World Aids Day - December 2

And what should be our response to this day. It is indeed a scourge upon the globe especially now among the once developing nations in Africa as well as growing now in some parts of Asia. How should the nations respond to this plague caused mainly by the promiscuity of men (first in the homosexual community and now increasingly by what is termed "predatory" behavior with women in societies where their right to say no is compromised or not respected.

The ABC approach favored by the Bush administration, Christian relief agencies, Uganda and some other suffering nations is derided as not enough and backward thinking. ABC - Abstinence, Be faithful, and dead last, the use of condoms to limit the spread from one infected to another in a now hopefully monogamous relationship.

But the "progressive" element in the United Nations and international agencies put condoms first. I don't know if it is mostly a joke but their approach is also termed a network acronym - CNN. Condoms, News (education about sex and AIDS) and Negotiation (how to say no, or say yes, but condom, please). The philosophy is to defeat AIDS by technical means instead of moral means. My first argument with this is look at the primary technical means of prevention. Is it something high tech -- no it but a thin layer of latex. Though simple, it is often forgotten, misused, or defective among those who need it most, and it would seem to me to be wholly ineffective, when, shall we say most delicately, alternate orifices are used to transfer bodily fluids, and these alternatives may be favored in heterosexual relations when procreation is not a desired result. Also putting condoms first allowing an unrestricted lifestyle would tend to defeat the second & third principles of educations and negotiation.