The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States (1993) / Chapter Skim
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5 Religion and Religious Groups
5 Religion and Religious Groups
Pages 117-157
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From page 117... ...
Given the broad influence of religion in the United States, the response of religious organizations and individuals is a factor in the effort to control the epidemic and to care for those affected by it. In this chapter, religion is used as a general term to describe the positions and policies of major religious denominations in the United States and the views of individuals or groups that associate themselves with a professed religious belief.
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From page 118... ...
None but the most naive observer will accept every word and action by religious organizations and individuals as a pure reflection only of creeds and canons; none but the most skeptical will scorn all religious affirmations as disguised self-serving. The chapter does not attempt to capture the entire response of American religious denominations to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
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From page 119... ...
The important role that religious organizations can play in the HIV/ AIDS epidemic has been recognized by the dead federal agency in the effort to contain the epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
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From page 120... ...
Thus, CDC has recognized the importance of religious organizations as sources of communication and cooperation in the difficult task of devising and implementing educational programs. If the collaboration of religion is to be fostered in the fight against the epidemic, the nature and dynamics of the religious response to the epidemic must be understood.
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From page 121... ...
Finally, almost all religious communities have statements of principal beliefs, sometimes called creeds, that express the ideas and commitments that define the community from others. The diverse religious communities with which American society is familiar give varying authority to their canonical scriptures and their creeds: some permit and even encourage broad interpretation; others insist on strict and even literal readings and application to belief and practice.
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From page 122... ...
This sometimes means that a religious response will take the form of hard-line resistance to a new situation judged incompatible with its faith. Sometimes the religious response will consist of a reinterpretation of the tradition that enables it to coexist with a new situation.
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From page 123... ...
, and the Southern Baptist Convention claims the largest Protestant Christian membership (approximately 14.75 million) ; the largest African American denomination is the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A.
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From page 124... ...
Indeed, many social and cultural institutions, and even many commonly accepted "secular" beliefs, have migrated from the world of religion into the secular world and remain there, invisible but indelible (Douglass and Brunner, 1935; Clebsch, 1968; Wuthnow, 1988~. Like other huge organizations, national religious organizations can be slow to act or change.
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From page 125... ...
Epidemic disease regularly evoked this moral response of condemnation of sin and the call for repentance. The "great mortality" (bubonic plague)
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From page 126... ...
"The Hand of the Lord had lain heavily on New York, and whether its citizens had been guilty of sins of commission or omission, it was hoped that through prayer they could search their hearts and come to see the error of their ways" (Duffy, 1968: 109~. The social response to the cholera epidemics in the United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866 reveals the first break in this long tradition of theological interpretation of epidemic disease.
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From page 127... ...
This profound tradition has also influenced the response of religious organizations to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Sexuality The AIDS epidemic is marked by one feature that has made it particularly problematic for religion, namely, the group initially hardest hit and still numerically the group with the largest number of cases is men who have sex with men.
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From page 128... ...
For one major denomination, Roman Catholicism, the reaction to AIDS has also been complicated by its condemnation as sinful the use of almost all methods of birth control, and this doctrine was stated in such a way as to prohibit the use of condoms in any sexual activity (Noonan, 1970~. Thus, as discussed below, the position of the Roman Catholic church regarding one of the most commonly recommended methods for preventing the spread of HIV has been the subject of intense debate.
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From page 129... ...
wrote: "There are some misguided individuals who have declared AIDS to be a punishment from God. Deep in the Judeo-Christian tradition, however, is the knowledge that our loving God does not punish through disease." EARLY RESPONSE TO THE EPIDEMIC Official and Unofficial Response of Clergy and Lay People Between 1981 and 1983 the record shows no official response from religious denominations to the nascent AIDS epidemic.
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From page 130... ...
Stories about people with AIDS who lost jobs, apartment homes, insurance coverage, friends, family, pastoral care, and medical services did not move religious institutions to compassion or advocacy in any measurable manner. Although these implicit judgments and attitudes were not universal within religious denominations, few counter voices were heard in a nation being swept by a conservative political and religious movement in which "moral behaviors" were promoted and portrayed as the sole solution to the spread of HIV disease.
