Marriage and Condoms

By now you've heard of the incident between former Miami Dolphins player Chad Johnson and his wife Evelyn Lozada, known for her role on VH1's reality tv show Basketball Wives.

According to news reports, the two got into an argument after Lozada found a receipt for a box of condoms in Johnson's car. The fight escalated when they arrived home and ended with Lozada running to a neighbor's house for help. She accused Johnson of head-butting her. The Los Angeles Times has this report of the 911 call.

Since then, Johnson has been released from the Miami Dolphins and Lozada has filed for divorce from the sports figure after only 41 days of marriage. Their upcoming reality show with VH1 has been cancelled.

I bet some were thinking: if he's married (and faithful), why does he need to buy condoms, right? So, I ask: Do you think you need to use condoms if you're married? Just because you get married does it mean you should stop using condoms? Should married couples use condoms?

The Johnson/Lozada incident brought to mind a documentary I saw on PBS last month titled, Endgame: AIDS in Black America. One of the most heartwrenching stories was of a woman, a good Christian lady, who had become infected with the virus from her husband, a church deacon. They had met at church, dated. They married and she became sick with flu-like symptoms during their honeymoon. Months later she was cleaning up and found his bible. A piece of paper fell out of the bible while she was putting it away. It was the results of her husband's HIV test. He was HIV positive. The results were dated a year before they had gotten married, but he had never told her of his status.

So I ask again: Once you're married, can you assume you can stop using condoms?

Let me know your thoughts...