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LOCAL VOICES: Churches must help stop silence, turn up volume
Detroit (MI) Free Press - http://www.freep.com
BY CHRISTOPHER M. HAMLIN
02.06.02
AIDS kills, and it does not discriminate against gender, race, class, sexual
preference, age, religion or geographical location.
No one will refute the fact that as of today there is no cure for AIDS. Great
progress is being made in providing medicines that prolong and make life more
comfortable. However, the statistics that are being reported to local health offices
and gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health
agencies continue to reveal that this dreaded disease is infecting and affecting
more people. It is also important to realize that many people, especially poorer
people, do not have access to all the medicines that are necessary to give them
a better quality of life.
After 20 years of providing treatment and compassionate care, burying loved
ones and friends, raising awareness, and ongoing research, AIDS remains the No.
1 cause of death among African-American men and women between the ages of 25 and
44.
Pernessa Seele, founder and CEO of the Balm in Gilead, a national organization
devoted to HIV/AIDS, says that "it is the silence, denial and stigma of AIDS
that continues to cripple our community's response to AIDS education, HIV testing
and treatment."
The institution with the most influence in our community continues to be the
African-American church. It continues to be the center of education, politics,
business, economic development, culture -- everything.
The African-American church can play a vital role in disseminating information
about HIV/AIDS. Our churches must become learning centers where we maintain a
comfortable environment for discussion.
No longer can we afford to remain on the sidelines thinking that HIV/AIDS does
not affect us. We cannot say that this is not a part of ministry and mission.
We cannot ignore the hurt that is sitting in the pew while we are preaching sermons
from the pulpits of our churches. The church is called to be an agent of healing
and wholeness, not ignorance and neglect.
We have seen too many people in our congregations die of this disease. The
church's reluctance to be engaged and involved has shamed too many gifted and
talented people from being embraced as humans because they were infected with
the virus.
In 1999, African-American brothers had the highest national HIV/AIDS case rate,
66.3 per 100,000. Our sisters followed with a rate of 30.8 per 100,000. As African
Americans, we represent only 13 percent of our nation's population but make up
approximately 37 percent of all AIDS cases reported.
According to the CDC, as of December 2000, 774,467 AIDS cases have been reported
in the United States. More than 448,000 deaths have been reported. Of these, 206,909
whites, 158,892 blacks, and 77,698 Hispanics have died from HIV-related causes,
the CDC reports.
The perception that AIDS is a "gay disease" continues to be misleading.
AIDS is being transmitted at alarmingly high rates through heterosexuals -- sex
between men and women in which one person carries the virus. We are passing it
on to our children through pregnancy when we infect women. It continues to be
transmitted through intravenous drug use and homosexual relationships where safe
measures are not being used.
With better treatments for HIV/AIDS, the decline in the number of people dying
and the slow progression from HIV to AIDS, it is a good time to emphasize education
and prevention. Despite the better treatment, we cannot become comfortable in
believing that the battle has been won.
Evaluating the onslaught of this disease in the African-American community
is alarming. All areas of our community must begin to address what can be done
to combat the silence that continues to deepen the severe impact of HIV/AIDS.
This virus is spreading at alarming rates, and no one will be unaffected by
it. Everyone will know someone with HIV/AIDS. It will touch every family and local
congregation.
There are many congregations doing amazing things to address the plight of
people living with HIV/AIDS. The Balm in Gilead in New York City is leading a
national campaign to involve more churches in this fight. Local AIDS service providers
along with governmental agencies are leading the charge to involve congregations
in developing AIDS care teams and becoming centers of information and education.
Many pastors and church leaders are becoming champions in opening church doors
for forums, health fairs and other events to address HIV/AIDS. Steps are being
made in the right direction.
We can conquer HIV/AIDS with appropriate education and preventive measures.
Eventually, a cure will be found.
The church remains the strongest institution in the African-American community.
It must harness its resources to address issues that are affecting all people.
We cannot be silent while watching our sons, daughters and children suffer from
HIV/AIDS.
THE REV. DR. CHRISTOPHER M. HAMLIN, formerly of Pontiac, is assistant to the
provost and chaplain for The 1917 Clinic -- University of Alabama at Birmingham.
All content (C) copyright 2002 Detroit Free Press and may not be republished
without permission.
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