HIV/AIDS God’s Curse?
Four years ago I organized a HIV/AIDS support and information event at my first church home. Got the Pastor's blessing, vocal support of the church. Leading up to the event I started asking around the church for support and I got a lot of vocal support and promises. However one Sunday this all changed, I went up to the Pastor's adult grand-daughter for support and she looked at me and said with a disgusted look, "Naw I aint supporting that because what they do is an abomination and nasty".
One part of me wanted to let it go and the part that one was the part that could'nt let it go. To sum it up she believed that HIV/AIDS was God's punishment for the homosexuals for their sexual sin, (however truth be told everyone in the church was silent about the fact that this young lady was not married and had two children and was about to give birth to twins and yet she believed that she was in a better place spiritually than others). She said what she felt and I can appreciate in your face honesty no matter if I agree or not. (Cyberspace honesty is another thing).
Ok fast-forward to the night of the event, my family, the Pastor, some community members, five church members out of a couple of hundred including , (now this event was on Bible Study night and there was usually a big turn out). Many in the church were not happy that the church addressed the issue and they decided to show this by not coming and for some they never came back to church period.
For 26 years HIV/AIDS has been kicking butt and taking names. And lately it has been hitting African Americans hard, (of course not just us but for some reason we are taking the hardest hits).
And for most of these 26 years the Black church has been really quiet as a whole. Now there has been leaders and some denominations and organizations that have been leading the fight and why?
Although African Americans are only 13% of the U.S. population, they account for 49% of HIV/AIDS cases in 2005.
African American males had almost 8 times the AIDS rate as non-Hispanic white males.
African American females had over 24 times the AIDS rate as non-Hispanic white females.
African American men were over 9 times as likely to die from HIV/AIDS as non-Hispanic white men.
African American women were over 21 times as likely to die from HIV/AIDS as non-Hispanic white women.
Why the church? Why not the church. The Black Church has always been in the center or even in the forefront of leading the fight against social problems that we face as a people. Check the history the Black church was key in the fight for civil rights and key long before that. But why not HIV/AIDS?
From my review of research studies, caller response from the radio show and just being around church folk I hear the "AIDS is a curse from God because of our condoning homosexuality". However most of the time many of us don't say it we think it and it shows in our actions or lack thereof.
Our brothers and sisters living with this disease need the Church behind them with love and compassion
One part of me wanted to let it go and the part that one was the part that could'nt let it go. To sum it up she believed that HIV/AIDS was God's punishment for the homosexuals for their sexual sin, (however truth be told everyone in the church was silent about the fact that this young lady was not married and had two children and was about to give birth to twins and yet she believed that she was in a better place spiritually than others). She said what she felt and I can appreciate in your face honesty no matter if I agree or not. (Cyberspace honesty is another thing).
Ok fast-forward to the night of the event, my family, the Pastor, some community members, five church members out of a couple of hundred including , (now this event was on Bible Study night and there was usually a big turn out). Many in the church were not happy that the church addressed the issue and they decided to show this by not coming and for some they never came back to church period.
For 26 years HIV/AIDS has been kicking butt and taking names. And lately it has been hitting African Americans hard, (of course not just us but for some reason we are taking the hardest hits).
And for most of these 26 years the Black church has been really quiet as a whole. Now there has been leaders and some denominations and organizations that have been leading the fight and why?
Although African Americans are only 13% of the U.S. population, they account for 49% of HIV/AIDS cases in 2005.
African American males had almost 8 times the AIDS rate as non-Hispanic white males.
African American females had over 24 times the AIDS rate as non-Hispanic white females.
African American men were over 9 times as likely to die from HIV/AIDS as non-Hispanic white men.
African American women were over 21 times as likely to die from HIV/AIDS as non-Hispanic white women.
Why the church? Why not the church. The Black Church has always been in the center or even in the forefront of leading the fight against social problems that we face as a people. Check the history the Black church was key in the fight for civil rights and key long before that. But why not HIV/AIDS?
From my review of research studies, caller response from the radio show and just being around church folk I hear the "AIDS is a curse from God because of our condoning homosexuality". However most of the time many of us don't say it we think it and it shows in our actions or lack thereof.
Our brothers and sisters living with this disease need the Church behind them with love and compassion
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