Pope blames women for toxic world problem

[ensho]

http://www.feministpeacenetwork.org/2009/01/05/the-pope-the-pill-and-little-things-that-swim/


The Pope, The Pill And Little Things That Swim


I suppose it was inevitable, now that we know that abstinence pledges aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, the Vatican had to try another approach to bad-mouthing sex and how better to do that than to make women feel guilty for taking the pill:

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“The contraceptive pill is polluting the environment and is in part responsible for male infertility, a report in the Vatican newspaper said Saturday.

The pill “has for some years had devastating effects on the environment by releasing tonnes of hormones into nature” through female urine, said Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, in the report.

“We have sufficient evidence to state that a non-negligible cause of male infertility in the West is the environmental pollution caused by the pill,” he said, without elaborating further.”
***

While the Vatican provided no evidence to prove their assertion, numerous studies suggest that we should be concerned about the impact of pharmaceuticals and other chemicals on both the environment and on human health. And estrogen and chemicals that mimic estrogen such as pesticides are of particular concern and are likely implicated in gender changes that have been observed in aquatic life. But birth control pills are only a part of that picture which also includes looking at how we treat waste, and to single them out can only be seen as the Vatican’s latest Hail Mary attempt to control women’s lives, bodies and health. Currents Between Shores puts it well,

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“Does the Catholic Church, in this day and age, seriously think a world without contraception is a viable option in a planet that is already overpopulated? And who is going to feed and take care of all of these children born from “conjugal love”? The Catholic Church? I’ll believe that when I see the Vatican donate all its gold flatware to poor Catholic countries. How the Catholic church can push an anti birth control agenda when most children born in Catholic countries like Haiti or Mexico, live in dire poverty, is beyond me. . . but, of course, this was an unbiased, scientific study.”
---------------------------

[Mz Pip]

1. 6 billion people

and counting. What male fertility problem? :eyes:

[ensho]

3. its very true - male fertility is down

that's a fact

[stuntcat]

9. that..

that almost makes me think maybe there IS a God.. Gaiety and infertility and natural disasters are his way of saving the rest of the planet. It's a failure though.. if it was "God" doing it the planet would have a chance.

[Mz Pip]

13. Maybe that's

a good thing.

But I wouldn't put the blame on the pill. Could be pharmaceuticals, could be pollution, could be stress, could be diet. Maybe it's just part of the natural order of things. maybe this is just nature's way of trying to put some balance back into the earth.

[Blue_In_AK]

32. Good.

Balance of nature.

[Sequoia]

52. Good.

We have too many people on earth anyway. That Pope is scary as they come; blamming women as usual. He probably misses the days of buring women on the stake. It's about time he and his take responsiblity of the devastiation their religon have brought on this world.

[stuntcat]

6. yah, "His Image" quadrupled in half a century..

..and the pope thinks Teh Gays are more a threat than what the humans are doing to rape their one planet.

I won't even say out loud what I feel for that pope this week :* O8)

[Kalyke]

2. Don't humans, in general, and women, specifically, release hormones

through their urine, anyway?

:shrug:

[ensho]

4. true but now they also release man made hormones

these man made hormones are also put in food meat, fish and fowl.

[Catshrink]

5. He's becoming more of a joke everyday

and more irrelevant. I guess they think no sex unless the couple is trying to have children. Right. Hey, Bennie: explain the church sex scandals, huh?

[apnu]

7. I hope Catholics are happy with Ratzinberger he's working hard to bring them back to the 1800's

Seriously, could the Church have picked a worse person to lead them into the ever changing world when attendance is down for them? And then he comes out and makes the Church even less appealing and backward?

Wow, his ingenuity to sabotage the Church is breathtaking.

[Catshrink]

10. 1800's? How about 1300's or even before?

[Captain Hilts]

17. Many, if not most, Catholics ignore most of what Cardinal Rat says. He's the Dick Cheney of VC. nt

[anonymous171]

34. More like 1200s.

[Book Lover]

36. Fewer than 200 Catholics, out of approx. one billion, chose him

It's not like he was elected by popular vote fer cri-yi.

[provis99]

46. Isn't it "God" that chooses his pope?

At least, that's my understanding of what the "One True Church" claims. All that would mean in my opinion is that God is a misogynist dick (which anyone would already know from reading the bible, I guess).

[Johonny]

38. they were worried about the 3rd world

where their attendance is growing and backwards 1300s church doctrine is appealing. Clearly they gave up on the west.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Birth control pills do not break down so they are polluting water systems and affecting fish...

that's a fact.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. The Pope's a misogynist who doesn't give a shit about fish.

that's a fact.

[Captain Hilts]

21. I agree. But weird stuff is happening to fish in the Potomac. nt

[walkaway]

26. Many of the newest and (considered) safest pest control...

...are contraceptives. Used in large amounts in and out of doors. Sprayed by planes and trucks over fields and streams. I'm only guessing that the pills humans take make up a small part of the chemicals that effect human reproductive ability.

