dagblog - Comments for "Melinda Gates hits out at 'war on women' on eve of summit"

Melinda Gates Takes on the

artappraiser — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:12:42 +0000

In reply to Melinda Gates hits out at 'war on women' on eve of summit

Melinda Gates Takes on the Vatican
By Lauren Collins @ newyorker.com, July 11, 2012

[....]

Gates said that she had “wrestled” with the decision to speak out against the church, but that her conscience necessitated dissent. “As a Catholic I believe in this religion, there are amazing things about this religion, amazing moral teachings that I do believe in, but I also have to think about how we keep women alive,” she said. “I believe in not letting women die.” She continued, “A church is made up of its members, and one of the things this campaign might do is help women speak out. I’ve had thousands of women come on to websites and say ‘I’m a Catholic, but I believe in contraception.’ It’s going to be women voting with their feet.”

I like that she's continuing

artappraiser — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 02:36:06 +0000

In reply to Gates' comment sounds naive,

I like that she's continuing with Margaret Sanger's vision and I like that she's doing it as a practicsing Catholic. It's a twofer--you get an up yours to the old farts at the Vatican with this one. She's following the real faith: human dignity for every baptized Eve as well as Adam. I'm a lapsed for many reasons and have no plans to go back, but I still think Humanae Vitae is a terrible and faulty aberration in their thinking no different than the persecution of Galileo that they will regret (ie, the "infallible" didn't think twice about approving use of antibiotics which likewise could be said to artificially intervene with "God's will," likewise they have never approved baptism and last rights over toilets for early miscarriages of fertilized eggs but made up some shit about limbo to cover up the problem!) That it's coming from her might even get them thinking, ya never know. While they have a habit of treating lowly nuns and others of poverty and low station in this manner: "sit down, shut up and listen ," for a millenia and a half, they have also shown mysterious attraction to hear out the thoughts and passions of wealthy and accomplished devout members (despite Christ's teachings about camels and eyes of needles.)

Gates' comment sounds naive,

PeraclesPlease — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:12:50 +0000

In reply to Melinda Gates hits out at 'war on women' on eve of summit

Gates' comment sounds naive, especially being Catholic - of course people will deny contraception makes sense, just like they'll deny the earth goes around the sun. That's how it became political in the US. Even as contraception lowers the need for abortion, many people aren't actually after that goal - they just think sex is immoral and have a bizarre anti-planning attitude of anything around sex.

But glad she's sponsoring this. I'd guess at least half of the women receiving contraception will go on to have kids - but when they can afford them, take care of them, fit them into a healthy lifestyle. Certainly not at 12 years old. The Guardian had a related article about contraception in Nepal - a somewhat backward state that exclaims "but we're not Afghanistan"- they are able to discuss their issues and push forward real effective contraception programs. I don't know what all the hurdles in Africa are, though I'd guess improving injectable contraception to once per 6 months will help a lot.