Quote:
Originally Posted by UtahDan
I don't know why it sounds like pointing the finger at gays to you. That is not what I am doing. Risky behavior is having unprotected sex of any kind and sharing needles.
I also will not be sold on the idea that people in these countries where AIDS is at epidemic levels, particularly in Africa, are just scratching their heads as to how they caught it. As I understand it, they have been told but won't use condoms for cultural reasons (or just don't want to) and many of them refuse to believe that AIDS is caused by risky behavior. Rather, they blame other things such as (surprise!) the United States.
No, these are not irrational children who refuse to take their medicine. They are rational adults who are making bad choices, albeit in mass. I have sympathy for their children and that is why I support efforts to prevent and find a cure. I maintain, however, that homosexuality just isn't that big an issue here. I don't think many any longer just see it as a "gay" disease and even if they did this disease spreads through risky behavior not by unelightened thought process.
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I never claimed the disease was spread by "unenlightened thought process." I claimed the cure is hampered by unenlightened thought process. Quite a distinction.
You can't, on the one hand, argue that you don't believe many people are "scratching their heads" as to how they caught AIDS and then, on the other, say that many "refuse to believe it is caused by risky behavior." Both are true in many instances: they scratch their heads because they don't believe what they have heard.
Of course, you are assuming most have heard what causes AIDS, or understood what they have heard, something that is simply not the case. The world is struggling to figure out how to educate individuals in Africa. In many nations, language is a real issue. So are the "cultural issues" you quickly disregard. Those cultural issues often reflect deeply held religious and social beliefs that are not quickly set aside, particulary when the reason for setting them aside is very complicated and, to many, irrational. Below is a link to an interesting article on the topic:
http://www.codesria.org/Links/Public...ds/anugwom.pdf
Go to the area where it talks about perception among Nigerian university students to get an idea of what we are dealing with here.
I do think most who oppose funding AIDS research are homophobes. I have no way of proving this (though I wouldn't be surprised if someone has done a study). In the general population, I think most are viewing it as a threat to everyone and not just homosexuals.