosexuality became the root cause of all of the evil in the world.
Now that preparation H8 is over, the rhetoric on homosexuality has toned down, and now it is women using contraception that is the root cause of all of the evil in the world.
One of the things that I have said for a long time, and taken a lot of flack over, is:
"if the vatican says it is right and good, then it probably isnt"
and
"if the vatican says it is bad and wrong, then it probably isnt"
Whatever the vatican says, if we do the opposite, it will probably be the right thing to do or the best thing to do.
I keep waiting for something to come along to disprove that theorem. I am still waiting.
If the pope were anyone else besides the pope, at this point he would be undergoing psychiatric evaluation for dementia. However, since he is the pope, he is giving dementia a new name ... "word of god".
I wrote that last paragraph as sarcism, however, if we take a close look at what the pope has been pontificating during the last 12 months, we can easily see a progressive diminishment in his cognitive abilities that is similar to what I have observed in people experiencing dementia. I would be curious to know what someone who is experienced in the field thinks about this.
Now we have a bigger question to answer, what do we do when the pope demonstrates mental deficiency that renders him unfit to lead the church?
My daughter walked in the office yesterday just as I was posting. She saw the photo and said: "what Vatican pile are you blogging about today that it needs a diaper?"
ReplyDeleteWhen I told her what the story was really about she said, "See I was right."
Colleen, that is just too funny! The Vatican has definitely been soiling itself. Maybe the Vatican Bank should invest in Depends undergarments just like with Viagara.
ReplyDelete