Barrack Obama at Saddleback

Rick Warren, author, pastor, (millionaire,) invited Barrack Obama, the charismatic Illinois Senator and possible 2008 presidential candidate to Saddleback Church for a speech on AIDS during Warren's Global Summit on AIDS and the Church.

This invitation, in and of itself, is worth an entire article's discussion. But I won't be discussing that here. Here I will simply talk about the secular world's view on the AIDS epidemic and its prevention.

Obama, while reaching out to the crowd, spoke partially of sexual behavior re-alignment as a solution to curing the epidemic, but alluded mostly to increased research, research money, education, and a change in attitude about AIDS being a "their" problem and re-thinking it as an "our" problem.

Yes, there must be more money spent on this disease. But there must also be a change in hearts and minds; in cultures and attitudes. Neither philanthropist nor scientist; neither government nor church, can solve this problem on their own - AIDS must be an all-hands-on-deck effort.

But isn't the best solution for this global problem simply a global change in sexual behavior? If only people subscribed to what God designated as the proper practice of sex, AIDS would be less about as rare as Parsonage Turner Syndrome.

Think about it: if everyone abstained from pre-marital sexual activity (what the Bible terms "sexual immorality"), or even simply remain monogomous, AIDS would stop where it currently lies and will not be further transmitted. The remaining AIDS victims would be children who contract AIDS from the womb and those who contract it with unsterile subdermal medical instrumentation or accidents. Within a generation or two, AIDS would be eradicated.

There isn't another severe disease that is so easily cured by human behavior.

Obama touched upon this idea when he said this:

Now, too often, the issue of prevention has been framed in either/or terms. For some, the only way to prevent the disease is for men and women to change their
sexual behavior - in particular, to abstain from sexual activity outside of marriage. For others, such a prescription is unrealistic; they argue that we need to provide people with the tools they need to protect themselves from the virus, regardless of their sexual practices - in particular, by increasing the use of condoms, as well as by developing new methods, like microbicides, that women can initiate themselves to prevent transmission during sex. And in the debate surrounding how we should tackle the scourge of AIDS, we often see each side questioning the other's motives, and thereby impeding progress. For me, this is a false argument.

Let me say this - I don't think we can deny that there is a moral and spiritual component to prevention - that in too many places all over the world where AIDS is prevalent - including our own country, by the way - the relationship between men and women, between sexuality and spirituality, has broken down, and needs to be repaired.

Abstainance as a means to eradicate AIDS is not a new or revolutionary idea. But he failed to push for the higher standard; God's standard. And in failing to do so he, and indeed, society as whole, will fall short of God's standard for safety from AIDS. God knows how to cure it and He's already told us how. It's simply up to us to comply.

You can read all of Obama's speech HERE.