Cut to the quick
Dear Editor:
Since Cook County Board President Todd Stroger released his proposal to balance the budget deficit, we have heard an outcry from officials whose departments will be affected. But we also need to ensure the public understands the dozens of ways their lives will be directly impacted by these proposed cuts. One area of grave concern is healthcare, specifically, the reduction of HIV/AIDS and STD services in correctional settings
The AIDS Foundation of Chicago estimates that at least 1,000 HIV-positive individuals move through jails and prisons in Illinois each year. Many of these people passed through Cook County Jail's Cermak Health Services, where they received HIV and STD counseling, testing and treatment. Proposed budget cuts threaten to do away with these services, which would mean delays in preventative care for HIV and other communicable diseases. Untreated, individuals' health will deteriorate, forcing them to use costly emergency rooms for routine care, an expense the county cannot afford. Elimination of these services will cause new infection rates to rise, taking Illinois backwards in the fight against HIV/AIDS, an expense our communities cannot afford.
Cermak Health Services has been the linchpin in Chicago's and Cook County's strategy to control new STD and HIV infections. But without adequate funding for critical screening and treatment services, it will be rendered ineffectual. Our communities deserve better than this. I urge President Stroger to turn back cuts to Cermak Health Services, and the dozen other clinics that serve low-income individuals at risk for HIV and STDs.
Sincerely,
Rev. Doris Green
Director of Community Affairs
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
A dirty secret
Two liberal religious denominations are showing a movie that blames homophobia on gays. The Unity School of Christianity and Religious Science are both hosting screenings of the movie The Secret ( Prime Time Productions, 2006 ) . In the opening segments, it demonstrates how the bad thoughts of gays attract homophobic attacks. The scenes depict a nameless gay man who experiences assaults at work and on his way home. The movie claims the problems will go away when gays focus on good thoughts instead. The gay man is next seen with a happy smile at work and flirting with someone on his way home.
I found it painful to watch the exaggerated gay-bashing scenario and listen to the simplistic solution. Homophobia is a dangerous and very real problem: LGBTs are attacked and killed in our own country. They are executed in Iraq by the puppet government that the USA installed. Attackers cause hate crimes; the victims do not.
The 'secret' of the movie is that bad thoughts attract the bad, and vice versa. Overall, the movie teaches a few spiritual practices that develop good thinking. According to the movie, good thoughts will lead to wealth ( specifically, becoming part of the wealthiest 5 percent that controls 80 percent of the world's resources ) , fancy cars, a rewarding career, a multi-million dollar house, a fabulous relationship ( no LGBT couples were depicted ) , etc. Problems of poverty and disease would go away if the poor and the sick had good thoughts. The movie praises social injustice and economic exploitation. I would expect such capitalistic ideology at a Republican convention, but not at a liberal church. The materialistic and narcissistic message of the movie serves to belittle its superficial spiritual teaching. It makes no mention of loving one's neighbor or enacting justice: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the sick, etc.
In terms of disease, the movie provides the example of a woman who cured herself of breast cancer by good thoughts alone, without radiation or chemotherapy. The implication ( and the blame ) is clear: If she could do it, everyone can. This miasmic view of disease victimizes patients for their illnesses. It was and still is used to blame gay men for AIDS. I have been living well with HIV for 22 years now by the grace of God, positive thinking and the medical miracle of HAART ( highly active antiretroviral treatment ) .
Unity and Religious Science are two churches that have been very friendly to the LGB community. ( I am not sure how well they relate to the trans community. ) They ordain gays, bless same-sex unions and have very large gay followings. Unfortunately, their current preaching perpetuates 'bad thinking' not only against the LGBT community, but also against the sick and the poor.
Rev. Dr. Vilius Rudra Dundzila
Chicago, IL
