Some evangelicals finally wake up to AIDS crisis at home

[Lannes]

I dont believe they should allude to aids victims as "lepers" but in a way they have been treated as such by some in the US.It remains to be seen if they are sincere in their efforts but at least its a start.If we are going to criticize them (justly) for the harm they have done we should also recognize when they come around and try to do good.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10268413 /

<snip>

LAKE FOREST, Calif. - After years of ministering to AIDS patients overseas, evangelical Christians are turning attention to the disease in their own backyard — 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.

<snip>

“The church has the moral authority to say, ’Hey, it’s not a sin to be sick,”’ said Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” a best-selling book. “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.”