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known 9 of the 24 remembered in them! In American, we have made quilt panels and in Africa, communities have barely been able to keep up with the need for simple caskets to bury those who have died from complications of HIV/AIDS!

Jesus, I believe, weeps over these countless losses of life throughout the world. "But doesn't Jesus expect that we exercise good judgment and refrain from the activities associated with HIV exposure and infection?" you ask. I certainly believe that all of us are called to care for ourselves and for our neighbors. We are not perfect and most of us will ever come close to perfection. If a child is injured because she/he was playing with a bow and arrow and there was an accident, would you as a parent, refuse to take that child to the emergency room and find the very best care for the child?

It's easy to say that we condemn something, someone, some action, because it is perceived as sinful. I wonder if our lack of action surrounding HIV/AIDS is attributed to this but is in truth embedded in fear of becoming infected ourselves. Even "good" Christians stumble on occasion. How many Christian youth in the 1960's experimented with LSD and other drugs? How many smoke today knowing the direct link of tobacco to lung cancer? What do you imagine the average speed is of a teenage driver out with friends on a week end? We over indulge in food and drink, we take risks in sex and with drugs, we do stupid things on the highway, we go boating without life jackets, and on and on. Nothing can happen to us! Nothing, but severe injuries, messed up brains, ruined families, deaths of innocent lives, lung cancer. We don't rant and rave about cures for cancer; better and safer cars; water patrols checking for life jackets.

I believe that a greater number of our clergy would address HIV/AIDS and the need for a cure from their pulpits if they didn't fear the reaction of their congregations. We don't want to hear about HIV/AIDS, cures, the people who are living with the virus, because we know that we are only an action away from infection ourselves and we aren't certain of our own resolve to not engage in unprotected sex and IV drug use!

No one deserves to be infected with a life threatening disease. Despite negative feelings regarding gay sexual practices and IV drug use, those who struggle with HIV infection are people, created by God and deserving of all the care they can receive toward keeping them comfortable and eventually finding a cure for HIV/AIDS.

And Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as you love yourselves." Work for a cure for HIV/AIDS; it is the Christian response to a universal health crisis.

Learn more about this author, Claudia Windal.
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