Joe's POZ Blog

My God loves us all! No, HIV is not a punishment from God.

Joe - Like yourself, I do not consider myself to be a religious man either, but I do consider myself to be a deeply spiritual person. I also agree with you completely that it might be wise for us all to consider about what all religions inevitably become. Having said that, there is a flaw in the argument that God wouldn’t have the time to waste on one person’s misery - the very existence of an all powerful God presupposes that God is such an incredibly smart dude that he can multitask in ways we can’t even conceive of. That would give Him, Her or It plenty of time to look over your shoulder and mess you up - assuming that the old Cosmic Voyeur is interested. The CV knows when you’ve been good and knows when you’ve been bad. The CV’s power is boundless.

Personally, I don’t buy that at all. I do believe that everything else in your post is absolutely correct.

There are times when I believe that CV has a plan, and there are times when I believe that we are as much shaped by the plan as we shape the plan, but the idea that HIV is God’s vengeance, or that tens or hundreds of thousand of people are dying in Darfur because they are inferior, or that CV bumped off six million Jews because they were not his kind of people, is silly. Unfortunately, we live in a world in which there are a lot of very silly people.

What you’ve described as a moral compass is more often than not a product of our environments and our training. Some of us are just born with a few loose nuts and bolts. It happens.

Nonetheless, however we want to look at it, most of us learn that the best way to live with each other is by behaving with fairness, integrity and respect for the truth as we understand it. Some of us choose to ignore these principles and pay the piper later. That’s life.

I don't see how proving that HIV was from a man-made mistake would shut up those who proclaim that HIV is a punishment from God.

Lots of deaths are not from man-made mistakes. I'm thinking of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and other natural disasters. Are those killed or maimed in such disasters being punished by God? It would be hard to accept that.

I don't pay any intention to those who insert the notion of God's judgment into a disaster, whether it's a disease, an accident, or a natural disaster. Religious extremists, whether they're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu are all scary to me.

Joe, Another thoughtful post.

AIDS is no more a punishment from God, than cancer, MS, or heart disease. None of these are punishments, they are things that just happen. And sometimes these things can't be explained or a reason given as to why they happen.

As a Christian, my faith is important to me and the foundation on which I try to live my life. Of course I question and struggle but that foundation sustains me. So it really infuriates me when people use their faith to: discriminate against others who are different or have different beliefs; promote what they think is right; or even jusitfy their hatred. The God I worship is one who is about love, peace, hope and healing. Unfortunately there are those that worship the same God except He t offers love, peace, hope and healing to everyone but gays and those who have AIDS. For that I am sorry and when the opportunity presents itself I try to let others know that there are people of faith that believe differently.

We as human beings have to put the "blame" on something or someone for our illness, weakness, bad karma, natural disasters and so forth. When we cannot blame ourselves we take it as some kind of punishment from a GOD or Higher Power. Through out the centuries we have been indoctronated by bibilical laws and if we do not follow those laws "bad things" will surely happen to us. We like to think that something or someone is in control of our lives, again we don't want to take the responsibility for our own lives and the directions it takes us. It's easier to say that I got this disease, illness, lost my job, lover died for something as either I did or he did that was against GOD's plan or my Higher Powers plan. We have a hard time just living as our own entity, we are our own begining and ending. We are the directors of our lives and no one else living or unseen are in control of us. Will we ever take responsibility for our own directions in life and not try to place that challenge on something (GOD) or someone else.....

Oh Joe..............

Your post brings up so very many theological issues, both universal, and specific.

First off, if it is possible for God to thin the herd with HIV, he/she also has included a derth of other ailments which we as the human race are faced with on a fairly constant basis. Some of which are avarice, greed, hate and a plethora of other negative profiles that some of the human race seem drawn to. Somewhere along the line, this country adopted what they call a "Christian" way; which literally means being "Christlike". We place "In God We Trust" on just about everything, including car bumpers, yet we have one of the bloodiest and disgusting histories on the planet. Most imperialistic countries like ours use this globe for everything and anything they feel like doing at the time, which is very obvious in history with the historical record of the Romans, Dutch, English, Islamic countries, and on and on to the beginning of time. We unfortunately, happen to be living in the country on the planet which is currently trying to dominate the globe and it's currency, and our demise will follow soon enough.

Now, what does all that have to do with whether god has decided to punish the planet with HIV? Mainly nothing, except that if we look at most religious historical documents, such as the Bible, we find that all of them document world wide pestilence including universal flooding. Many think that this was god's way of "cleansing" the planet for whatever reason, of the scourge of what man had made of it at the time. I don't know if this was the case or it is something that he/she does as a joke upon occasion.

In the end, one of the unique traits of mankind, is his exercise of choice, and of conscience. Unfortunately when we go too far off course with our choices, we tend to leave conscience in the dust which inevitabgly leads to "choosing destruction", almost always tied to greed and power grabbing. Sounds familiar doesn't it?

I simply don't have the answers to the questions you pose here, but it is really good to see your mind working with such clarity, because it means you are living again!

Love,
Tim.

I don't believe God singles out any individual to torture them with disease for their behavior in life. But I also don't pretend to understand "God", the "Universe", our "Existence", or for that matter much of anything. I expect a conversation about the creation and purpose of the Universe with the Creater would be mind blowing!

But I would like to offer another perspective. One I have developed from working professionally with indigent people with all types of disabilities for over 20 years, including people with HIV/AIDS.

Perhaps God's "infliction" of disease or disability is not so much a judgement on the person with the disease or disability, but a test for the rest of humanity to respond to those of us with disease and disability with care, compassion and respect and to help each other retain our dignity until death.

