What are some of the most common misunderstandings on AIDS within the Christian community?
ML: Because AIDS is transmitted through sexual relationships often outside or before marriage and is also associated with homosexuality and intravenous drug use, there was a perception that it’s only a sinner’s disease. And for a long time, particularly in Africa, there was even a denial that Christians would even get AIDS. I think that there is also a sense that to accept and to love people with AIDS, even though many of them get it without any behavior that we would call sinful, is to condone the behaviour itself, and therefore it’s better to choose holiness from the church’s perspective than reach out to those people. Finally, in some cases, it was associated with some curse from God or some direct punishment for sin and the hesitancy to become involved in relationships to people they thought were cursed or uniquely set aside for punishment CT: What critical facts or other information do people not know of concerning the pandemic? ML: Originally, there was very little knowledge as t
