A Heathen's Day

The latest push for Jesus comes from the White House where President George W. Bush "on Friday stressed the role of faith-based groups in the fight against AIDS, calling the struggle one of conscience and morals on the eve of World AIDS Day." CNN reports that Bush, speaking at Calvary United Methodist Church in Maryland after meeting with representatives of religious and community groups stated that "Faith-based groups like these are the foot soldiers in the armies of compassion," he said. "They are helping to defeat this epidemic one soul at a time."

Apparently then, it's Christians who will defeat AIDS, not doctors, scientists, public awareness or even the output of the giant pharmaceutical companies.

I think this is outrageous. It's fine for Bush to have his religion and to practice it, and to believe in whatever God he wants. But to tell us followers of one particular deity are the key to victory in anything is to take an official, not a private, stand on religion, and that is a violation of the separation of church and state. He wants to throw money at these "faith-based" groups - Christians all.

"Dont have sex," he says. That will fix it. Yessir. But people have sex, Georgie. Give them condoms instead. Give them education. Give them medicine. But he actually wants to spend our tax dollars to tell people not to have sex. But why does that cost any money at all? Why does he need to appropriate and spend millions of tax dollars so people can say "don't do it!" That doesn't cost anything. Try it yourself at home: "Don't do it." See? Free.

Give back the money, Georgie, and quit favoring one religion over another. Give the money to the people who are working on a cure, or live up to your rhetoric and send all the Christians over to Africa where the epidemic is worst - after all, as you said yourself, they're the foot soldiers and foot soldiers belong in the frontline.