Victims of our Pasts

Over the weekend I heard someone express the fact that we were all victims of our pasts. We spend our lives complaining about our past, how life had dealt us the wrong cards and how unfair things have been for us. Accordingly we spent most of our time dwelling on the past and thus we become stagnant and can't progress as we have no path or direction. On the surface it sounded plausable; we all need goals in life such that we can strive towards it whether its a new job or repaying our mortgage in 5 years (yeah right) or meeting someone special before we are 30. These goals helps us to shape our future such that we can get to where we are going and be pleased with our efforts. However deep down we can't forget our past, our mistakes, our happy times and not our so happy times. These are the things that define who we are, where we come from and help us to understand where we are going.
I guess this was what the Pope was wrestling with when he ordered a report on whether it might be acceptable for Catholics to use condoms all be it only for the 'protection of life within marriage when one partner is affected with the HIV virus or has AIDS'. We all know that condoms are not the best but one of the most effective ways of preventing the transmission of STDs and AIDS so it may seem odd for some to hold on to past beliefs that prevent the use condoms. This is especially a problem in Southern Africa and also for the rest of the world as 40.3 million people currently live with the virus. So it comes as a big surprise that the USAID given to help this crisis is channelled through Faith Based programs that hold on to past beliefs of 'abstinence is the best policy'.
How are going to tackle the problem of world poverty and AIDS as we cling on to past beliefs and promote outdated methods that are not compatible with modern day life. How can we progress anything if we stuck in the past? Lets break out from the chains of our pasts and only use the past as a reference for our future.
Here are a few interesting facts (From the indypedia, The Independent newpaper)

1. The average british adult has sex between 118 and 135 times a year.
2. Belguim is the happiest country sexually
3. 22% of adults claim to have had an extra marital affair
4. 47% of adults have had unprotected sex without knowing their partners history

P.S I wonder how easy it would be for us to forget about the past like Tony Blair, Charles Clarke and John Prescott only for it to hunt you later in life.