The Monday Sidebar…Religion and Health.
March 23, 2009 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Exposed!, The Sunday Sidebar
Some sad but true actions by religious leaders that, in my opinion, really does nothing to help improve the world’s health.
Back in 2003, imams in northern Nigeria claimed that polio vaccinations were part of a western plot aimed to make Muslims infertile or infect them with AIDS. This resulted in large scale boycotting of the vaccines and an almost doubling of children crippled with polio the following year.
(the good news – a big new anti-polio push is currently under way in Nigeria and this time, many of the Muslim imams are advocating for people to have the vaccination.)
Meanwhile, the Pope, during his recent visit to Africa stated that ‘condoms are not the answer’ to fighting AIDS. Not only that, he went on to add that it (condoms) only increases the problem. Of course, this statement shouldn’t be all that surprising given the Catholic churches stance on birth control and abortion. But it really doesn’t help those who are fighting against this disease.
(image by nualabugeye at flickr)
