Aids and the Wave....

As I survey the effects of the seaborne horror that has besieged the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean in recent days, my mind has searched for a term to best describe a loss of life and property of this incredible magnitude. It is difficult to sum up these sorrowful events of Biblical magnitude, but the only word that comes to my mind is tragedy, as the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it: a disastrous event.

And as I hearken back to 2004, the year that is, by the second, slipping into our memory, I am reminded of another occurrence upon which the term tragedy has been conferred: the Aids epidemic and the spread of the HIV virus.

Since the wee years of the 1980’s and today, as our culture continues to place immeasurable value in the opinions and ranting of those “enlightened ones” that inhabit Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, we are continually accosted with the message of Aids awareness from the beautiful people of Hollyweird. It was not but a few weeks ago that I sat in front of my TV, enraptured by the images of the ills that Aids has wrought: emaciated bodies, gravestones, marches in the streets, babies surrounded by a sea of tubes and needles, suffering for their next breath as the true, helpless and innocent victims of this sexual malady.

And continually, through all the appeals to compassion, sad faces and rainbows, I heard the term tragedy used to describe the transmission and spread of this killer disease.

Tragedy, really? The wanton spread of a murderous virus by homosexuals, intravenous drug users and those having irresponsible, casual sexual intercourse qualifies as a disastrous event? Surely the birth of a baby with Aids or the accidental spread of HIV through a life-saving blood transfusion would fall under the idiom, but the entire Aids epidemic? Please.

For some, it’s not until an event on the magnitude of this quake and tidal wave in the Indian Ocean that the difference between: (1.) a freak tectonic shift and, (2.) the willful engagement in dangerous activity by conscious individuals and their subsequent harm, becomes clear.
Throughout the entire VH1 program that I viewed, not once did the host (of notable Hollywood fame) or the interviewees make mention of the cause of Aids. Neither did they mention any of the myriad ways with which the disease could be prevented. It was nothing but a sob story playing on the natural compassion that inhabits the greater American populace. But in order to call the spread of Aids a tragedy, you must also designate a victim. Those 58,000-plus souls lost to the wrath of the sea truly are victims, but all Aids patients?

As I mentioned earlier, the blameless individuals, many of them unborn babies, affected by the Aids virus are, indeed, victims, but those who contracted the virus of their own actions and activities? No way.

These individuals should be referred to, instead, by those bleeding hearts in sunny California as participants in the Aids epidemic, people who, of their own volition, participated in a dangerous, foolhardy activity or lifestyle that brought their own illness and demise.

Pinning the victim title on persons with Aids completely makes light of and unfairly minimizes the untold suffering in places like eastern Africa and southern Asia.

Would we call one who drinks, gets behind the wheel and kills himself by hitting another car a victim? Not in a million years. Would we call the (now deceased) pregnant mother behind the wheel and her three-year old son in the back seat of the other car, unwilling participants in a situation beyond their control, victims? Yes.

So it is with the allocation of the term by those moral-relativists in Blue States around the country and their victimization of those with Aids who brought in on themselves; and the true helpless masses, those washed out to sea by an unseen act of God.

My heart goes out to those across the globe who have been affected, hurt and killed by this storm and their families. It also goes out to those innocent, true victims of the Aids epidemic and the HIV virus.

But the Bible says in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death,” and so it seems with the Aids outbreak. To bestow victimhood on willing participants in a deadly game of sexual roulette is foolhardy and does nothing but minimize the true, undeserved suffering felt by millions when a tragedy of the magnitude experienced in recent days takes place.

If you’d like to reach out to those affected by the Indian Ocean quake please refer to this website: www.mercycorps.org

And, if nothing else, please keep them, and all those in harms way (our troops), suffering and lonely around the globe in your prayers. Thanks.