1987 issue 3 - book reviews, the aids epidemic and poverty and wealth - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1987 Issue 3 - Book Reviews, The Aids Epidemic and Poverty and Wealth - Counsel of Chalcedon

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The

Aids Epidemic: A Citi

zens' Guide to Protecting Your

Family and Community From

the Gay Plague, by Lawrence E.

~ k m a n 112 PP including appendices

and bibliography. Quality softcover, per

fect bound. Available

through

T

Counsel

o

Chalcedon

Reviewed by the

publisher.

U.S. Surgeon General Everett Koop

recently released a blunt. 36-page report

011

AIDS, the deadly epidemic that has

already killed more than 28,000 victims

and infected an estimated 2 to 3 million

symptomless carriers in

the

-U;S. The

Surgeon General's report has already

aroused considerable controversy by re

commending intensive AIDS education

in the public schools, beginning atthe

lowest grade possible.

Overall, Koop's

repOrt

follows the

public health establishment line that

educationand counseling are the best

defense against the spread of AIDS.

That proposition is now coming under

heavy attack by a number

of

researchers

and critics who favor stronger measures

to protect the public health.

One of Koop's critics

is

Lawrence E.

Lockman, a Maine-based free lance

writer and investigative jourilalist, and

the author

of The Aids

Epidemic:

A Citizens' Guide to Protecting

Your Family and Community

From the Gay Plague. Lockman .

pulls

rto

punches

in his

call

for

tradi

tional,public health measures to meet

the AIDS threat.

Lockman justifies the provocative

subtitle by pointing to medical evidence

that

the

male homosexual population is

now virtually saturated with the AIDS

virus. A number

of

scientific studies of

homosexual behavior are cited by the

author in support

of

his contention that

gay men for the most part continue to

engage in promiscuous, biologically

insane sex practices that guarantee an

accelerating rate

of

infection. Special

attention

is

focussed on what Lockman

calls the 'homosexual deathstyle , in

cluding explicit descriptions of

the

most common sex practices

of

gay

men. Readers are warned that this

section

of

the book may be offensive to

some, and is definitely unsuitable for

children.

The author preSents a damning indict

ment of the

AIDS

Lobby , a group he

identifies as a powerful coalition of

pOliticians, health officials, and hdmo

seJtual

activists who see the

AIDS

epidemic

as

primarily a civil rights pro

blem rather than

a

public health emer

gency. Art entire chapter

is

devoted

t

the

AIDS

lobby and

itS

pervasive in

fluence on public policy.

The Aids Epidemic: A Citi

zens' Guide

_. summarizes, iri lay

man 's terms, the present state

of

medical knowledge

of

the killer disease.

Lockman finds cause for alarm in many

of

his

research findings, gleaned

from

the medical journals and from news

reports

in the

major media. The author

cites numerous medicld

and

scientific

experts who take issue with the

e d u c a ~

tion-is-our-only-hope pronouncements

of the public health establishment For

example, Dr. Mark Whiteside's research

in

southern Florida strongly suggests

that

AIDS

is being transmitted by mos

quitoes; And Harvard's Dr.

Myron

Essex warns that the nation's blood

supply is still contaminated. Dr. Essex

estimates that the EUSA blOOd test

now in use i stopping no more than

75%

to

80%

of

' AIDS-contaminated

blood donations from erttering blood

banks.

Equally disturbing is Dr. Robert

Gallo's statement that many cases of

AIDS go unreported because of the

narrow scope of the Centers for Disease

Control (CDC) surVeillance definition

of

AIDS, According to Dr. Gallo: This

The 'Counsel of Chalcedon, March, 1987--------.-..1

virus causes much more than

AIDS,

and in


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The fmal section was, for me, the

most enjoyable because of the topics

chosen for discussion. Every high

school student should supplement his

history text with the chapter dealing

with the Great Depression.

I

was lso

glad to see Nash point out Social

Security for what

it

is: a state-spon

sored pyramid scheme. The first to get

in gets the most and the last harvest the

whirlwirtd. However, Nash poses a

solution to the crisis destined

to

break

forth when the 1950's baby boomers

retire in the early part

of

the next

century (p. 153 ff) which makes for

interesting reading.

Nash's chapter on money and mam

mon is a good introduction to Biblical

stewardship but again, there is no

at:.

tempt made to relate our giving to the

clear guidelines

of

the Scriptures. Chris

tian charity must be discriminating and

the principles applied are unfortunately

not forthcoming

from

Poverty and

Wealth. .

Finally, Nash tackles

the

sacred cow

of poverty in America and the Third

world. He relies heavily on Charles

Murray's

work, Losing Ground which

if yoU: do not have the time to read you

will find well sununarized by Nash in

the chapter

on

Poverty in America .On

the foreign front, Nash indicates the

shortcomings of foreign aid are that it

often hinders economic development, is

often misappropriated, and . has little

tangible evidence.of aiding those who

were targets of the aid. The author then

lists

examples of third world countries

that have the highest growth rates have

received little

or no

foreign aid i.e.

Hong Kong, Indonesia, etc.

A

second

factor in thifd world poverty is the

workers themselves. Void of

a

Chris

tian work ethic, enmeshed in pagan or

secular deterministic systems leaves

little incentive

to

prosper and even if

they do prosper, as

Hong

Kong, they

.prosper to heap God's judgment in

resisting Him who has given them t Je

power to gain wealth.

With the reservations that

I

have

noted above

I

would sti ll encourage

Christian college students, high school

st.,.deots and those seeking a better

un

1987 issue 3 - book reviews, the aids epidemic and poverty and wealth - counsel of chalcedon

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