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Elder Robert C. Oaks Calls Safer Sex Programs Ineffective By Jason Clark December 2005 Those suffering with AIDS should be treated with dignity, kindness, and increased compassion, a senior LDS leader said today in a statement in support of World AIDS Day. Speaking at a news conference in Salt Lake City, Elder Robert C. Oaks, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, described AIDS as a tragic and disruptive condition that reaches around the world and into every level of society. "Families, individuals and whole communities have felt its painful and fatal effects," Elder Oaks said. "We mourn with those who have lost loved ones to AIDS and salute the tireless caregivers who give comfort and assistance to those battling with these trials." The statement underscores the progress the LDS Church has made since 1983, when President Gordon B. Hinckley suggested that homosexuals catch the disease deservedly. "The wages of sin are death," said Hinckley in April 1987 in reference to those who break the Mormon law of chastity and become HIV-positive (Ensign, May 1987, p. 45). Unfortunately, during the same event Elder Oaks also made some inaccurate statements about the AIDS crisis in Africa, flatly stating that "so called 'safe-sex' programs" and free condom distribution don't work. Of course fidelity and monogamy help prevent the spread of HIV," says Hugo Salinas, an associate director with Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons. "However, Elder Oaks's sweeping statement ignores scores of women who are forced into intercourse by their HIV-positive husbands." "Indeed, Elder Oaks's statement is of little comfort to any person who grew up believing in monogamy but, unknown to them, their spouse or partner was not being faithful," Salinas added. "The statement also ignores the fact that a person could have caught the disease in a previous marriage or relationship." "We need solutions for the real world we live in," Salinas said. "If LDS leaders were willing to condone, rather than condemn, safer sex, they would be helping fight ignorance and fear—two of the root problems associated with AIDS." To read Oaks's full statement, go to http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showrelease/0,15503,3881-1-22566,00.html Related Stories:  HIV/AIDS Prevention and Education AIDS-Related Stories and Links AIDS, Leprosy, and Disease: The Christian Response |
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