Are Christians Relevant in the AIDS Fight?
By Amanda Grier on 10 February 2006
The recent observance of World AIDS Day provides those of us who are evangelical Christians with the opportunity to re-evaluate our role in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. After entering the battlefield shamefully late, Christians are now at the front lines. With the help of Christian advocacy, government funding and charitable giving have significantly increased. On the ground, Christian organizations like World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, MAP International, and World Relief contribute substantially to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and are well positioned internationally to inject assistance where it is needed most.
Unfortunately, there are many well-intentioned Christians who still see HIV/AIDS as God’s punishment for homosexuality and sexual promiscuity and lobby fervently for abstinence and fidelity campaigns as the only response to HIV/AIDS. They believe that if people simply abstain from sex before marriage and remain faithful within marriage HIV/AIDS would be eradicated. This group of Christians has succeeded in influencing US foreign aid policy towards HIV prevention. Consequently, foreign organizations and governments that promote abstinence programs and ignore the beneficial effects of condom distribution, prostitute outreach, and clean needle programs are favored with a disproportionate amount of support from the US government and Christian aid organizations.
Without delving into specific programs, I will speak more broadly about the limitations of programs that focus entirely on abstinence and fidelity. However, let me first say that I am not opposed to abstinence and fidelity programs nor deny their effectiveness. Instead, I am concerned about the deleterious effects of campaigns that ignore other effective methods of prevention. Campaigns or organizations that focus solely on abstinence and faithfulness in marriage leave the highest risk groups even more vulnerable to HIV infection and can compromise the relevancy of Christ’s message of healing and forgiveness.
Relevance for American Youth
As a youth director for six years, I saw the limits of abstinence-only campaigns. I watched as teenagers sincerely committed themselves to abstinence one week, only to return with tears of defeat the next. Each young person was different. Some fell hard and often, others successfully refused sex, and still others stumbled once or twice. Faced with the realities of our fallen world, I have come to realize that people need every net available to resist sexual sin. One important net is the support of a Christian family and community. However, many kids lack this net. People make poor choices that have serious consequences because they do not have a relationship with Christ.
Let me juxtapose two young women I met during my time as a youth director. Mary and Martha both became sexually active at a young age. Mary, however, took precautions with condoms and birth control. Martha tried to abstain, but when she failed she became pregnant. Mary and Martha eventually accepted Christ, but Mary graduated from college while Martha is still trapped in an abusive relationship with her child’s father.
When they lack comprehensive parental and community support, young people are vulnerable to unwanted pregnancy, abortion, or HIV infection. Abstinence-only campaigns do not resonate with many American youth because most teenagers lack the biblical foundation that makes the programs compelling. As a result, unbelieving teenagers hear a clear message of callous religiosity. Many believe that the stonewalling of condom distribution by Christians contributes to HIV infection, unwanted pregnancy, and abortion. As teenagers and their loved ones deal with issues like rape, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, unwanted pregnancy, and homosexuality, they rarely respond to a message of condemnation and fear. However, I have witnessed lives transformed when Christ’s message of forgiveness and healing is internalized. Most who remain sexually pure do so because of their love for Christ rather than a fear of AIDS. As God’s messengers, we must constantly re-evaluate the appropriateness of our actions or risk becoming part of the problem.
Relevance for Women
Although the message of abstinence and fidelity as the only defense against AIDS is unsuccessful in reaching the most vulnerable in the United States, there are many Christians successfully advancing it abroad. These one-dimensional campaigns appear to be replacing successful holistic action in countries like Uganda with dangerous consequences. When exported, abstinence-only platforms often fail to accommodate the various cultural differences and deep gender disempowerment present in the hardest hit regions. Similar to the US, programs that only promote abstinence hurt the most vulnerable.
Internationally, the two most vulnerable groups to HIV infection are those who engage in risky behavior and those who lack control over the risky behavior of their partners. The first group is widely understood. Those who engage in unprotected sex with multiple partners, inject drug, and prostitution put themselves at incredible risk for HIV infection. They are unlikely to stop their unhealthy behavior for fear of AIDS because they already demonstrate a high tolerance for dangerous choices. However, they respond well to unobtrusive condom campaigns. Withholding access to condoms, as some Christians propose, can prove fatal.
The second high-risk group is the often monogamous sexual partners of those practicing the above-mentioned risky behavior. In other words, women, and ultimately their children, are extremely vulnerable to HIV. According to the 2004 UN AIDS report, most women who contract the disease do so from their unfaithful and much older husbands. These women can then pass the virus onto their children either during pregnancy, birth, or breast-feeding. Consequently, every minute, one child dies from an AIDS-related disease and another child becomes infected with HIV. Furthermore, girls are disproportionately affected due to societal inequalities that force them and their families to rely upon the sexual desires of older men.
It is now generally accepted that the primary cause of high infection rates among women and their children is societal gender discrimination. As long as women endure widespread rape and violence they lack the option of abstinence. Therefore in the struggle against AIDS, we must also combat the disempowerment of women that allows impunity for abuse, economic hardship, and dependence upon abusers.
Until gender equality is achieved, condom distribution is the next best tool against the spread of HIV. In fact, according to the 2004 UN AIDS Report, when male partners simply used condoms, female risk of HIV infection decreased. Condom usage, however, is only one short-term tool. More campaigns must focus on male accountability and respect for women as people rather than consumable goods. The most effective programs are those which employ comprehensive strategies that effectively combat female disempowerment, discourage risky sexual behavior, encourage abstinence and fidelity, and provide access to treatment and condoms.
The difficulty Western Christians have in understanding the gender dynamics in many parts of the world has contributed to favoritism toward abstinence-only campaigns that focus primarily on female sexuality. We assume that women, like men, have control over their sexuality. As AIDS spreads rapidly among faithful wives, the reality for many women is that the institution of marriage repeatedly fails to protect women from rape, violence, and HIV infection. Monogamous women are now the highest risk group internationally. Men who visit prostitutes, have multiple wives, inherit wives from relatives, and inject drugs place their wives and children at risk. Marriage is promoted as a safe place for women, but this illusion can contribute to their death. Abstinence and fidelity only campaigns are unrealistic in a world that does not know Christ and treats women like consumable products.
Christ's Example
During his earthly ministry, Jesus provided numerous illustrations of love toward others, especially sinners and our enemies. His patience is unending when confronted with sinners and the sick but shockingly short with Pharisees, a group that worked diligently to follow God’s law. In our campaigns against, HIV/AIDS we must follow the example of Christ by finding effective strategies that relieve suffering and offer forgiveness. Study for yourself Christ’s response to sexual impurity and measure that against your own.
In John 9, Jesus explains one origin of suffering when he heals a man born blind, “this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” The healing of this blind man led to an intense theological debate regarding the causal relationship between suffering and sin. However, the lesson is made clear in the proclamation of the healed man, “One thing I do know. I was blind and now I see!” What a powerful message Christ gave us to share with the world! When Christians provide proper treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS we send a daily message of forgiveness and healing to a hurting world dealing with a global pandemic.
Conclusions
Like many diseases, the spread of AIDS is the outward manifestation of larger social infirmities. Christians are not immune from blame. Thus, we must diligently examine Christian culpability in the spread of AIDS. Condoms and clean needles have been proven to save lives and slow the spread of HIV in some contexts and therefore deserve consideration. As donors, activists, organization, government workers and laypersons, our global strategy against AIDS should be one of intelligent compassion, where the vilest sinners are healed and all available tools are utilized.
Last updated 12 January 2009