That Darn Auth

Tom Toles isn't the only editorial cartoonist that gets complaints at the Post. Even though he works for a Philly paper, Tony Auth came in for this gripe, although he was unnamed. The accompanying cartoon was signed.


Catholicism Under Attack
Washington Post Saturday, March 28, 2009; A11

Of all the cartoons published last week, why did you choose one that is anti-Catholic for Drawing Board on March 21? Not only was it offensive, but its implications were false.

The cartoon showed Pope Benedict XVI in an AIDS ward saying, "Blessed are the sick, for they have not used condoms." The implication was that condoms would reduce the incidence of AIDS.

However, no less an authority than Edward C. Green, a senior research scientist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, was quoted as saying in National Review Online last week that "we have found no consistent associations between condom use and lower HIV-infection rates."

When asked to comment on a statement by Pope Benedict XVI on AIDS, Green said that the pope is correct, "or put it a better way, the best evidence we have supports the pope's comments."

The implication of the cartoon that the pope does not care about the plight of AIDS victims was insulting and outrageously untrue. What other group can match the care given to AIDS victims throughout the world by Catholic institutions and health-care workers?

-- Robert H. Follett
Lansdowne