The AIDS activist and the preacher
By Dan Wooding

“... churches can change the course of the epidemic. But they have to come to us. They can’t just come and say, ‘Hi, we want to change the AIDS crisis.’ That’s difficult to do because it is complex and it’s sensitive and it’s painful and it’s harsh and it’s not always very comfortable.” David Miller, co-founder, ACT UP

TORONTO, Canda (ANS) — It is a friendship that many still find hard to believe.

David Miller is one of the most well-known AIDS activists who works with the controversial group, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), and Rick Warren is pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and author of The Purpose Driven Life.

This unlikely pair met up again recently at the XVI International AIDS conference in Toronto. When I told Miller, who is HIV positive, that this alliance shocked many people, he agreed to talk about his friendship with Warren, who was there with his wife, Kay, and also about his hard-hitting views about Christianity.

“Well it’s interesting that people in the church are amazed and shocked about it,” Miller began. “If Jesus Christ were alive today I think he would be a member of ACT UP. Christ ‘acted up;’ Christ made a big scene in the temple from what I understand. From my very vague knowledge of the New Testament, Christ stood up against tyranny and oppression … Christ believed in life.

“Rick Warren is a follower of Christ. I am not going to profess myself to be a Christian – I’m not yet. I have thought about it; I’m still thinking about it.”

Miller went on to say that he believes that it is wrong that so many people are not receiving “essential life-saving medication,” describing this as “wrong and evil and horrendous and must be addressed immediately.”

‘The Martin Luther King of the AIDS crisis’
“Rick Warren is saying the same thing … I think Rick Warren has the potential to be the Martin Luther King of the AIDS crisis. I’ve said that before and I’m saying it again. Rick appears to be a very sincere man and I consider him to be a friend,” Miller added.

“Rick has made certain considerations toward this epidemic that I don’t think any other church leader has.

“The religious leaders that haven’t spoken up are the ones who need to be worried. Their congregations need to be worried, all over the world. Where are children whose parents are dead from AIDS? What do you think is going to happen to those children? Are they going to end up in rebel armies with an AK47 in their hand at the age of 14 so they can get a bowl of porridge?

“All over the world women who are faithful to their husbands, whose husbands are not faithful to them, are being infected with AIDS and their children are watching their mothers die.”

Miller concluded by saying, “Rick Warren is filling a void. He’s a big guy and he can fill up a lot of space in this epidemic physically as well as metaphorically. I need Rick Warren here at the conference. People with AIDS need Rick Warren here. Rick Warren has a lot of learning to do and a lot of growth to experience, but Rick Warren also has the potential to change the course of this epidemic as much as Bill Gates has.”

“Rick Warren changes churches and churches can change the course of the epidemic. But they have to come to us. They can’t just come and say, ‘Hi, we want to change the AIDS crisis.’ That’s difficult to do because it is complex and it’s sensitive and it’s painful and it’s harsh and it’s not always very comfortable.”

With that, David Miller was off, possibly to lead yet another protest.

Note: An mp3 audio version of this interview is available for broadcast on radio stations. Just request it from Dan Wooding at danjuma@aol.com.

I would like to thank Robin Frost for transcribing this interview.

Copyright 2006 Assist News Service, online at www.assistnews.net. Used by permission.