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“‘I’d shoot my son if he had AIDS’, says Vicar” — The Sun, Oct 1985.
“Ghettos? A good idea! Send them to the leper colonies …” — Daily Star — Dec1988.
In 1939 Adolf Hitler described syphilis as the “Jewish Plague”, fifty years later little had changed. I have a friend who is HIV positive, he is a Christian, unfortunately those people in his church didn’t help or support him, they gossiped behind his back, they refused to take communion with him, they drove him from the church.
The Church and Society in general has had a long history of responding to epidemics such as AIDS in a very negative and unhelpful fashion. The experience of my friend proves that much of the Church still responds to such matters in a cloud of prejudice and plain ignorance, often veiled under a thin disguise of moral righteousness. In the light of World AIDS day, perhaps it is time to rethink such issues.
Don’t LIVE in ignorance.
Well, the always-hectic first term of the year is behind us. The dust has begun to settle, and we’ve managed to ensure our survival another year, thanks to all those who parted with their £1.50 at Fresher’s Fair, and thanks even more to those who have decided to sacrifice their Wednesday afternoons to making the whole thing work. Hopefully by now, the budget will have been passed (when enough people see fit to go to a UGM … Grrr!), and Christis can carry on with the task in hand.
What is the task in hand, though? It’s a question we should certainly have to ask ourselves from time to time, and one that we’ve had cause to consider recently. I firmly believe that York University is lucky to have an organ such as Christis: not many universities can boast the existence of a magazine specifically set aside for the discussion of issues of spirituality, which are so often ignored in the haste and hubbub of life, but are no less important for that. The question is: do we actually fulfil our role? And if not, how can we do things better? What is our actual role, anyway?
After a session of navel-gazing a short while ago, the committee as it currently stands managed to thrash out a few ideas, which we shall certainly be acting upon. What is more important, however, is that you get to have a say, too. No-one in Christis believes that we produce a perfect magazine every three or four weeks, but we would be quite willing to put into practice any ideas you may have, in order to help us do so. Don’t discard Christis as being a waste of time and money: tell us what we lack! All you have to do is drop a note in our pigeonhole in the SU Building, email us (editor@christis.org.uk), or have a word with one of the committee, if you happen to meet one. Easy! All suggestions (no matter how radical!) will be considered and discussed.
At any rate, the New Year will see us all back and ready to try again with renewed vigour for Issue 45. In the meantime, have a good Christmas and all that. We’ll see you again in a few weeks!
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Last modified: 25th November 2005
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