Crossing A Line
The pricking of an entire box of condoms at Trinity this week is indicative of a wider malaise. The Catholic church may have a new pope but Ratzinger's doctrine means that the fundamental principles and tenets of religious conservatism remain intact.
Just as Marx acknowledged that Communism could only ever exist where every individual believed in it and where it had developed from socialism, the contraceptive and sexual policies of strict Catholicism can only work in a world without sin, one the religion itself acknowledges cannot exist.
The use of condoms to prevent sexually transmitted infections may seem a debate far too wide for the pages of a student newspaper, but it is worth pointing out that the Catholic Church's stances on contraception and pre-marital sex would be effective in preventing the spread of disease - provided they were observed entirely in conjunction with each other.
If people are prepared to adhere to one but give in to the temptation of the other, however, then the spread of sexually transmitted infections in predominantly Catholic countries rockets. Opposing contraception in a world with 'sin' is conducive only to an increase in human suffering.
Returning to recent events at this university, it is well within the rights of an individual to abhor the actions of another, but one of the benefits of the freedom of our society is that conflicting opinions and beliefs can co-exist. Inflicting your beliefs on others is a right some religions would fundamentally defend and which others may find distasteful but the actions of person or persons unknown in Trinity College this week were a step beyond what anyone would deem acceptable.
Given the circumstances, it is difficult to imagine that the law could bring serious charges against the culprits of this action, even if someone contracted a debilitating or fatal disease as a result. But those responsible should understand that on whatever basis they justified their actions; they contradicted the tenets of their own beliefs and they put in serious danger innocent students who were doing nothing more than acting responsibly and in good faith.
There is a line no human being should cross. This week, each pin prick was a step beyond it.
5th May 2005