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From page 131... ...
Fear was a significant factor in the religious response to the epidemic in its early years, and the fear was not restricted to contagion, disease, and death. It extended to association and was exacerbated by attitudes and feelings about sexuality and behaviors unfamiliar in the milieu of most religious communities, such as intravenous drug use.
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From page 132... ...
It has been reported that an appeal on the Christian Broadcasting Network to write the Justice Department in opposition to any relaxation of the rule against immigration of HIV-infected persons elicited 40,000 letters (McCarthy, 1991~. A 1985 study of intolerance of AIDS victims interviewed 371 residents of "Middletown," asking among other questions their denominational preference, extent of church attendance, attitude toward literal interpretation of the Bible, and whether America has appreciated the contributions of Christian Fundamentalists (Johnson, 1987~.
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From page 133... ...
Church attendance did not correlate with attitudes toward tags, but it did correlate negatively with attitudes toward sex education. Greeley then attempted an analysis to determine whether more supportive, compassionate responses were correlated with the images of God cultivated in the more liberal denominations, which led him to this conclusion (Greeley, 1991:12~: The religious correlation with negative attitudes toward AIDS victims or AIDS education is the result of moral and religious narrowness among certain members of the more devout population .
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From page 134... ...
Although Herek and Glunt's typology was developed to categorize the attitudes of individuals, it can be applied by analogy to the responses of religious organizations. On the first dimension, the official responses of religious institutions have generally stressed moralism over pragmatism.
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From page 135... ...
In 1987 the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution (quoted in Melton, 1989:130) that did not call for any specific action by the denomination or by the government; rather, it sought to infuse the public discussion of the epidemic with "biblical standards of decency and morality." The resolution urged Christians to be compassionate in their contact with people affected by AIDS, and it expressed opposition to "safe sex" programs "which appear to accept infidelity, adultery, and perversion." Finally, the resolution stated that, "obedience to God's laws of chastity before marriage and faithfulness in marriage would be a major step toward curtailing the threat of AIDS." Individual commentators from more conservative religious perspectives have stated positions that, while clearly falling within the moralism category, waver between punitive and compassionate moralism.
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From page 136... ...
The fear of being perceived as "soft on sin" was and remains a barrier to more supportive care by some religious groups for people with HIV disease and to vigorous education on HIV risk prevention and reduction. It requires a difficult psychological and homiletic balancing act to follow the ancient maxim, "hate the sin and love the sinner." Isolation of Homosexuals from Religious Communities The early religious response to the epidemic occurred in the context of a virtual absence of gay people from the life of religious communities.
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From page 137... ...
These considerations are particularly important in understanding the response of African American religious communities to the epidemic (discussed below)
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From page 138... ...
entered the public discourse about AIDS on January 18, 1986, with an open letter to the Reverend Charles Stanley, a wellknown Fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor and president of the Southern Baptist Convention. It was reported that Stanley had claimed in a speech that AIDS was created by God in order to express displeasure toward the nation's acceptance of homosexuality.
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From page 139... ...
The middle years of the decade were a time in which supportive lay people and ordained clergy emerged from private, one-to-one contact to a public and organized response in several cities. In 1985 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York opened a shelter for AIDS patients and a telephone line for information and referral (New York Times, 1985~.
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From page 140... ...
Gradually, denominations began to set up national offices to assist local efforts in sharing information, resources, and programs. The AIDS National Interfaith Network was organized in 1988 to perform this service and to foster a more extensive religious response to the epidemic.
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From page 141... ...
The Roman Catholic church, the Eastern Orthodox church, and the United Methodists and most other Protestant denominations remain opposed to ordination of noncelibate gay and lesbian people. While doctrinal positions on same-gender sex strongly influence denominational positions on AIDS, the other major risk behavior, intravenous drug use, is not a matter of debate.
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From page 142... ...
African American religious congregations, however, appeared to give the epidemic lower priority than other urgent problems besetting their predominately urban communities, such as unemployment, crime, family disintegration, discrimination, and drugs (Lambert, 1989~. Part of their reluctance to address the epidemic was explained by Angela Mitchell (1990:321: AIDS is still considered by many to be a gay white man's disease, and most blacks with AIDS in this country are intravenous drug users (or their sex partners)
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From page 143... ...
