Education + Advocacy = Change

Click a topic below for an index of articles:

New-Material

Home

Alternative Treatments

Financial or Socio-Economic Issues

Forum

Health Insurance

Hepatitis

HIV/AIDS

Institutional Issues

International Reports

Legal Concerns

Math Models or Methods to Predict Trends

Medical Issues

Our Sponsors

Occupational Concerns

Our Board

Religion and infectious diseases

State Governments

Stigma or Discrimination Issues

 

If you would like to submit an article to this website, email us at info@heart-intl.net for a review of this paper

 

any words all words
Results per page:
 

“The only thing necessary for these diseases to the triumph is for good people and governments to do nothing.”

Religion & Diseases
    

Main topics can be found within the left column; sub-topics and/or research reports can be found near the bottom of this page.  Thank you
     

 

A new addition to the HEART is our Forum-check it out

Additional information Religion and infectious diseases (I thru Z)

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES:

Document Name & Link to Document

Description

File Size /pdf

12 Principles of Islamic Unity - Action Items Principles of Islamic Unity by Dr. Adel Elsaie  

A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

I understand that you have an economic system in America known as Capitalism. Through this economic system you have been able to do wonders. You have become the richest nation in the world, and you have built up the greatest system of production that history has ever known. All of this is marvelous. But Americans, there is the danger that you will misuse your Capitalism. I still contend that money can be the root of all evil. It can cause one to live a life of gross materialism. I am afraid that many among you are more concerned about making a living than making a life. You are prone to judge the success of your profession by the index of your salary and the size of the wheel base on your automobile, rather than the quality of your service to humanity.  
A Jihad Against AIDS If the best vehicle for educating a Muslim population about Aids is one that carries authority, enjoys mass reach and possesses the power to convince, who better than the person who leads prayers at a mosque? Particularly in a predominantly Muslim region such as the Kashmir Valley?  

A Matter of Faith

The nature of HIV/AIDS has posed a major challenge for communities of faith. The HIV/AIDS pandemic touches on several issues that are central to religion and faith, including sexuality; the family; death; dying, and the afterlife; caring and compassion; morality; and the meaning of life and faith itself

313 kb pff

A Pastor’s Guidebook for HIV/AIDS Ministry through the Church We are here because African Americans continue to be disproportionately infected with HIV and AIDS.  As reported in the 2001 CDC HIV/AIDS Surveillance, African American and Hispanic women together represent less than one-forth of all US women, yet they account for more than three fourths (78 percent) of AIDS cases reported to date among women in the United States 990 kb pdf

ABC vs. HIV

"In my eight years here, evangelicals have now stepped up to the plate. They represent a great hope, and I think there's a great awakening on this issue," said Frist, according to meeting participants. "The ultimate cure cannot be found without the church."

 

Abstinence, Abstinence-Only, Faith-Based, and the Psychology of Stigma

There is common ground on abstinence; the problem is with abstinence-only. Everyone agrees that not having sex is the most certain way to prevent sexual HIV transmission -- and few if any object to teaching that. But it certainly does not follow that abstinence-only prevention programs are best -- since many clients will not remain permanently abstinent, and the issue is what happens when they do not.

 

Abstinence Failure Menstuff® has compiled the following information on abstinence failure. There is potential failure with all forms of prevention, which often comes from not having the knowledge of how to use the protection. That's why it is so important to know as much about "safer sex" before ever experiencing even petting. Without that knowledge, the chances of acquiring an STD or having an unplanned pregnancy, increases dramatically. Nonpartisan researchers have been unable to document measurable benefits of the abstinence-only model. Columbia University researchers found that although teenagers who take "virginity pledges" may wait longer to initiate sexual activity, 88 percent eventually have premarital sex  

African Church Leaders Admit, 'We Have Been Reluctant to Speak Openly about HIV/AIDS

We have been reluctant to speak openly about HIV/AIDS and have thus at times contributed to the silence and stigma that surround the disease. We have allowed fear and denial to prevent us from getting good information and education about HIV/AIDS and, in turn, sharing that information with the members of our conference.

