Can AIDS kill you?

[lAmebAdger]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

There are literally millions of women in Africa who have been completely faithful to the only man they have ever had sex with who have mysteriously been infected with the HIV virus. This is not to say that the issue is confined to Africa alone.

I would venture that there are also quite a few men who have mysteriously, despite being faithful and waiting for marriage, been infected.

It's a slightly larger issue than people being hit by satellites.

your argument was that the bible can't eliminate AIDS, because of various reasons including: "one side can still be unfaithful"

my response to that was that eliminating isn't what we expect from the bible yet, we're not that naive, instead we're very moderate and only expect the bible to up people's chances of not getting AIDS
still, as such, the bible "has" specific expectations for us, namely that more people respect its moral teachings, including the unfaithful side (which would then convert to being faithful)
sadly, only children can be educated that easily into respecting moral values, so those african men you're talking about may already have missed the train...

 

[PFSS]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

your argument was that the bible can't eliminate AIDS, because of various reasons including: "one side can still be unfaithful"

That's not *quite* what I am saying

I am saying that following the Bible (And I'm not completely sure the Bible ever says you can't have numerous sexual partners... but for the sake of argument lets assume it does. And lets also pretend for the sake of argument that it tells people to avoid intravenous drug use) won't prevent you from contracting HIV. Being monogamous will only protect you if your partner is also faithful - your actions can only go so far.

Now - theoretically, assuming the bible does instruct that you should only ever have sex with one person and that it also advises against intravenous drug use, if everyone followed this instruction then HIV would be essentially eradicated in ~20-30 years, but as much as you might follow it there is no guarantee that others who you interact with will.

 

[lAmebAdger]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

ok, let's keep in mind that it won't prevent us from having AIDS as you said in the first post, then

let's also keep in mind that keeping bible values (the assumed ones... the assumed good ones) in mind might lead to a slightly better future than we have now...


and maybe even more slightly better
when those values start to spread more and manifest themselves better in the raising of the next generation

(assuming we pull that off without the bad aspects of what calls itself christianity nowadays also spreading...)

 

[Dondrei]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

I dunno about AIDs, but I think this thread contains a lethal dose of stupid.

 

[Johnny]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

ok, let's keep in mind that it won't prevent us from having AIDS as you said in the first post, then

let's also keep in mind that keeping bible values (the assumed ones... the assumed good ones) in mind might lead to a slightly better future than we have now...


and maybe even more slightly better
when those values start to spread more and manifest themselves better in the raising of the next generation

(assuming we pull that off without the bad aspects of what calls itself christianity nowadays also spreading...)

Why do people insist on cherry picking the aspects of a religions? Religions have rules and if they don't fit you then pick another religion. It's like those Catholic stem cell researchers that where excommunicated by the pope. They say that they're still Catholic but that's not how it works. If the pope says you're not a Catholic then you're not, plain and simple. If you reject the rules of a religion then why cling to it in the first place?

Christianity has a few "good" moral ideas and then a ton of bigotry and ignorance. You have to take all of it if you want to call yourself Christin. If you don't like it then maybe it's not the religion for you.

 

[stillman]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

I'm guessing there are more than a small handful of hygene related transmissions in cesspool Africa compared to clean-sheets America. In Africa, it wouldn't surprise me if people say 'can my family borrow your family's razor becuase ours is 20 years old and we can't afford another one.' There may be more breaks in the skin from too little zinc, more rashes, and so on. No cleaning products to help out, walking around bare foot in crowded huts, no bottle of bleach under the nonexistant sink, no education about AIDS, etc.

Getting back the the bible involvement, I think in theory the bible could help tremendously in preventing cases if people are going to obey a religion before they obey education (which I believe is the case in many parts of the world). The problem is, women are not listening to their alarm bells going off in their heads. Some people believe that warning signs and gut feelings that something isn't right is God's way of talking to you. So women would have to listen up and trust their instincts, refuse to sleep with men they are suspicous of, in order for the bible to have it's optimal effect. So if the bible were followed 100%, AIDS would be defeated, but we can't expect poor folks to be perfect robots...

I heard on a documentry a while back that the situation of educating people about AIDS is very bad. In addition to the mentioned rape-related myths and false cures, the masses actually belive it is evil spirits that is causing the spread. This got me thinking: even if we rain bibles on them, even if we have churches for all, and teach all to read, and every last person has his or her own bible, they would still mess it up somehow.

 

[lAmebAdger]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

...

but i don't call myself a christian

i like to cherry pick virtues of religions for myself... which IMO is a better idea than to delve into one with all its vices too

 

[The Sandcat]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

1) Can HIV (AIDS Virus) kill you ? Normally you die of an infection or of cancer.But the virus has still killed you. If it can kill by means other than diseases related to the immune system is questionable.

2) Here in Africa transmission of HIV/AIDS among sexually active people is 95%+ via heterosexual sex. Children are often infected at birth or via mothers milk. (yes, mothers milk!)

3) *** sex and injecting drugs are a minimal factor in most 3rd world countries.

 

[WildBerry]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

2) Here in Africa transmission of HIV/AIDS among sexually active people is 95%+ via heterosexual sex. Children are often infected at birth or via mothers milk. (yes, mothers milk!)

Is it actually in the milk, or is it more of a case of an abrased teat and the blood seeping from therein?

 

[Dondrei]

Re: Can AIDS kill you?

They say that they're still Catholic but that's not how it works. If the pope says you're not a Catholic then you're not, plain and simple.

Wouldn't be so sure of that. There have been so many fake popes and shady deals in the Papacy over the centuries that it's perfectly reasonable for a Catholic to reject any legitimacy of the current Vatican, or any of them for at least a thousand years for that matter.