f th frcns hr th “cndms=sn” prt nd mss th “sx tsd f mrrg=sn” prt thn th prblm s smply tht frcns r stpd. If there are Catholic priests preaching this then that’s another problem but that isn’t the objection. The real problem with the Pope’s approach is that no one believes the priests. I’ve known people who’ve worked in Sierra Leone and they say that on the coast the people are Christian and inland they’re Muslim but really they’re all Animists. The reality is that the Pope can say anything he wants; no one is listening.

No, he’s sticking with one of those rigid ideologies that hinder the process of development.

If the Africans hear the “condoms=sin” part and miss the “sex outside of marriage=sin” part then the problem is simply that Africans are stupid.

Lots of self-identified Christians (in Africa and elsewhere) rationalize that it’s better to commit one sin than two.

Also, you’re not going to make a lot of friends by boiling the AIDS pandemic down to “Africans are stupid!” The fact is that most Africans don’t have the benefit of a basic education, and ignorance is deadly. That’s why the messages they do hear (like Papal decrees relayed through missionaries) should be as accurate and helpful as possible.

Look, if the Pope himself went to Zimbabwe and said, “You can use condoms,” it would have the exact effect as if Richard Dawkins did the same thing. They just don’t recognize his authority.

And I guess I’ll have to spell this one out:

Premise 1-If the Africans hear the “condoms=sin” part and miss the “sex outside of marriage=sin” part then the problem is simply that Africans are stupid.

Premise 2-Africans are not stupid.

Conclusion-Africans don’t hear either part.

Thanks for just assuming that I’m a racist.

Nobody is saying AIDS would disappear if the Pope changed his position on condoms. But SOME people would use condoms who aren’t using them now.

Saying “nobody listens to the Pope” is just as stupid as saying “everybody listens to the Pope.” He is an influential figure among a certain portion of the population, so what he says does matter.

Some people would start wearing condoms and there would, undoubtedly, be a reduction in the massive populations of these countries and assorted other benefits. This would have little effect on the spread of HIV because the portion of the population who listen to the Pope are already not spreading HIV. The portion who spread HIV will continue ignoring the Pope and not using condoms.

You keep repeating yourself. If you don’t have anything new to say, please stop.

Maybe instead of demanding money to be cured, under the pope’s system hospitals will demand obedience to God.

Kidding!

“should prompt us to liberate ourselves from ideologies, which oversimplify reality in [sic] artifical ways, and … lead us to examine objectively the full human dimension of the problems.”

Catholicism used to be one of the largest and most rigid ideologies on the planet. This is the most humanist statement I have ever heard uttered from a religious authority.

That’s it, I’m turning crypto-atheist A.K.A. Catholic.

On the actual issue? I think a 5 year drug patent is acceptable. I think that a greater good would be done just by giving people in Africa free condoms. Drugs are expensive either way.

Can you imagine how many poor people would have died if Banting and Best had patented insulin, rather than, essentially, CC-ing it?

I guess I need to take my meds.

– MrJM

I’m not saying the current system is without its faults but currently 2% (ish) of lab based research ends up bringing a product to market, which is then only under patent for 5 years or so (the patent being applied for at the start of this process).

The costs of pharmaceutical research are gigantic. Yes more cheap drugs is great, but lets have a really good idea what the new system will look like before we tear down the old one.

I hope to see more enlightened perspectives from the Catholic Church (and all branches of Christianity for that matter) that are consistent with the tenet, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

Kudos, mister Pope.

Being that the church has such a great relationship with the scientific community this would be an interesting experiment.

I love it when people who create nothing and promote ideas through their mystical ideals want to give away other peoples wealth.

The Catholic Church is one of the largest land owners on the planet. Would they like to do away with deeds to land?

He can take his idea and go pound sound.

The way it’s done now, through publicly subsidized hospitals and universities.

Acts 2:44-45 (New International Version)

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

God or no God, a Dark Age is inevitable under this sytem.

Given that, this does not mean that we cannot push for “free” research in universities which should be patent free, or that we cannot fight against stupid patents such as the ones on DNA sequences.

So he’s closing the place?

The average drug requires nearly 1 Billion in development costs to even get to market. Nobody in government is equipped to measure the risk of which drugs to fund and which to pass on.

Perhaps we should begin taxing the church properties like any business. Furthermore let’s tax their revenue like any business. Then maybe some of those funds can go to his noble ideal.

@takuan – i couldn’t agree more. . .

anyway, yeah, makes more sense once I realized the title referred to patents & not patients.