 

AIDS.. Hidden Crisis In Arab, Islamic Countries

"The gap is wider between reported numbers and estimated ones of those plagued by HIV/AIDS in regional countries, due to a plethora of reasons including governments' blackout of the true numbers," Ibrahim al-Kirdani of the World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean Region office.  

AIDS: Stigmatize or Show Mercy?

 

40,000,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS today, of which 3,000,000 are children under the age of 15. A particularly troubling consequence of the deadly disease is the number of orphaned children that has resulted. Today, more than 13 million children, most of who live in sub-Saharan Africa, have lost one or both parents to AIDS. By the year 2010, it is estimated that this number will jump to more than 25 million. In a world that harvests more than 40,000 refugees as a result of wars, civil strife, floods, earthquakes and destitution, AIDS also forms a formidable enemy.  

AIDS: An Evangelical Perspective

How should our response to the AIDS epidemic be influenced by the fact that in many places the primary transmitters of the disease are promiscuous male homosexuals and intravenous drug users? Answering this secondary question is more complex. It is a prejudical untruth to call AIDS a homosexual disease. AIDS is a viral disease that affects heterosexuals and homosexuals. There is no evidence whatsoever to indicate that this new virus was originally produced by homosexual practice.  

AIDS and the Church

 

This silence may imply assent to the view that certain at-risk populations (gay and bisexual men, drug addicts, prostitutes) deserve the disease and the horrible death it portends. Or the silence may indicate a lack of knowledge of the disease and of the opportunities for ministry it generates. Whatever the reason for the shortcoming, AIDS raises basic issues of pastoral and prophetic ministry that involve the church’s role in the community as well as its responsibility for society’s dispossessed. Whether or not the federal government or other agencies provide resources to meet this crisis and some of the needs of people touched by it, the church itself must respond if it is to reflect in its life the spirit of its Lord who commanded his fellow servants to do for one another what he had done for them.  
AIDS BOASTING Poem submitted to this site by a college professional concerning the concept that AIDS is for those people who do not listen to the Words of God.  
AIDS Challenges Religious Leaders Roman Catholicism has been a crucial player in virtually all aspects of the global response to AIDS since the disease was identified 20 years ago. Through its hospices and hospitals, orphanages and parish outreach, the Catholic Church provides more direct care for people with AIDS and their families and communities, particularly in Africa and Latin America, than any other institution.  

AIDS - Christian Views on HIV / AIDS

In the early days of the AIDS epidemic medical advice was that AIDS was spread only by anal sex. The public impression was that unless you were gay you could not get AIDS. A number of clergymen and church leaders then grabbed their Bibles and began a series of private and public pronouncements denouncing homosexuality, listing plagues described in the Old and New Testaments, and declaring that this was obviously God's plague on homosexuals---obviously as it only appeared to affect them.

 

AIDS: A Jewish Perspective At the outset, one possible misconception must be dispelled. The argument is sometimes made that since AIDS is spread by conduct that both Judaism and Christianity regard as immoral, society should not be overly concerned. Let the sinners suffer the consequences of their sin. This is an utterly fallacious argument  

AIDS & Circumcision-Islamic view point

Circumcised men come from communities that place a deep religio-cultural significance on this particular hygiene practice; which doesn't necessarily apply to those who do not (Shillinger, p.1). The majority of Muslims believe that male circumcision is obligatory and it is one of the five acts of cleanliness recorded in Sahih Muslim, Sahih Bukhari, Musnad Ahmed and Sunnah at-Tirmidhi

 

AIDS and American Religion

 

Some people of faith, however, not only believe for themselves, but force on others the notion that there is only "one way" on the spiritual journey to meaning. For those of us involved in the day to day life of AIDS ministry it is clear that much harm has been done to persons with AIDS by segments of American religion. Homophobic campaigns of hate, bigotry and discrimination have caused serious damage to the hearts and souls of people already stigmatized by a fatal disease. It is completely understandable why some individuals want to distance themselves from "the church" because of the acute amount of pain inflected on them by church leaders who condemn them to hell or consider them "intrinsically evil" because their God-given sexual orientation happens to be homosexual

 

AIDS AND RELIGION IN AMERICA

My first contact with the reality of HIV/AIDS was very peculiar. It happened many years ago. It was at the beginning of the pandemic in a small city, Bani, in the Dominican Republic. I was delivering a lecture in the Cathedral Hall on the realities of this new illness called AIDS--in Spanish, SIDA. There was a question and answer period at the end of the talk and three men, one after another denied vehemently the existence of the virus causing the illness: One said all of it had been invented by the priests and the Church to try to prevent men from having fun, having sex. The other two said it was all political and had been invented by the F.B.I. In other words, AIDS was an invention; it did not exist.

