Evangelicals venture into AIDS activism

[kweerwolf]

After years of ministering to AIDS patients overseas, evangelical Christians are turning attention to the disease in their own back yard — and one of the nation's largest and best-known megachurches is leading the way.

Nearly 2,000 pastors have traveled to Orange County's Saddleback Church for a national conference that coincides with World AIDS Day on Thursday. On the agenda: How to start local AIDS ministries and free HIV testing in churches.

The "Disturbing Voices" initiative, led by best-selling author and megachurch pastor Rick Warren and his wife, Kay Warren, represents a shift among evangelicals. Many sidestepped the U.S. health crisis because of its association with homosexuality even as they made AIDS part of their missions in Africa and other places where the disease disproportionately affects women and children.

"The evangelical church has pretty much had fingers in our ears, hands over our eyes and mouths shut completely," said Kay Warren, whose interest in HIV/AIDS led her husband to sponsor the conference. "We're not comfortable talking about sex in general and certainly not comfortable about talking about homosexuality — and you can't talk about HIV without talking about both of those things."

http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=3815

[MountainLaurel]

1. Wow, that's a reversal

I grew up in a fundamentalist, evangelical church in the 1980s where the party line was "AIDS is a gift from God to rid the U.S. of the homosexual scourge." Wonder what my former pastor would think about this?

[TaleWgnDg]

2. WHY??? wtf?

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Think about this. Why would evangelical bible-thumpers want to do a 180° turn-around? Or are they? Are they really reversing themselves? What's in it for them? What advantage do the evangelical bible-thumpers procure for themselves by "ministering" to the AIDS community in America, i.e., GLBTs?

Let's brain-storm:

1. Free U.S. taxpayers monies ("faith-based initiatives"), and lots of it. Another form of corporate welfare but this time it's to religion.

2. Such amounts of taxpayers freebie incoming monies allows the religion to free-up Church-based monies for other issues. Money is fungible, remember?

3. More opportunity to "witness" and "proselytize" their brand of religion (and on the taxpayers dole too, what a freebie!).

4. Conversion of ill people to the evangelical faith. What better way to pray upon people, to take advantage of them than when they are ill and suffering -- suffering possibly from the loss of their own family of origin as well! After all, taking advantage of the down-trodden, immigrants, and similarly situated others, is where the "family" environment of evangelicalism truly kicks-in successfully.

5. If conversion into their religion, then maybe a change of political party and subsequent vote as well?

6. If not a conversion into their religion, then maybe a sympathy vote for their political candidate (GWBush et al) in order to keep the freebie federal "faith-based programs" monies flowing?

7. WWJD? To be first on the block to behave toward GLBTs as would Jesus? Or is this merely wishful thinking?

8. Coercive attempts to "convert" from gay to straight?

9. All-in-all, this sucks . . . abstinence works, condoms don't, hello?


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"The Gospels repeatedly show that Jesus loved, touched, and cared for lepers — the diseased outcasts of his day. Today's 'lepers' are those who have HIV/AIDS." -- Rick Warren, leader of the "Disturbing Voices" evangelical initiative, author of the evangelical "The Purpose Driven Life," and evangelical pastor of megachurch Orange County's Saddleback Church
http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=3815

(Uuummm, Rick? If "those who have HIV/AIDS" are "lepers" then it is only because of the twisted mind and behavior of evangelical ministering, hellooooooooooo?)
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