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Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute.
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"AIDS: The Ripened Fruit of the Sexual Revolution" (an article from
the Viewpoint column of the Christian Research Journal, Winter
1992, page 39) by Hendrik H. Hanegraaff.
The Editor-in-Chief of the Christian Research Journal is
Elliot Miller.
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Quite a few years have passed since the advent of the sexual
revolution in the 1960s, with its promise of "open relationships"
and "free love." And, though the revolution continues to rage on
many fronts, we now stand in a position to assess accurately and
evaluate critically the battle casualties. Consider these alarming
national figures:
* One out of four new mothers is unmarried.
* 1.5 million abortions are performed each year in the U.S.
alone.
* Presently, one million teenagers become pregnant every year.
Teenage births have reached their highest level in fifteen years.
* 54 percent of High School youths have had sex, and there are
a reported 2.5 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases among
teenagers every year.
* 500,000 cases of incurable genital herpes are reported every
year, along with 1.4 million cases of gonorrhea, 130,000 cases of
syphilis, 4 million cases of chlamydia, and 300,000 cases of
hepatitis B.
As shocking as these statistics are, the situation becomes even
more alarming when the crisis of AIDS is brought into the picture.
For example, there are approximately one million Americans and
eleven million individuals worldwide infected with the AIDS virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that "the number of
infected people will soar to 40 million, including 10 million
children, by the end of the decade."[1] In the United States alone,
the current accumulative death toll from AIDS -- about 120,000 --
is higher than the number of lives claimed by the Korean and
Vietnam wars combined.
It is projected that "more Americans will die of AIDS in the
next two years than have died in the past 10," as the disease's
rate of spread continues to accelerate.[2] It's no wonder why Dr.
Ward Cates, formerly of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said
the following about AIDS: "Anyone who has the least ability to look
into the future can already see that the potential for this disease
is worse than anything mankind has seen before."[3]
The greatest tragedy, however, is that while tens of millions
worldwide are dying from this dreaded pandemic, we continue to run
from the God who holds the solution. Rather than facing squarely
the root problem of sin (the underlying moral disease), we continue
instead to gaze helplessly at its ripened fruit. Instead of "repent
and return to biblical morality," "safe sex" is chosen as _the_
slogan for the campaign against AIDS, a campaign humankind cannot
afford to lose. Consequently, the public marches onward --
misguidedly believing that its catchy rhetoric and latex solutions
can more than adequately thwart the danger at hand.
While abstinence is conveniently written off as a mere pipe
dream, condoms are vigorously championed as the best "realistic"
line of defense against AIDS -- despite an estimated failure rate
ranging from 1.5 to 10 percent (with some placing the figure as
high as 36 percent). It is noteworthy that a recently released CDC
study conducted at New York clinics reports that "21 percent of
females with sexually transmitted diseases said that their partners
used condoms regularly."[4] It is thus not surprising to find one
journalist concluding that "fighting AIDS with condoms is like
fighting lung cancer with filter tips."[5]
Worse still, as we witness the steady collapse of our health
care system, many are attempting to transform AIDS from the
species-threatening pandemic that it is to a civil rights issue.
Looking downward rather than upward, they point to education and
economic resources as "the solution" -- which is the rationale
behind turning our schools into condom distribution centers. And
all the while, they continue to perpetuate the myth that
homosexuality is a viable alternative lifestyle.
Is there a solution to the AIDS crisis, this deadly fruit of
the sexual revolution? As unwilling as the secularists may be to
hear it, the answer is Jesus Christ. Only He can transform the
human heart and thus save humankind from hedonism and HIV, and,
more importantly, from humankind's greater moral disease of sin
(Isa. 53:4-6; 1 Pet. 2:24). Only by returning to biblical morality
can Americans hope to reverse the spiraling statistics cited above.
As followers of Christ, we ought to fall on our knees and
intercede for America and the world, as Abraham did for Sodom and
Gomorrah. Now is the time for Christians to become equipped to
expose the farce of the sexual revolution and communicate the truth
of a Creator God who wrote the manual on life and living -- the
Bible. Now is the time to look at AIDS patients as a mission field,
people for whom Christ died. It is time to realize that the very
future of our nation (and planet) depends upon our willingness to
cooperate with the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.
The big push for safe sex and condoms is but an illusory
placebo for a very real and dangerous threat. And unless a sober
plea for a permanent solution is voiced, we can only expect the
situation to worsen. As Christians, it is incumbent upon us to
shake the world from its fanciful complacency and turn its
attention back to the One who offers the only true and lasting
answer. With 12 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases
occurring every year in the U.S. alone, commentator Cal Thomas's
conclusion, reflecting biblical morality, is right on target: "Free
love is a free ride to destruction."[6]
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1 Lawrence K. Altman, "Tests of AIDS Vaccine Scheduled to Begin in
Two Years in Four Countries," _New York Times,_ 11 November 1991,
A5.
2 Jerry Adler, "Safer Sex," _Newsweek,_ 9 December 1991, 58.
3 Cited in David Chilton, _Power in the Blood_ (Brentwood, TN:
Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, 1987), 5.
4 _EP News Service,_ 29 November 1991, 6.
5 Joseph Sobran, "Virtue Is Practical and Desirable," _Conservative
Chronicle,_ 27 November 1991, 1.
6 Cal Thomas, "Free Love Is a Free Ride to Destruction," _Los
Angeles Times,_ 11 November 1991, B11.
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End of document, CRJ0130A.TXT (original CRI file name),
"AIDS: The Ripened Fruit of the Sexual Revolution"
release A, July 31, 1994
R. Poll, CRI
(A special note of thanks to Bob and Pat Hunter for their help in
the preparation of this ASCII file for BBS circulation.)
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