Sometime ago I had the privilege of being among the special guests as U2’s Bono, actress Ashley Judd, and actor comedian Chris Tucker addressed an audience at Wheaton College on the subject of AIDS.  Calling AIDS “the moral issue of our day” Bono spoke with passion and “informed” concern over-against the “convenient compassion” one often encounters from celebrities.  In many ways this was the beginning of a movement. 

By calling AIDS “the moral issue of our day” there was a shift away from the horrific theology once prevalent in many circles that viewed AIDS as God’s punishment of homosexuals.  While some still picket military funerals with signs that read “GOD HATES FAGS” and others blame the terrorist attacks of 9-11 on homosexuality and liberalism, most people of faith now know that it is not the victims of disease and disaster but “our unwillingness to address the AIDS crisis that is the moral issue of our day” and represents a moral failure on our part.  This is true not just of the crisis in sub-Saharan Africa but in the United States of America as well.

Recently, I invited retired Bishop Fritz Mutti to address the issues during the session of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church held in St. Charles, Illinois.  Mutti and his wife Etta Mae lost two sons to AIDS some years ago and speak eloquently in their book “Dancing with Wheelchairs” about the Church’s response or lack of response to the issue.  The Reverend Grace Imatheiu also addressed the issue as she led the conference in Bible Study each morning.  Following the Mutti presentation the Conference United Methodist Men, proving that it only takes a minute to chose to act and make a difference, held a quick impromptu meeting and challenged the conference by donating $1000 to the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund.  Additional offerings that were held raised the total collected to over $10,000. 

    This past week in Chicago, literally during the worship service at Greater Englewood Parish UMC Church (a small African American congregation), I addressed the congregation on the subject and along with church’s pastor the Reverend Audrea Ivy was tested for HIV/AIDS as an attempt to draw attention to the issue and to work to remove the stigma associated with AIDS and the deadly silence that comes as a result of communities, even faith communities, failing to address the issue (see photos).  While African Americans are approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population we account for an astonishing 56 percent of new HIV infections annually.  Two-thirds of new AIDS cases among teens are African American, yet we represent only 15 percent of the national teen population according to the Centers for Disease Control and African American women are diagnosed with AIDS at a rate 25 times that of white women according to K. Wright, author of “The Time is Now”.  With approximately 40 million persons worldwide who have the virus and the increasing number of persons of color infected in the U.S. AIDS truly is the moral issue of our day and the time to act is now!