Getting evangelical about AIDS

Christian Century, Feb 22, 2003

GETTING EVANGELICAL ABOUT AIDS: After rock singer Bono of U2 made a December appearance at evangelical Wheaton College in Illinois to campaign for AIDS relief, the political science department wrote a letter to Michael Gerson, an alumnus of Wheaton and one of the president's speechwriters, urging increased U.S.

action on AIDS in Africa. On the day of President Bush's state of the union address, Gerson called a member of the department advising faculty members to listen to the president's speech. To the surprise of many, President Bush called for $15 billion in aid over the next five years, $10 billion of which is a new commitment. This money is to supply drugs to 2 million AIDS victims in Africa and the Caribbean, to care for 10 million HIV-infected patients and millions of children orphaned by AIDS, and to work at AIDS prevention. One reason so many evangelicals have taken on this cause, according to the Washington Post (January 30), is because of their ties to mission work in Africa. Bill Frist, the new Senate majority leader and a doctor who goes on short-term missions to Africa, has also added his support for work on AIDS.