wfn.org | Aids Challenges the Spirit, Lutherans Told

[Brenda Williams <BRENDAW@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 20, 1997

AIDS CHALLENGES THE SPIRIT, LUTHERANS TOLD
97-33-096-CA

     SEACAUCUS, N.J. (ELCA) -- Lutherans have the
theological and pastoral resources to attack the
problems presented by the HIV virus, said two
noted theologians addressing the fifth North
American Conference on Aids Nov.6-8.
     But an African Lutheran theologian told
conference participants that the disease is
spreading wildly on that continent and that
"cultural barriers" sometimes made AIDS prevention
measures difficult.
     The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
preached at the service which opened the
conference.  Anderson said that it is "easier to
accept the diseases of age," and asked "what are
we do to with this enemy of the young."
     The AIDS epidemic, Anderson said, has
challenged the "optimistic spirit of progress that
had infected the world.  Anderson said scripture
-- particularly the writings of St. Paul -- warns
that "there are powers in this life that we cannot
control and that attack the well-being of God's
creation."
     Christians are urged to be "patient in
suffering," but not submissive to it, Anderson
said. With a grave illness, he said, time -- often
considered an enemy thwarting humanity's attempts
to accomplish things -- becomes a great gift as
the value of each moment is sharpened.  Prayer at
such times often is the "prayer of the Spirit,"
the bishop said, because "when we cannot pray, God
knows us so well that the spirit prays in our
place."
     Lutheran theologian and historian the Rev.
Martin E. Marty, Chicago, noted that in Biblical
Hebrew, the root words of "healing" and "saving"
are the same, and that Martin Luther contended
that whatever human suffering occurs, "it is not
the last word. God always has the last word."
Along the way, he said, the Church -- where people
are together to share joys and sorrows -- offers
prayer and Sacraments as "means along the way to
God's last and loving word."  Marty is a faculty
member at the University of Chicago.
     The chilling look at the AIDS crisis on the
continent of Africa was presented by Dr. Musimbi
Kanyoro, head of the Lutheran World Federation's
office on women in society.
     "Many Africans maintain that the African
traditional morality ensured the integrity of the
society and individuals," she said.  Old cultural
practices have been abandoned, resulting in social
and psychological disorder.
     Kanyoro said African morality held "that
spiritual powers are deeply concerned about the
moral conduct of individuals and communities
alike." Consequently "there are many for whom this
disease is nothing other than God's punishment for
the evils done by society."
     When people understand AIDS this way, she
said, "they do not address the scientific facts
connected with AIDS."
     "Although the link between AIDS and sexual
behavior is now scientifically well-established,
still in many parts of Africa a change in sexual
behavior does not follow," said the Kenyan
theologian.
     In African tribes where polygamy is practiced
the multiplying of sexual partners increases the
possibility of exposure to the AIDS virus, and
among some ethnic groups in Africa a wife may be
considered as married to the husbands clan, and it
is culturally permissible for brothers to share
their wives sexually.  Polygamy and the casual sex
which sometimes accompanies such things as festive
funeral rites can also spread the AIDS virus, she
said.
     For cultural reasons, churches were slow to
begin talking about the AIDS epidemic, Kanyoro
said, though this is no longer the case.
"Frequent reports for the World Council of
Churches unit that deals with health indicate that
the churches are involved in a number of
programs."
     Kanyoro said that culturally appropriate
education techniques would have to be used to
combat AIDS in Africa.  Rural areas often do not
have electricity for radio or television.  Print
media assumes literacy.  Access to radio and
television is sometimes restricted to males, she
said. "Oral media, face to face communication is
still the most reliable means of communication,
hence the importance of developing strong women's
organizations -- especially in rural areas -- with
the aim of creating a viable media for rural
Africa."

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