Today is World AIDS Day, and I’m confused. Despite impassioned pleas from celebrities like Bono, and the heart-breaking statistics regarding the African epidemic, I struggle with how to respond. Mainly because of stats like these from Mission America:
1. Over 1 million people now have HIV in the U.S.(a)
2. Almost half of HIV cases (just under 500,000) are known to involve male homosexual behavior.(b) This is a highly conservative figure. Male- to- male sex is a contributing factor in other transmission categories as the Centers for Disease Control defines them. A more realistic actual figure is around 60-70%.
An estimated 300,000 males in the U.S. have died of AIDS as a result of male homosexual sex.(c)
3. In 2006, 53% of new HIV cases were attributed to MSM (males who have sex with males). Another 4% falls into the category of MSM plus IDU (injection drug use).(d) And many of the cases in the category of “high risk heterosexual” (31%) originate with the homosexual behavior of the partners of the heterosexuals who contract HIV. There are also cases classified as “unknown” in origin, and many of these are likely to involve MSM.
4. In certain states, the percentage relating to male homosexual sex is much higher:
• In California, at least 67% of HIV/AIDS cases are directly linked to male homosexual behavior, with another 9% involving the combined risks of MSM and IDU.(e)
• In Oregon, 66% of AIDS cases are attributable to male-to-male sex, with another 10% involving the combined risk factors of MSM and IDU.(f)
• In Ohio, 58% of AIDS cases are caused by male homosexual behavior, with another 6% transmitted through MSM and IDU.(g)
Yes, AIDS in America is way different than AIDS in Africa. I need to separate those two continents in my thinking. A little child who is born into squalor, from a mother who’s a prostitute, now destined to die within the first 10 years of her life for something she had no power over, is way different than the sexually promiscuous American male who trolls gay bars, cavalierly imbibing his lusts, demanding I tolerate his lifestyle choices.
That’s why, for me, the most troubling of all the statistics, is number 9 on the above list:
We are spending $3 billion federal dollars annually in the U.S. on a disease that is largely preventable.
It could be argued that compassion is blind; we are not called to judge peoples’ sins, but empathize with their plight. That’s legit. It could also be argued that a significant percentage of AIDS victims are innocent of moral culpability. That’s also true. But the fact is, for many Christians, the homosexual element throws a monkey wrench into AIDS causes. Why are we spending 3 billion dollars a year addressing a problem that can easily be prevented? Because the homosexual movement has diverted, convoluted, maybe even hijacked, the discussion. Until we have the courage to identify homosexual sex for the culprit it is, AIDS causes will always be undermined.
I am a Christian and I have been for 24 years now. i work in the field of HIV/AIDS. In this field i have been called to show the compassion and the love of Christ to people who’s lifestyle I may or may not agree with, but as a Christian that is what I, you, and all of us are called to do. Paul says that it is not for him (or for us for that matter) to judge people outside the church. Compassion, mercy, grace, and love is what will cause the “sinner” outside the church to listen to us. People living with HIV in the USA have heard nothing but condemnation for their lifestyle choices and that it is “their fault” they contracted HIV. But compassion and grace is not extended to people in proportion to their sin, but out of a desire to minister mercy to bring them to God.
Thanks, marc, for your comment. I hear you. Really. It’s why I am so conflicted. I am not of the camp to condemn homosexuals, ad hoc, for their choices. Lord knows I need mercy as much as anyone — any criminal, any adulterer, any deviant. Any human. Homosexuality is no worse than greed, pride, or gluttony. However, in the scheme of things, the consequences of homosexuality are, sometimes, worse. My confliction lies therein.
As a Christian, I want to help and have non-judgmental compassion upon gluttons, alcoholics, and drug addicts. Nevertheless, my Christian duty encompasses more than just unconditional absolution. Jesus told the adulteress, “Go and sin no more” (Jn. 8:11). He forgave her, and then he exhorted her. There is a point when Christians unapologetically assist others. There is also a point where responsibility is attached. Am I doing the glutton a service by absolving him of his obesity without addressing his unchained appetite? No. Likewise, am I serving the homosexual community by loving them, without saying “sin no more”? Not only has our culture jettisoned the idea that homosexuality is sin, the Church has forfeited her obligation to hold culture — specifically, homosexuals — accountable. How we do both is my current dilemma.
Thank you so much for your service, marc. I appreciate your comments…
Amen, Mike. When it boils down to choices, we all have to make them. People have come to believe that grace equals tolerance. It doesn’t. It exceeds tolerance but doesn’t change truth. Sin has consequences. All sin. My sins. Your sins. We can eliminate certain consequences by eliminating certain sins.