Jesus Had HIV?

Okay, that's it!

I have had enough of stupid people. I really have.

I was just going through some of the blogs I follow, and saw an article on Blog Out about how a Pastor in South Africa has decided to tell people Jesus had HIV.

What?

Yes. Apparently he devised this "strategy" in order to help reduce the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.

Nope. I still don't get it.

You can work to overcome stigma in other, more constructive ways, other than making something up.

Xola Skosana, of Cape Town, has been quoted as saying that this will lead to people feeling "God is not against them".

I find this offensive on so many levels, I don't know where to really start.

Firstly, one of the biggest criticisms of God and religion is that there is a lack of proof and that people probably decided to just start making up stories. I don't necessarily agree with this simplistic notion, but then when you have a Pastor who is doing just that, it makes you wonder.

Secondly, there is implication that people are not trusted to make their own choices about what they believe. What I mean is, if people were educated properly, and accurately, they could take the time to discuss and consider what they think, for themselves. By saying Jesus had HIV, I know this will influence some stupid people directly, and take away their freedom to choose.

Thirdly, as a spiritual leader, this man has a responsibility to his "flock". Creating such a fiction, is an abuse of that power. People look up to him. How will they know what he is saying is ever true or accurate? Interpretation is one thing, but this is something else.

Ask him a tricky question, and he could be spouting answers about how Roseanne Barr travelled back in time to give Jesus information and technology from the future, or how Quentin Tarantino is actually Jesus reincarnated for the Second Coming.

I do have sympathy for this man, as he has reportedly lost two sister to AIDS. I believe his heart is in the right place, but it is an odd way to approach the problem.

The article went on to say that there were some individuals who were offended, because they felt that for Jesus to have HIV, this would have meant he was having lots of casual sex. Talk about missing the point! What is wrong with people? These people don't mind that their Pastor is rewriting religious history to accommodate his own agenda, but they mind that Jesus might have had a good time, or two. Not to mention the fact that to be infected with HIV does not require a person to have "lots of sex". One time is enough. Indeed, as we all know, such diseases do not even require sex to be in the equation.

What happened to the virtues and value of education? Real education?

And why stop with Jesus? Why not help people come to terms with other disease pathologies in a similar way? Perhaps the Easter Bunny lives with Epilepsy? That could explain the funny squiggles on some of the Easter Eggs.

Or Santa Claus perhaps struggles through life, delivering presents to all the good boys and girls around the world, while managing his Hepatitis, under the close supervision of his family doctor at the North Pole?

No, it doesn't quite work. I believe most sensible people would choose living with stigma, as opposed to being "dumbed down".