African American Church Failure To Save Life

The church’s unwillingness to involve themselves in the conversation and active efforts to cease AIDS’ increasing stake on lives, fails to live up to their roles as empathetic followers of Christ. However, much of this hesitance stems from the Bible’s direct claims that condemn homosexuality and those living in what the church deems a “sinful” life, whom God punishes with sickness, poverty, and ultimate suffering, as this only justifies this inactiveness. The church fails to save lives as much as it claims to save souls in an institution that historically prides itself in combatting oppression and restoring justice, especially from the African American church, although seeming to fail in restoring dignity. “If God’s relationship with humanity is persuasive, that characteristic should be the model for our own interpersonal relationships” because lives should not be lost from lack of intervention, resulting from the church’s condemnation of participating in intense and joyous activities, like sex and drug use, subjecting many of these followers to hypocrisy (Shelp and Sunderland 74). Sexually explicit education should have been enforced in a society where religious conservatism creates a barrier in combatting the spread of this disease, a disease like any other disease. Scapegoating, stigmatizing, and isolating those living with AIDS is an unproductive and irresponsible approach in addressing the virus that inevitably leads to death, along with rejection of the soul.