If you recall, humanity treated the Lepers of biblical times even worse than people with HIV/AIDS are treated today (at least in most Western Societies). And the reponse of Jesus Christ (God Incarnate) was to respond with love, compassion and care for the Lepers. Doesn't that really translate today that perhaps if HIV/AIDS is remotely from God, it is not really a judgement passed down onto those of us inflicted, but a judgement by God on the REST of humanity for their inability to respond to the HIV/AIDS epedicmic as Christ would?

Which of us is really the sinner here in the eyes of a Christian god? The person with HIV/AIDS or the person who is unable to respond to his infected brother or sister with compassion, care and respect?

great! thanks very much for sharing!

Joe,
I do not believe that God punishes any of us with disease.My husand is a haemophiliac who contracted the disease when he was a child,along with 4 of his uncles,from tainted blood products during the red cross' tainted blood scandal.Believe me...he can be mischievous......ut he certainly didn't deserve this,and not for one moment do I believe that god made him sick,any more than I believe that God can make him well.I do,howeer,thank god that I found him....he's a truly remarkable human being and I love him with all of my heart....he has been infected now for approximately 28 years,and up until last year,he drag raced motorcycles competitively...and won!My heart goes out to you and your loved ones...stay strong.

whoever and whatever God is, a disease is a disease. Just that. No judgement, no bad hart, no bad motives.Only a germ. Remember , it is what WE make of things that makes them something. Is Cancer a curse from God?? Is Polio. Is a brain Tumor? I have seen them happen to the good and bad. I don't buy it. It is a man made excuse for more discrimination and subjucation of people that can;t or won't defend them selves. Don't buy it my friend. Be strong. Your OKOKOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe-

I believe that HIV is a disease as complex, illusive and as unknown as God himself. I was brought up Catholic, went to Catholic Schools my entire life, yet I do not practice the Roman Catholic Religion per se.

Yes, I go to church on occasion, A Wedding, Baptism etc. and most recently went with my mother who wanted to pray. I personally believe that our faith is our God.

I am an author who wrote a book (Alzmek: The Fictional Memoir of a Tainted Life) about a man who intentionally infects people with HIV. The victims in my book are not the people living with HIV, but rather the unsuspecting public. As horrible as this sounds, I bring up this exact question in my book.

Being HIV+ myself for the past 15 years I have come to realize that HIV was one of the best things that could have happened to me. It made me VALUE my life. It made me fight to make my dreams come true and to LIVE my life. Not to walk around on auto-piolet like so many people do in our country.

It made me question everything: My mortality, my life, my heart and my faith. I came to several conclusions, one of which was "Does it really matter?" (Where the disease came from)

At the end of the day our life is nothing more than a brief memory, a form of energy that is remembered (or forgotten) by what we did in our life, our legacy, the impact we made. The same reason why Princess Diana lives today in our hearts, and in history and why "Jane Doe" has been forgotten.

When I speak to a group of people I make sure to relate two very important things, (1) Never complain about your life and (2) We need to stop infecting each other. If people with HIV stopped the infection with them and did not infect another person, HIV and AIDS would be abolished... No need for a cure.

We scream and shout PREVENTION and have GALAS, PARTIES, FUNDRAISERS and raise Millions upon Millions of dollars as a Nation yet I ask: "What have we learned?" We need to stop asking questions and stop infecting one another.

The law states that the person with HIV is the one who should disclose their status (And I fully agree) Yet, what about the responsibility of the person who is HIV-? What about their responsibility to themselves. Most of us who have HIV did not go out there with the intention of getting HIV.

On the same note, it was not an "OOPS" and we definitely did not slip and fall and suddenly stick our open sore into a pool of infected blood, we knew what we were doing.

I believe God is kind (at least my God is). I truly believe that God let's us decide our destiny. Our FREE WILL is our destiny, and we have a choice to change it every single time we take a breath.

Was AIDS man made? Who knows. Is there a cure in existence? Maybe. Is AIDS a myth? Absolutely not... but we have to begin to take responsibility for our actions and make a difference in the world.

I wrote about this horrible individual, who I promise you will actually empathize with and might even identify with, because he is very real. He is the reason why most of us have HIV, maybe our infectors were not as malicious as he, but the end result is the same.

I think we need to campaign to remove the stigma of this disease. Raise funds to educate the public about how it is much safer to have a sexual relationship with someone who discloses their HIV+ status, than a person who has not been tested in the past year (or 10)

My partner of 3 years is HIV Negative (Still gets tested every year) and we should protect the ones who have not been infected.

The U.S. has tons of programs for people with HIV, like ADAP etc. to help people with HIV who are uninsured, not one person with HIV will die on the streets because they cannot afford medical attention. I know we want to blast the government for the lack of funding, and I do agree with many of the arguments, but we have to, have to, take responsibility.

Many of the previously allocated funds went to programs that held classes for face painting and basket weaving for people with HIV. Then when the program was cut, we blame the government. I ask: How was this supposed to help people with HIV and more importantly prevent new infections?

We still have thousands of Bath Houses in the US, People are hooking up everyday for "NOW" sex on dozens of websites, many of who want to BB and PNP. People still hook up at bars every night and condoms are a joke with our youth.

We also need to stop blaming METH and other drugs. Yes, they blur your judgment, but come on already... If your doing drugs I have to argue that you have other demons you are dealing with. Alcohol also impairs your judgment, but so does "LOVE" and especially "TRUST"

I think most of us are in our situations because we TRUSTED someone, it is time for us to get real and realized AIDS IS ALIVE. The face of AIDS no longer exists (just like our undetectable viral loads) and an entire generation is at risk.

Ok, I went way off base, but I think I answered the GOD question. On a final note, we need to believe in something good, and God is one of those great something’s that gives many of us hope. I may not hold the most popular opinion here on your blog, but these are the unfortunate facts.

The fight against HIV is not a popularity contest, it is about saving lives.

RM Guzman