 

AIDS…Hidden Crisis In Arab, Islamic Countries As the number of AIDS patients has risen to a surprising - yet alarming - levels in Arab and Islamic countries over the last few years, many take the blame for the shortcomings to deep-rooted reticence about discussing the epidemic and reluctance of unscrupulous governments and apparently conservative societies to admit it.  

AIDS in South Africa: Why the Churches Matter

South Africa has the world’s second largest AIDS epidemic (in gross numbers). Its neighbor, Zimbabwe, ranks first. During the past ten years, while AIDS has come under control in central African countries with far fewer resources, the disease has gone out of control in South Africa, in the richest, most cosmopolitan nation in the whole sub-Saharan region. An estimated 10 million South Africans, out of a population of approximately 40 million, will die of AIDS during the next ten years.  

AIDS is not a Punishment: Overcoming Guilt and Shame

If you sometimes feel that HIV has stolen the meaning and purpose of your life, you are not alone.  Having HIV has forced many people to examine themselves and life in general.  Unfortunately, some religions and elements of our culture have spread the idea that AIDS is a punishment of sin.

109 kb pdf

AIDS RELATED STIGMA Thinking Outside the Box: The Theological Challenge For the churches, the most powerful contribution we can make to combating HIV transmission is the eradication of stigma and discrimination…Given the extreme urgency of the situation, and the conviction that the churches do have a distinctive role to play in the response to the epidemic, what is needed is a rethinking of our mission, and the transformation of our structures and ways of working. Pdf 521 kb
AIDS-proof your marriage - use a condom

Thirty-four year-old Joan Gray has never led a dissolute life so she felt she had little need to worry about using a condom or being at risk for HIV/AIDS.

She was wrapped up in the security of a Christian marriage anchored on trust. Her husband Paul was also firmly rooted in the faith. "I trusted him because he was a child of God. And I know that if you are a child of God, you wouldn't do nothing to at all to hurt your wife or your husband," she said ruefully as she reflected on her ten-year marriage.

She is now HIV-positive - not as a result of her husband cheating on her but because he had had unprotected sex in a previous relationship. "Five years after we got married he learned that his ex-girlfriend had died of AIDS. He never went to get tested and he never told me," she said.
 
 

AMERICAN BAPTIST RESOLUTION ON THE AIDS CRISIS

Given the epidemic proportions of the HIV/AIDS crisis, the fact that at the present time HIV/AIDS is a fatal disease, and that HIV/AIDS presents us with that which is unknown, menacing and incurable, there is a specter of fear and paranoia for multitudes. Due to the fear of and ignorance about the disease, rejection of those who have HIV/AIDS is common. Such rejection causes additional emotional pain for these persons, their families, and their friends. American Baptist individuals, families and congregations have not been immune to the tragedy brought on by this disease. Many within our denomination suffer in silence, not knowing what response they may receive from their congregations if they make known their own struggle or that of a loved one.

 

An Islamic Perspective on Sexuality
In Islam, sexuality is considered part of our identity 
as human beings. In His creation of humankind, 
God distinguished us from other animals by giving 
us reason and will such that we can control behavior 
that, in other species, is governed solely by 
instinct. So, although sexual relations ultimately can
 result in the reproduction and survival of the human 
race, an instinctual concept, our capacity for 
self-control allows us to regulate this behavior.
 