Someone should tell Pope to check out TLC on Monday night. Tons of Quiverful families popping out babies like bunnies. The Duggers must only drink bottled water.

[Chulanowa]

50. With all the crap spilling into the Potomac, it's hard to blame the pill

Could be cocaine from Marion Berry's urine, for instance.

[Recursion]

53. Plastics are a much more likely culprit

And I kind of like Mayor-For-Life Marion "The B**ch Set Me Up" Barry.

[JerseygirlCT]

42. Exactly

This is about control, not fish!

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. A fraction of a percentage of how much pesticides are doing the same.

It is really a negligible amount.

There is much more of a problem with pesticides and the hormones used in the livestock industry.

[SpiralHawk]

11. This Pope is a regular Republicon Homelander soul-free whimp-out propagandist

...ain't he?

[blogslut]

12. Ugh

There are no words...

[Retrograde]

14. So more men should have vasectomies, right?

That will help keep female contraceptives out of the water. Or people could switch to condoms and/or IUDs,

What? They object to those as well? No wonder the planet's population has tripled in my lifetime.

[Captain Hilts]

25. Sounds like a plan to me! Perhaps they could have vasectomy tents outside baseball stadiums, etc.

[TahitiNut]

45. And tents outside shopping malls offering tubal ligations? Swell.

:eyes:

[jus_the_facts]

15. Medical Facilities Flushing Unused Medications into Water Systems

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/health/September-October-08/Medical-Facilities-Flushing-Unused-Medications-into-Water-Systems.html

September 16, 2008 *snip*

The medical profession’s longstanding custom of flushing unused pharmaceuticals down the drain at hospitals and long-term care facilities is causing a problem, according to the Associated Press (AP). Researchers have begun finding trace amounts of medications in the nation’s drinking water supply.

Because few medical facilities track how much pharmaceutical waste they create each year, it’s hard to get an accurate picture for the entire United States. However, the AP was able to use a small sampling of information to estimate that the nationwide total is at least 250 million pounds of medicines and contaminated packaging.

[ensho]

19. kick - this is a huge important problem

the flushings should stop NOW!

[jus_the_facts]

23. Especially since the medications could be given to the poor instead of just wasted....

...and contaminating the environment. :kick:

I watched a program on PBS about this...they were taking all the meds popping them out of the bubble wrap into a bucket..then flushing them down the toilet...saying it has been a common practice at hospitals and nursing homes since forever. :(

[JuniperLea]

16. Who is to say this isn't a natural process?

Overpopulation, stress... there are a lot of reasons.

The misogyny is getting thick at the Vatican... pretty disgusting.

[ensho]

20. scientists say. that's who says

the problem is real and man made.

[Captain Hilts]

22. Correct. Someone read a newspaper to Cardinal Rat and he's using this for his own agenda. nt

[JuniperLea]

27. Got link? eom

[pnwmom]

28. Nah, he's really blaming men for not using more condoms.

;)

[SoCalDem]

29. or women.. for having the audacity to pee...n/t

[juno jones]

30. Seems like everybody except for straight catholic men

are threats to the planet in Bennie's book.

[pnwmom]

31. Hey, he's not blaming lesbian women.

They're not using birth control pills.

:shrug:

[foxfeet]

43. If he bothered to notice that lesbian women exist,

he'd find a way to blame them for something.

[pnwmom]

49. You're right, to him they probably don't exist. On the other hand,

since they're not spilling seed or putting seed into the wrong place or getting anywhere near seed --

I guess that makes them like nuns.

:shrug:

[Greyhound]

33. We need far more male infertility.

About 99% in my estimation.

How can you people follow this penishat?
:wow:

[REP]

35. Pope needs to take a big step back and literally fuck his own face

Yes, I just saw Tropic Thunder but this quote seemed appropriate here.

Also approprate: Jesus wept.

[devilgrrl]

37. What's he f@%#ing care?

To borrow a phrase from the great Jimmy Breslin - "He's never lived a day in his life!"

[Stevenmarc]

39. The Pope needs to stick to Pope'ing

and keep his nose out of science, after all it wasn't till 1992 that the Pope John Paul II conceded that the Earth was not stationary, a fact that the current Pope wasn't so willing to concede in 1990.

[sarcasmo]

40. F Religion and F the Pope.

[tuvor]

41. Misleading title.

Either that, or I'm missing the part where the article actually says the Pope has blamed women for the "toxic world problem".

There's plenty of legitimate dirt to throw at him without resorting to hyperbole.

[windoe]

44. Such twisted logic.

We need biodegradable pharmaceuticals, including natural hormones, not to ban the pill for causing ecological damage!! NIce try.

I think this Pope wants any excuse to trash contraception, methinks.

[backscatter712]

47. Monty Python has a song about this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kJHQpvgB8

Everybody sing!!!

Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great!
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate!

[MountainLaurel]

48. So what else is our fault?

Climate change? Alabama's loss in the Sugar Bowl? The run Laura Bush got in her pantyhose last week?

[AngryOldDem]

51. This scientific message brought to you by...

...the same folks who finally got around to validating Galileo 500 years later.