I am still shocked at the AIDS numbers I see

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

One of the problems with AIDS is that it causes poverty and instability in those countries where the prevalence is high. Ultimately this may lead to war and terrorism. So we have incentives to prevent this kind of ongoing disaster.

And as a Christian, what right do you have to harden your hearts? I guess it depends on what kind of Christian you are.

A separate issue is how we treat the disease in the United States. We treat it like a big secret, instead of a deadly communicative disease. For other STD's and serious infectious diseases there are laws related to reporting it and warning others that might have contacted the disease from the affected person. In other words, privacy has been favored over stamping out the disease. Privacy has also lead to stigmatization. "HIV victims should be treated like any other person with disease, but we tackle it in an ineffective way, different from any other similar disease." This has multiplied the devastation of this disease.

I guess I'm just not a very good Christian. And probably I have no right to harden my heart. On the other hand, as I keep getting told about Iraq and am begining to believe, we (the US) cannot solve every problem.

As I say, I am all for whatever efforts are made to cure and prevent because there are many innocent victims of it.

I still disagree with hoya that there is a homophobic issue here (that is a rediculas term by the way, but I'll adhere to the convention), rather I think many people don't see it as "our" problem. Maybe this is sort of how I feel about it. I think that anyone in the US who is "uneducated" about the risks can be lumped in with those who don't know smoking is bad for you. AIDS deaths in the US have declined sharply for many reasons. That leaves us with Africa basically.

You are right to point out that there is a destabilizing impact there, though I'm not (very seriously) sure how Africa could be less stable than it is now.

In any case, I am very interested by your comments that "privacy" concerns have hampered us in treating this like other diseases. I had not heard that before. I wonder who it is that is asserting these privacy concerns? It seems intuitive to me that the gay rights groups would have the biggest beef there but I may be wrong. What more can you tell me about that?