Anti-HIV/AIDS Efforts Follow Men to the Mosques
"HIV prevention therefore cannot gain without promoting
 safe sex, of which condom promotion is an essential 
factor. To be meaningful, any such programme got to 
overcome the argument that promoting condom is 
promoting immoral activity,"
 

Beyond the Homophobic God

Not only has AIDS generated a social crisis of multiple public and private meanings in the United States and throughout the world; it is also underscoring a spiritual and moral crisis for many religious traditions. For many religious persons, the AIDS crisis has provoked fear-based reactions - rejection and isolation, condemnation and judgment, shame and guilt. From some traditions and groups, AIDS increasingly is evoking genuinely compassionate (as opposed to patronizing) pastoral responses. In the most liberating currents of religion, in the U.S. and elsewhere, the crisis is inviting creative theological and ethical responses.

 

BODIES OF EVIDENCE

These HIV thea/ologies challenge the complacency of "theology" in the face of HIV disease and also force us to look at the role that "theology" has played in fostering the kinds of conditions that allow HIV to be where it is today in this country and elsewhere, especially amongst those people whom the dominating culture considers to be "disposable people".

 

Buddhism and the Discourse on AIDS in America

The discourse on religion and AIDS in America has tended to construct itself in a way that makes the key terms into images of the ideals or anti-ideals of the hegemonic culture. Not terribly surprising. Hence, AIDS becomes, monolithically, a (perhaps the)"gay disease," religion is equated with Christianity, and America is portrayed as the culture of white, straight, married, middle-class men and women. The logic that manipulates the now monolithic terms would make the conclusion seem inevitable: real Americans who have the right religion have nothing to fear. AIDS is the disease of the other. It "happens" to those who are not white (whether there in "darkest Africa" or here in the false, penumbral, America of the shooting gallery, the ghetto, or the barrio).(1) When forced to admit that being white is no guarantor of immunity, it is the "Americanness" or the true religiosity of the victim which is challenged.

 

Buddhism, Transplants and Marathons If I have to use one word to describe this issue of Transplant Chronicles.  It would be ‘controversy.’  Transplantation exudes controversy, especially within the areas of donation and allocation. 182 kb pdf

Can you drink the cup that I must drink...

Since the beginning of the AIDS pandemic, "concerns" have periodically surfaced regarding the possible spread of HIV/AIDS through the practice of sharing the cup at the administration of the Eucharist. Unfortunately, this concern is sometimes manifested as blatant discrimination. In several instances, HIV-positive Episcopalians have been asked not to drink from the cup out of misguided fear they might infect their fellow parishioners.

 

Christianity and Islam in Africa's Political Experience: Piety, Passion and Power

 

Relations between Islam and Christianity can be conflictual as they currently seem to be in parts of the Nile Valley, or competitive as they seem to be in East Africa, or ecumenical as they have often been in countries like Tanzania. Christianity and Islam are in conflictual relations when hostilities are aroused, and the two great religions re-enact in Africa a shadow of the Crusades. Christianity and Islam are in competition when they are rivals in the free market of values and ideals, scrambling for converts without edging towards hostility  

Christians Caught Between the Sheets -- How ‘abstinence only’ Ideology Hurts Us

There are few subjects as explosive inside the Christian church as sexuality. The level of reactivity with which people discuss sexuality, parent around sexuality, silence sexuality, and judge and shame sexuality has no equal. For centuries we have fostered this reactivity through the silence and shame that fills most adult’s sexual story and later as parents, assuming a mostly “off limits” silencing stance in our homes with our children. When sexuality is brought up there is usually a swift, reactive and authoritarian response that sounds something like, “Don’t do that!” That is “wrong” or “bad” or “only for people who are married.” And then perpetuating the cycle, we assist our children in going underground with their sexuality, filling with a shame, guilt and self-loathing that finds no place to be comforted. The cycle of shame, silence, and separation of sexuality from faith, grace, and God’s relentless and embodied love is continued. Why have we allowed this? Why have we not examined this with less reactivity and more earnestness? Where is Christ’s love and grace in our sexual stories, our parenting, or the stories of our children?  
Christianity's Contribution to Women American women were baptized into the workforce decades ago. Today they're running their own businesses, launching their own product lines, are managers, directors, VPs and CEOs. That's why the Southern Baptists' spat over women in the workplace is laughable. What's next – debate over whether the earth is round?  
Churches challenged to keep promises for action on HIV and AIDS "If our generation does not 'step up to the plate' and recognize and act on the fact that we are sisters and brothers to all who suffer," Talone said, "then we risk the loss of more than fortune, culture and a way of life.  We risk having our very human identity slip between our fingers."  She concluded, "Our faith demands more of us.  Our God demands more of us.  Our sisters and brothers who have gone before us demand more of us.  Our future demands more of us."  

