25 Million

Men, Women and, Children have dies of AIDS. That is the United Nations estimate since the June 5, 1981 blurb in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by the CDC according to an article in today’s New York Times. 25 years ago today the first note was made about a cluster of pneumonia case in 5 gay men. Since then 25 million people have died; that is a Million lives a year, 8,333 a month, roughly 2,739 lives a day, 114 an hour 1.9 a minute lost due to HIV and AIDS related illness. 40 Million Live each day with the illness. AND WE ARE NOT SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF OUR LUNGS.
The Great and wonderful Ronald Reagan ignored the spread of AIDS until 36,058 AMERICANS, that is citizens of the Untied States of America, had been diagnosed with Aids and 20,849 had died. His first mention of came May 31, 1987 after AIDS had spread to 113 countries. Jerry Falwell the founder of Moral Majority and a strong supporter of Reagan’s said “ Aids is the wrath of God upon homosexuals.” (SFGate.com Reagan’s AIDS Legacy Silence equals Death) For six years OUR Government remained tight lipped and silent.
Injustice is worldwide but we still choose to keep our mouths shut, sealed silent. Here in this Bible Belt corner I live we continue to argue over who is responsible to teach our children about the DEADLY consequences of unprotected sex!!! I am 35 years old and still waiting on my Mother to come out of the 50’s and from under her Bible and tell me about the deadly dangers of sex. While the Preaching of abstinence and the fear of losing the Love of God is something that appears to work in the surface the sad reality is that research from 2004 showed that 88% of teens who make the pledge end up having sex before marriage. Teens who have pledge abstinence are just as likely to STDs as those who don’t sign the pledge. However boys are four times more likely to have anal sex. And group wide they are six times more likely to have oral sex (USATODAY :Abstinence pledges may trigger risky sexual behavior).
When are the Churches going to learn that safe sex and abstinence can be taught hand and hand? The fact that the rate of Aids still grows in the Untied States today shows our apathy we will continue to die. Our friends, children, and loved ones are going to continue to have unsafe sex and AIDS will spread.
Each of us by now should have been touched by the loss of someone due to AIDS isn’t it time we stopped letting there preventable death sit silently on our lips. Whose death will you stop?