Monday, June 05, 2006
That's the name of a compelling new feature on MSNBC.com.
Thinking about AIDS makes me think about my life. I remember when the first information was coming out - "the gay cancer." Nobody really knew what was going on. I feel like I grew up with this disease in the background. On magazine covers. A teacher who died.
If you were diagnosed, you could kiss your life goodbye. There were no drugs like there are now. Today, people have AIDS and they live with it. It's not the death sentence it was.
I was reading about how it's such an epidemic in Africa, a place where men are reluctant to take protective measures. And I thought indignantly, "if they aren't willing to help themselves, why should the American taxpayer?"
And then I thought, "If people are behaving immorally, don't they deserve it?"
Then I was struck by a memory: A scared young woman in a clinic, waiting for her test results.
That was sobering.
Love, Maven @ 
3 Comments:
At 2:30 PM,
Anonymous said…
In no way shape or form are all people with AIDS/HIV "acting immorally" when they contract the disease. As a mitzvah project, I worked at a camp for kids with the disease. I lost a camper to AIDS. She got the disease through the womb. How can a defenseless child be blamed for the drug addiction of her parents?
At 2:38 PM,
Maven said…
The point I was trying to make was that I *realized* I was being judgmental.
At 4:11 PM,
Anonymous said…
But you have to admit that AIDS is one of the most preventable diseases in the world. What would it be like if ppeople acted responsibly took caution or just abstained from sex? And yes I realize that many people have AIDS thru no fault of their own, but many more could have prevented their contraction of AIDS with a few preventative measures.
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