Cognitive Dissonance

"Democracy! Bah! When I hear that I reach for my feather boa!" -- Allen Ginsberg

Posts tagged truth

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amedio3k: This just came up on my FB feed because an acquaintance “liked” it. My head just about exploded.I suppose I’m not terribly surprised, since the image was posted by an account called “Catholic Church” (their info states: ‘This is not an official page approved by the Catholic Church. It is a lay initiative and has no approval from any Ecclesiastical Authority.”), and links to uCatholic (motto: “Catholic Traditions in the Modern World”.I’m not even surprised that the acquaintance “liked” the image, since she’s a devout LDS, married with three kids. I really don’t care about someone else’s religious belief, or sense of morality.What has me raging, however, is the blatant misinformation…the generalization…and the projection of one group’s sense of morality onto others.Not only is this a slap in the face to those who don’t want to get married or can’t get married , but it’s an incredibly dangerous assertion when you consider the truth about HIV and other STIs. I’m sorry (not really), but a ring on your finger and a signed marriage license aren’t going to protect your health.Fidelity won’t necessarily protect your health.Sex is not the only way that HIV is transmitted…and the idea that marriage and/or fidelity equates “safe” sex is just one of many myths that has allowed for the rapid spread of HIV infection, particularly among couples in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, about one out of every ten couples living in Kenya has at least one partner who is HIV+. Among married people who are living with HIV, 45% have a partner who is uninfected.According to Population Action International:  “In a study of five African countries, two thirds of HIV-infected couples are serodiscordant (one partner is HIV-negative, while the other is HIV-positive).  In Rwanda and Zambia, it is estimated that over half of new infections occur within marriage or in cohabitating relationships, and just under half in Uganda.  While risk of transmission in discordant couples can be drastically reduced, this can only happen when partners are tested, disclose their results, and use condoms. “There’s really nothing righteous about lying and promoting ignorance. This sort of bullshit “wishful thinking” is killing people. It’s beyond infuriating. It’s despicable. 

amedio3k:

This just came up on my FB feed because an acquaintance “liked” it. My head just about exploded.

I suppose I’m not terribly surprised, since the image was posted by an account called “Catholic Church” (their info states: ‘This is not an official page approved by the Catholic Church. It is a lay initiative and has no approval from any Ecclesiastical Authority.”), and links to uCatholic (motto: “Catholic Traditions in the Modern World”.
I’m not even surprised that the acquaintance “liked” the image, since she’s a devout LDS, married with three kids.

I really don’t care about someone else’s religious belief, or sense of morality.

What has me raging, however, is the blatant misinformation…the generalization…and the projection of one group’s sense of morality onto others.

Not only is this a slap in the face to those who don’t want to get married or can’t get married , but it’s an incredibly dangerous assertion when you consider the truth about HIV and other STIs. 

I’m sorry (not really), but a ring on your finger and a signed marriage license aren’t going to protect your health.
Fidelity won’t necessarily protect your health.

Sex is not the only way that HIV is transmitted…and the idea that marriage and/or fidelity equates “safe” sex is just one of many myths that has allowed for the rapid spread of HIV infection, particularly among couples in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, about one out of every ten couples living in Kenya has at least one partner who is HIV+. Among married people who are living with HIV, 45% have a partner who is uninfected.

According to Population Action International: 

“In a study of five African countries, two thirds of HIV-infected couples are serodiscordant (one partner is HIV-negative, while the other is HIV-positive). 

In Rwanda and Zambia, it is estimated that over half of new infections occur within marriage or in cohabitating relationships, and just under half in Uganda.

 While risk of transmission in discordant couples can be drastically reduced, this can only happen when partners are tested, disclose their results, and use condoms. “

There’s really nothing righteous about lying and promoting ignorance. This sort of bullshit “wishful thinking” is killing people. It’s beyond infuriating. It’s despicable. 

Filed under HIV AIDS Catholic Catholicism Religion Faith Safe Sex Sex STIs Health Truth Marriage Fidelity

49 notes

Novelist Gore Vidal dies at age 86

This is sad.

Two of my favorite quotes from a brilliant writer:

As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.

And:

All in all, I would not have missed this century for the world.

I’m glad you didn’t.

Filed under Gore Vidal Sad writer genius novelist truth