HIV/AIDS: A.B.C., S.L.O.W., or S.T.O.P.?

Christianity Today has an article on Kay Warren’s framework for fighting HIV/AIDS. (Kay Warren is the Wife of Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren).

The article is HIV/AIDS: S.L.O.W. It Down, or S.T.O.P. It?

The approach that has been promoted by many Christians in places like Africa is ABC —

• A — Abstinence
• B — Be faithful
• C — Condoms

To me, ABC is a no-brainer. Virgins don’t get HIV. Mutually faithful couples don’t get HIV. And in the larger community, consistent use of condoms will reduce the transmission rate of HIV.

The SLOW/STOP approach seems to build on this, and addresses some of the legitimate criticisms of the ABC program. SLOW/STOP has the two-pronged goal of slowing the transmission of the virus in the general population, and stopping it among those who will listen to moral reasoning.

Read the article for a description of SLOW and STOP.

You don’t have to be a Purpose Driven Life fan (I’m not) in order to admire the work of compassion that is going on here. I do wonder why they have copyrighted the SLOW and STOP acrostics.

Grace and Peace

Divorce is bad for the environment

Divorce is bad for the soul.

Divorce is bad for the children.

Divorce is bad for the environment too.

Headline on Yahoo News: Mother Nature feels the pain of divorce.

Divorce can be bad for the environment. In countries around the world divorce rates have been rising, and each time a family dissolves the result is two new households.

“A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household,” said Jianguo Liu, an ecologist at Michigan State University whose analysis of the environmental impact of divorce appears in this week’s online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

More households means more use of land, water and energy, three critical resources, Liu explained in a telephone interview.

Read more by clicking on the link above.

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. — Matthew 19:6 ESV

Grace and Peace

Cranach and the Evangelical Ecologist have also commented on this today.