The
Failure of our FAITH COMMUNITIESI am a white, Christian, well-educated, married mother and I have HIV. I am faithful to my husband and am 100 per cent sure that he is to me. I do not believe that I 'deserved' to be infected, any more than my husband did, or indeed any of my infected friends - gay, heterosexual, black or white. Yet still, a quarter-century after the epidemic began, one hears this taunt thrown at people with HIV.
It seems that a major reason why it is seen as 'punishment deserved' is due to its almost complete association with sexual transmission. Our society (and indeed many others) seems to feel that sex is somehow - even within marriage sometimes - something to be ashamed of. Don't, especially if you're a 'respectable' woman like me, admit that you enjoy it!
This leads to anything associated with sex becoming tainted with the same shame and embarrassment. Add in so-called 'perverse' sexuality - homosexuality and promiscuity - and you have a recipe for bigotry.
OK, many people probably have HIV because they've had multiple sexual partners, but how many uninfected people can honestly say that they have only had one?
It's hard to see the method in God's 'punishment' if He chooses arbitrarily between equally promiscuous people. And what about other kinds of 'perversity' - is 'wicked gay sex' worse than, for example, paedophilia? This idea of 'punishment' really seems to be a way of justifying underlying homophobic and racist attitudes.
In any case, there is another route of infection, particularly in the developing world, which I am sure is significantly under-reported - bloodborne transmission.
Infected needles, blood products and direct blood-to-blood contact may in fact be responsible for a huge proportion of HIV in Africa. I was brought up in Kenya and one thing stands out in my memory of going to the doctor there: if the doctor didn't give you an injection you didn't feel properly treated.
Add in the fact that, due to the relatively poor nutrition in Africa, pregnant women are usually anaemic, and given transfusions quite routinely. Also add in the fact that the cost of surgical gloves, sterile needles, testing blood products and so on is far too high for most countries' meagre health budgets. The sum you get tells you that the non-sexual route of transmission has to be much higher than admitted.
Remember how lucky we are in the UK to have an NHS free at the point of contact. In Africa there is no free care - you pay for every visit and every test, and every treatment prescribed.
Why has this transmission route received so much less publicity? Why do we concentrate on the sexual transmission route almost to the exclusion of everything else, even though politicians, funding bodies, aid workers and faith leaders (who, in my opinion, are the worst of them all) know what it is really like in the developing world? They must know how often HIV - and other bloodborne viruses - are, ironically, transmitted by doctors and nurses trying to heal.
But no, it's easier to let society see HIV as a gay and black problem and to be safe, self-righteous and superior. Don't rock their warm, safe, blinkered cocoons - they are the ones who donate the money that pays for these faith leaders.
In Christ's time the outcasts were people who had leprosy. It was believed that they had this illness because they were being punished for their sins. The Pharisees were self-righteous and superior towards these people, withholding all support from them. What did Christ do? He reached out and touched them. He healed them, welcomed them and supported them. He shows us how Christians should act - not judging, but reaching out to help and support. Who are the modern-day Pharisees?
I challenge our faith leaders, especially those of the Christian faith, to preach the true tenets of our faith with conviction, and to practice what they preach. To be non-judgemental, charitable, and supportive to all in need, regardless of gender, colour, sexual orientation or any other thing that marks people our for discrimination.
Christ did not wait for people to be 'good' - he came to them where they lay and helped them as they were. His priests and followers should do the same.