In February 1988 the National Black Church Consortium on Critical Health Care Needs was convened to address and develop "strategies to confront the AIDS crisis in the Black Community." The consortium consists of representatives of many black religious denominations, including the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. (5.5 million members)
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From page 144... ...
The statement made no specific mention of homosexuality or intravenous drug use. However, an awareness that judgments about those behaviors might affect the church's response is implied in the theological basis for the call to service (quoted in Melton, 1989:861: The church's ministry of caring is a grateful response to God's caring for us.
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From page 145... ...
Interest in AIDS-related ministries by pastors and other church leaders seems to be growing as more congregations and neighborhoods are affected by the epidemic. In addition, an information, referral, and resource registry, the Presbyterian AIDS Network, was created, and in 1990 the General Assembly mandated that AIDS educational material for youths be created and used in congregations.
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From page 146... ...
Roman Catholic Church The story of the efforts of the Roman Catholic hierarchy to formulate a statement on the HINI/AIDS epidemic is complex. In the summer of 1987 a number of Roman Catholic bishops suggested to their national organization, the U.S.
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From page 147... ...
De Martini, director of AIDS education, Archdiocese of San Francisco, personal communication, 1990~: "Both are operative documents, but in order to be honest educators and counsellors, we must mention not only the moral issues but the relevant scientific and medical facts. Among these is the relative efficacy of condoms." The Teacher's Manual for AIDS: A Catholic Educational Approach, issued by the National Catholic Educational Association (19883' provides a plan for wide-ranging and frank discussion of HIV/AIDS, in the course of which it states: "Basically, research is showing that, while condoms may provide some barrier to AIDS infection, they are often unreliable" (p.
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From page 148... ...
All people are called to "engage in behavior that can prevent and/or min mize the spread of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome." The church's teaching was restated by the bishops: heterosexual, monogamous sexual relations within marriage is the standard expected of United Methodists, and the practice of homosexuality is not condoned and is considered incompatible with Christian teaching. For people unable or unwilling to follow this standard, use of condoms is urged, as is avoiding intravenous drugs and needle sharing.
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From page 149... ...
Still others have developed specialized ministries and programs, often in cooperation with secular service agencies and on an interfaith basis, directed to members and nonmembers alike. By January 3, 1989, the Washington Post could run an article headlined, "AIDS Epidemic Is Slowly Gaining Attention in Local Pulpits" (Stepp, 1989~.
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From page 150... ...
Throughout the country, other congregations have started support groups, joined with other congregations to field teams of volunteers to help people in their homes, financially supported people with AIDS and AIDS-related community-based organizations, and engaged in other special activities. In several cities, the African American religious community has formed alliances with the health department in order to educate a large number of people and to stimulate a compassionate response to people with AIDS from religious leaders (Jennings, 19891.
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From page 151... ...
Catholic Conference documents and several other pastoral statements stress the social responsibility of the Catholic church in caring for those afflicted with HIV/ AIDS. In response, Catholic health care facilities and service organizations have expanded existing programs and created new services aimed at helping HIV/AIDS patients and their families.
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From page 152... ...
Catholic hospitals in the Northeast have felt the greatest impact from the AIDS crisis because of the large number of AIDS patients in the region. A 1988 survey by the national office of Catholic Charities reported that many Catholic charities had converted existing programs to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
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From page 153... ...
At the same time, many of these religious institutions have doctrinal commitments that, to a greater or lesser extent, restrain their involvement, particularly in education and prevention. These doctrinal commitments, primarily teachings about homosexuality, sexual relations outside marriage, and contraception, may mute the response of even those religious groups that are viewed as allies.
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From page 154... ...
Catholic Health Association of the United States (1990) Catholic experience in caring for PWA's matches that of other private hospitals.
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From page 155... ...
AIDS: A Catholic Educational Approach. Washington, D.C.: National Catholic Educational Association.
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From page 156... ...
(1989) AIDS epidemic is slowly gaining attention in local pulpits.
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From page 157... ...
(1943) The Conquest of Epidemic Disease.
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