Beetroot, garlic, lemon and Jesus in the fight against HIV/AIDS
The impact and human tragedy of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa can hardly be overestimated. In the absence of an effective medical antidote for the virus, traditional advice and folk-based practices will continue to be employed. Included among these is the role of faith-based communities, in...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
NTWSA
2010
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| In: |
Neotestamentica
Year: 2010, Volume: 44, Issue: 2, Pages: 292-306 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The impact and human tragedy of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa can hardly be overestimated. In the absence of an effective medical antidote for the virus, traditional advice and folk-based practices will continue to be employed. Included among these is the role of faith-based communities, in particular Christian churches that offer healing in the fight against HIV/AIDS in ministering Jesus the healer. Ironically, and despite huge differences, this is not unlike the AIDS denialism discourse of beetroot, garlic and lemon in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Both contain forms of AIDS denialism, impact on sexual behaviour (if HIV does not cause AIDS, it is unnecessary to have protected sex) and offer necessary but insufficient treatments (in the one instance hope and in the other diet). However, in this article it is suggested that a historical understanding of Jesus as healer can offer at least three insights to address this pandemic. Firstly, in the face of beetroot, garlic, lemon and Jesus as remedies, it can illustrate the efficacy and limitations of traditional and faith-based health care practices. Secondly, by situating folk and faith healing practices within the framework of comparative analyses of health care systems, it can contribute to undermine AIDS denialism. Thirdly, if Jesus' healings are seen in the context of struggle and conflict (and not merely as bodily interventions), faith communities can adopt a truth or "gospel" of activism instead of the expectations of supernatural interventions. |
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| ISSN: | 2518-4628 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Neotestamentica
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.10520/EJC83392 |