Here, we will be discussing about the current issues relevant to the
concern of all in the world today. Starting with AIDS, we will go on
to expounding various practical issues in the light of the Word of God
which is the absolute standard for our lives in the world today.
So keep looking into this page for the latest issues
and you can also suggest any subject to be dealt with here.
Here's
the current HOT issue
and for others look on the right column
AIDS suddenly appeared
about 25years ago and quickly spread around the world. Today there are
about 33 million cases of AIDS worldwide.
AIDS (an acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome) is a deficiency in the immune system caused by HIV (an
acronym for Human Immune-deficiency Virus). Because of this deficiency
there is inadequate resistance to various diseases which then cause
sickness and death. AIDS suddenly appeared about 25 years ago and quickly
spread around the world. Today there are about 33 million cases of AIDS
worldwide. But where did HIV come from? Did God suddenly create it or
has it always been around? And if so, why didn't it erupt as an epidemic
until relatively recently?
Origin 0f HIV
We can say that the Lord created it, because He has
created everything: ''Through HIM all things were made; without Him
nothing was made that has been made'' (Jn. 1:3 NlV). And the ''all things''
includes viruses and microorganisms. Scripture does not tell us why
He created them, but some of them are absolutely necessary for our health.
For example, we need germs in our bowels for their proper functioning;
and much of the vitamin K we need for blood clotting is produced by
intestinal germs. Scripture does not say that He created germs to cause
sickness and death! We should note that the Lord rebuked the pharisaical
attitude of those who automatically consider calamities to be punishment
for sin. He said, ''Do you think that these Galilees were worse sinners
than all the other Galilees because they suffered this way .. . or those
eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think
they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell
you, not'' (Lk. 13:1-5). God protects His creatures from disease! He
gave mankind and animals their amazing immune systems to protect them
from microorganism-caused diseases. lf these immune systems worked ''perfectly''
we would never get sick. In fact, it is quite possible for people to
be ''carriers'' of a load of disease-causing microorganisms and be symptom
free. For example, ninety percent of the people infected with the tuberculosis-causing
germ will never have tuberculosis. Could HIV then have been around for
ages in carriers? Yes, but the carriers have not been human.
Non-human Carriers
HIV apparently has been present in chimpanzees for
thousands of years, and evidence has just been announced which confirms
what has long been suspected, namely, that the virus came originally
from chimpanzees living in Central Africa where AIDS got it start in
humans. Most interestingly, HIV would never have gotten into humans
and spread so rapidly if Old Testament regulations were heeded and New
Testament sexual morals were practiced. How did HIV Enter Humans? Viruses
like HIV can easily as mutate (change) into different strains, and they
often do. When this happens, viruses that live in animals without infecting
humans may produce strains that can cause human disease when they jump
into people. Thus, ''swine flu'' resulted when a mutated virus jumped
from pigs into people and produced a new ''flu'' against which the old
vaccine was ineffective. The evidence is that a mutated virus in chimpanzees
jumped into humans at least three times. There is also a plausible mode
of transmission. In Central Africa chimpanzees are hunted for food,
and blood from the carcasses could easily have entered the hunters'
bodies through superficial wounds. The continued practice of hunting
chimpanzees may possibly introduce new viral strains into the human
population!
G0D's Protection
Plan
God gave Israel a variety of seemingly arbitrary food
and health laws to protect them. Specifically, He commanded, ''You must
therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean ...Do not defile
yourself by any animal or bird ... those which I have set apart as unclean
for you'' (Lev. 20:25). For example, a monkey was forbidden food and
its carcass defiling (Lev. 11). Even touching a carcass made the person
unclean (Lev. 5:2; 11:27). Therefore, a law-abiding Israelite would
never dress a monkey for food and would never run the risk of coming
into contact with blood from an infected animal. Note that God's so-called
''arbitrary'' laws also protected His people from other viruses, such
as the Ebola virus. A few years ago this mysterious disease appeared.
It caused death from massive hemorrhaging while physicians watched helplessly.
It threatened to become a dangerous epidemics but was stopped when it
was recognized that the disease was caused by the E'bola virus. This
virus was spread by contact with the bodies of the victims. A quarantine
was established, and the spread of the virus was stopped. God protected
His people from disease present in dead bodies by commanding, ''Whoever
touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days. He must
purify himself with water'' (Num.19:11-12). Why the Sudden Spread? For
years HIV did not spread. Travel was difficult, people stayed whee they
lived, and tribal customs regulated sexual contact - the primary mode
of transmission. Then came roads, rails, and airplanes - and travel
increased. People moved around, moved into cities where tribal influences
were lost, and promiscuous sex became much easier. In Africa AIDS is
a heterosexual disease. However, because it was introduced into the
United States by homosexuals, many perceive of it primarily as a homosexuals'
disease - but this is wrong. As people carrying the virus travel and
engage in promiscuous homosexual and heterosexual sex, the disease is
being spread rapidly around the world.
What Can We Do?
Not widely known is the fact that the greater the opportunity
for transmission of an infectious agent, the greater its virulence (deadliness).
Thus, today's widespread sexual promiscuity is playing a big part in
the deadliness of AIDS. As scientists explain in Scientific American:
''Theory predicts that .. . safe sex will do more than save numerous
individuals from HIV infection. lf humanity's behavior itself slows
HIV transmission rates, strains that do not soon kill their hosts ...
then die with their hosts, denied the opportunity to spread.'' In other
words, if people were to heed the scriptural admonition to ''flee from
sexual immorality'' (1 Cor. 6:18), not only would they avoid AIDS themselves
but their ''collective choices (would) change the very nature of HlV.''
God is not responsible for the deadliness of HIV we are!
Listen To God
The more we learn about sanitation and disease, the
better we appreciate the wisdom and love which God showed in the seemingly
arbitrary regulations He gave to His people. They were told to ''observe
them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to
the nations'' (Dt. 4:6). They were told they would have good health
if they obeyed, and disease if they disobeyed (Ex. 15:26; Dt, 28:58-61).
