End of Faith

Sam Harris believes that people should stop having complete tolerance to all religious beliefs but instead people should put religious views up against evidence. The issue he has with religions is that it has people believe and behave in certain ways that goes against most scientific truths. One example he used during the lecture was the Catholic belief that condom use is wrong. Now he specifically pointed out that priest would preach this is Africa where HIV is most prevalent and that they would teach this doctrine in areas where the locals would not know anything else, thus further spreading HIV. Well my issue with this statement is that yes the Catholic church condemns condom use because it believes in abstinence in unmarried couples and that sex is intended to be for procreation only. Now with no sex the spread of HIV would end almost completely but I understand that abstinence and sex for only reproduction is something that is not likely to occur but what my point is that he represented this belief of condom usage without stating all the facts behind the catholic policy on condoms.

The facts were not all represented. Something that Sam Harris himself preaches doing, to take the belief and hold it up against evidence in a non religious manner. Now scientifically speaking, yes, abstinence is the best prevention method one can do to not sexually transmit and receive HIV. But the best method in sexually active couples would obviously be condoms, they greatly reduce the possibility but are not 100%, like abstinence is.