Churches gather to coordinate action plan against HIV/AIDS-TANZANIA

"When we learned about HIV/AIDS, it is true that churches were shocked into silence and confusion," Dr Rev Veikko Munyika, CUAH vice-chairman and
General Secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN), said. "But we came to realise that we cannot stand aloof while our people
were dying, so we decided to get involved and unite versus a common enemy."

 

Clerics from all faiths establish project to tackle AIDS in the Arab world

 

Silence about the nature and prevalence of HIV/AIDS tends to be the norm in the Arab world, where conservative traditions discourage any public discussion of sex. People who have tested positive for the HIV virus are often shunned and suffer discrimination.  "AIDS is an evil that is devouring Arab societies," said Rania Abdel Rahman, an activist from Sudan, which has by far the highest infection rate in the Arab world. The United Nations AIDS program and the WHO estimate that Sudan has 350,000 people infected with HIV — more than 10 times the estimate for any other Arab country.  
Condoms Vs. Christianity - When The Church Tries To Play God The subject here is how the church dictates to its people. If condoms were made available to people then the spread of disease would be less. People are going to have sex regardless of what the church says. That’s something that you can’t deny or argue with. However it’s pretty funny that they will play Russian roulette with their lives by having sex without a condom. The church says that its wrong to have sex unless you are married but in the eyes of most that’s something that is overlooked but hey, you better not wear a condom while you are having marriage outside of sex. Understand the irony of that?  

Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Harm Reduction in Muslim Countries

Muslim countries, previously considered protected from HIV/AIDS due to religious and cultural norms, are facing a rapidly rising threat. Despite the evidence of an advancing epidemic, the usual response from the policy makers in Muslim countries, for protection against HIV infection, is a major focus on propagating abstention from illicit drug and sexual practices. Sexuality, considered a private matter, is a taboo topic for discussion. Harm reduction, a pragmatic approach for HIV prevention, is underutilized. The social stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, that exists in all societies is much more pronounced in Muslim cultures. This stigma prevents those at risk from coming forward for appropriate counseling, testing, and treatment, as it involves disclosure of risky practices. The purpose of this paper is to define the extent of the HIV/AIDS problem in Muslim countries, outline the major challenges to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and discuss the concept of harm reduction, with a cultural approach, as a strategy to prevent further spread of the disease  

Deathly Doctrine: Christian Churches and AIDS

 

AIDS, as it has developed these last 12 years, is not so much a disease as it is an ideology. AIDS has been an epidemic, but it has been an epidemic of grants, funds, monies spent on research, prevention, education and care, and theological definition and redefinition, even more than it has been an epidemic of deaths of a certain sort Every disease has always been a social and cultural phenomenon a phenonemon of meaning at the same moment that it has been a phenomenon of health and dying. But the meaning given AIDS has become mythic almost heroic; this quality is witnessed by the spectacular scale on which AIDS is visibly made to appear. As we will discuss below, the funding of AIDS is quite disproportionate with its epidemiological significance; but more than just the money spent on AIDS, there exists a social and religious imperative to give visibility to AIDS.  
Definition of the freak Sadly, those of our species who are found to be outside the borders of normality in appearance and action have been often stared at, studied, exploited, exhibited, and most often, feared. In the middle ages, they were seen as "prodigies", signs of God's displeasure and/or dominion over the earth, and were thus exploited by religious zealots.  
Developing Strategic Plans: A Tool for Community- and Faith-Based Organizations Organizational and technical capacity building is a cornerstone of the CORE Initiative and helps ensure that grantees and southern partners have the skills and strategies they need to implement effective community-based HIV and AIDS programs. The CORE Initiative's capacity building efforts focus on technical skills and issues of organizational effectiveness. Focus areas include planning and management, behavior change communication, monitoring and evaluation, microcredit/ finance, gender issues, networking, and advocacy. Pdf 221 kb
Disease Traced to the Early Ages and Its Causes-Religion
My object in laying my ideas before the people in 
regard to the causes of disease is to separate 
myself from all others who pretend to cure disease. 
The world or the people in it are superstitious from 
ignorance, but their superstition shows itself 
in a variety of ways. Some who think they are free
 from it are in reality most affected by it. Superstition 
is not applied to wisdom but to some idea that has 
never been understood, and the explanation of the 
phenomena is the superstition if it is not 
explained on some scientific principle that puts an 
end to all investigation. My object in this communication
 is to confine myself to the prevailing superstition in 
regard to diseases, their causes and cures, and to 
show where I stand independent of all others.
 
