A pastor has angered Christians
in South Africa by preaching a
sermon entitled "Jesus was HIV-
positive" in an attempt to break
what he regards as a conspiracy
of silence by the South African
church.
Xola Skosana said that HIV is
stigmatised as evil and a sin in the
country that has the world's biggest
caseload.
Skosana (43) underwent a HIV test
in front of his congregation last
Sunday at the non-denominational
Way of Life church in Khayelitsha,
Cape Town. The test was also taken
by 100 young people from the
impoverished township.
The pastor said he chose the title
for his three-part sermon to draw
attention to "a very serious issue".
"In many parts of the Bible, God
put himself in the position of the
destitute, the sick, the
marginalised," he said. "When we
attend to those who are sick, we
are attending to him. When we
ignore people who are sick, we are
ignoring him."
Hostile reaction
Skosana cited a passage in the
Bible where Jesus says: "I was sick
and you visited me, I was in prison
and you came to me." But he has
had a hostile reaction in some
quarters.
"The scathing attacks I've received
from Christians are unbelievable,"
he said. "They're saying you can't
reconcile Jesus and Aids. They
assume it means Jesus was
promiscuous and had a louche
lifestyle with many sexual
partners."
Skosana lost two sisters to HIV/
Aids. One died last month at the
age of 44. The other died in 2003 in
her early 20s.
He condemned the national church
for failing to tackle the issue when
nearly 1 000 people are dying from
Aids-related causes every day. The
South African government had
been accused of Aids "denialism"
but has more recently been praised
for its prevention and treatment
programmes.
"It baffles me why in the church
this is the most untalked-about
subject," Skosana said. "If I went to
church and never heard the pastor
talk about this, I would assume I
must go home and die in silence.
The message is that it's an
unpardonable sin and we must just
forget about HIV/Aids.
"My responsibility as a pastor is to
open a Bible and paint a picture of
a God who cares for people and
wants the best for them, not who
judges them and is ashamed of
them."
He called on other churches to be
more open about the subject. "I
hope this will change the paradigm,
especially in the Pentecostal
background. I come from the
Pentecostal background and I know
this discussion is totally alien there."
Skosana will not disclose the result
of his public HIV test in case it puts
pressure on the churchgoers who
followed his example. They had
heard him explain the virus,
possible treatments and the
importance of knowing their status
and were given professional
counselling.
Skosana's stance was praised by
South Africa's National Aids Council.
Mark Heywood, its deputy
chairperson, said: "I applaud his
actions. It's very important that
church leaders set an example,
destigmatising HIV and
encouraging testing so people
know their status.
"There are many churches that
have done a lot to combat HIV. The
problem is that the church as a
whole has not been vocal enough.
It's often been left to individual
church leaders and organisations.
We would like to hear a clearer
message."
The South African Council of
Churches was unavailable for
comment

?

Nonsense.