Ahem. Who's to blame? We all are.

Vincent Walkem, now 30 years old, is currently being prosecuted for having sexual intercourse while lying to his partners about his HIV-positive status. You can read about the case here, here, and here. The chronology, in brief: girl meets guy (in a bar, no less), girl sleeps with him shortly after they start dating, girl finds out he's HIV-positive after he's assured her "he's fine" and that he doesn't need to use a condom (presumably she's on the Pill), girl then finds out she's HIV-positive, too. Oh, the humanity!

Whoop-de-do.

She whines:

"The most frightening aspect is the omnipresent question mark that surrounds me, the absolute uncertainty of how ... my life will turn out. There are occasions when a kind of fury overcomes me ... to think that he has marked me for life."

I have to ask: what did she expect, anyway? Recall what I wrote earlier about donating blood, where I was asked about my sexual history. One of the questions was: "Have you ever had sex with a woman who may have had sex with other partners?" And this brings me to another point: the widespread use of contraception so that women may control their "reproductive rights" has lulled our culture into accepting the notion that sexual intercourse outside of marriage is okay. It's not.

Pope Paul VI had it right when he wrote against contraception in Humanae Vitae:

"Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection."

Compare and contrast: "reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires" and "consider her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection."

And what, pray tell, did Vincent Walkem say when asked by the judge why he lied about his HIV-positive status?

"There's nothing I can say that can justify it. I wish it never happened," Walkem said. "I hope in the future to seek counselling to figure out why I made these terrible decisions."

Uh-huh. Counselling?

Psst — hey Vincent, rent a clue: you're a sinner (like the rest of us).

Trouble is, Vincent bought the lies our culture tells us (about lots of things).

Vast sums of money are being spent on developing treatments for HIV/AIDS — it's all going down the drain so long as we don't get people to change their behaviour. We can only do this if we change our thinking. There are many serious problems in the world: for starters, we're killing millions of unborn children. Developing expensive treatments so we can indulge our self-destructive behaviours shouldn't be high on our priority list. AIDS prevention through chastity education is a better strategy. Don't take my word for it — listen to this guy.

And what of the (now) 23-year old woman who tested HIV-positive?

The woman described how she suffers from frequent colds, "night sweats," fatigue and fevers, as well as depression, panic attacks and insomnia.

Because of these "permanent anxieties," she said in her victim impact statement, she's "unable to indulge in the relatively carefree life" of her friends.

Carefree life? Is that code language for immorality? Sorry, girl, game over. Think about using your situation to explain to others what sleeping around did to you. Otherwise, you're being as obtuse as the man who infected you.

Marked for life, indeed.

We all are — unless we repent, and "Go, sin no more." (Jn 8:11)