Dying to learn: Young people, HIV and the churches More than half of those newly infected are young people, aged between 15 and 24 (UNAIDS, 2002b). Young people are particularly vulnerable to HIV. Many young people do not know how to protect themselves from HIV. Half of teenage girls in sub-Saharan Africa do not know that a healthy-looking person can be living with HIV (UNAIDS, 2001). The churches responded quickly to the crisis, using extensive and well-established networks, providing care to the sick on a vast scale. However they have become less involved in prevention work. In addition to the discomfort experienced by many in talking about sex, the churches have been concerned that sexual health and HIV education1 may lead to promiscuity2 amongst young people. Pdf 681 kb

EMBRACING IDENTITY: CREATIVITY AND SECURITY

Each religion usually defines itself as the "true people," often to the exclusion of those who do not match the norms defined and defended by those elected to do so in the tradition. Here special and narrow and true are claimed to be synonymous. In this understanding of community, different is usually a pejorative term. Someone differs from truth. This is cognitively heresy and actively immorality. The true believer is the one who acts according to the norm that defines the interests of the dominant group in the religion.

 

Ecumenical HIV/AIDS Initiative in Africa After two decades, HIV/AIDS has become a global emergency with far-reaching effects. Today, there is no country that has been left unscathed by the Epidemic. It affects all countries including Cameroon socially, economically, spiritually and culturally. HIV/AIDS threatens development and human security.  

Evangelical Christians Respond to Global AIDS Crisis

The abstinence vs. condoms clash rages on, but the two sides say they can agree on one thing: When it comes to AIDS, Christian mercy needs to replace moral judgment about how the disease is transmitted. Echoing the sentiments of many evangelical leaders, McCollum described the global AIDS crisis as a "divine test" for Christians. It is a test that many pastors admit they have flunked so far

 

Faith based approaches
Faith-based organizations exist in almost every 
community and play an important role in the 
emotional, social and spiritual aspects of 
many people's lives. In many communities, 
faith-based workers have become active in HIV
 care and prevention projects
 
Faith in Action-Examining the Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Addressing HIV/AIDS
This manual is designed to be flexible.  It contains 
basic information about HIV/AIDS and different 
ways in which the faith community can respond 
including teaching, counseling, IEC, and advocacy.
545 kb pdf
Faith Community responses to HIV/AIDS
There has been significant interest on the part of both
 multilateral and governmental agencies to increase 
the role of faith-based/religious organizations in 
mobilizing HIV prevention efforts, as well as in providing 
care and support services
336 kb pdf

Faith-based and Community Response to HIV/AIDS

Faith-based and community organizations must use scientifically evaluated methods in their delivery of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support services and must exercise non-discriminatory hiring practices

204 kb pdf

Faith-based HIV work doing more harm than good, says African church leader There was recognition among the religious leaders that one of their biggest challenges comes from those who use the language of faith or the doctrine of the church to preach that HIV is a punishment from God and that the use of condoms is a sin.  The head of the Lutheran World Federation, Bishop Mark Warner, said the church had to understand that the prohibition on the use of condoms was exacerbating the disease rather than preventing it. Abstinence as the only form of prevention was not viable when discussing HIV prevention, he said. Churches must realise that the use of condoms in fighting HIV is not contrary to our moral teaching, said Bishop Warner.  

Faith-Based Organizations & HIV/AIDS Housing