Views:

Who Has Truly

Faith? ‘

e administration of George
N Bush has diverted two-thirds
of HIV prevention money
distributed by the Centers for
Disease Control to “faith—based”
organizations. What is left will be
divided among the rest, including
Community Based Organizations
like the AIDS Project of Southern
Vermont. The AIDS Project of
Southern Vermont has been provid-
ing Southem ‘Vermont with HIV
prevention services since 1995.

I have no quarrel with
faith-based HIV prevention pro-
grams. Any program that keeps
someone from getting infected with
HIV is welcome. I have no quarrel
with an organization that teaches
abstinence first, as long as they

"include condom use and the use of

clean needles in their message.
What I do object to is the assump-
tion that Community Based
Organizations such as, the AIDS
Project of Southern Vermont are
not “faith-based.” Faith has many

‘ meanings, and it is not limited to a

church building, or any specific

 

 

religious body.

Randy Shilts writes in
And the Band Played On, “By
October 2, 1985, the morning Rock
Hudson died, the word was famil-
iar to almost every household in

. the Western world. AIDS. Acquired

Inrrnune Deficiency Syndrome had
seemed a comfortably distant threat
to most of those who had heard of
it before, the misfortlme of people
who fit into rather distinct classes
of outcasts and social pariahs. But
suddenly, the summer of 1985,
when a movie star was diagnosed
with the disease and the newspa-

out in the mountains

Kept  

pers couldn’t stop talking about it,
the AIDS epidemic became palpa-
ble and the threat loomed every-
where.”

Do you remember? Here
we are in 2004, 19 years later, and
the threat of this epidemic is still ‘
“palpable and ...everywhere.”

A And who was it that had
the faith we could, if not cure this
disease, help those infected and
affected'to find the direct services
they needed to live the best they
could? Who was it had the faith we
could_raise enough money from
individuals, foundations and gov-
ernment grants to do this? Who
was it had faith we could help peo-
ple know what put them at risk and
support them in life changes to
reduce that risk? Who was it- that
had faith we could find the people
who cared enough and had enough

, love and compassion for others to

do the work necessary to provide
direct and prevention services? It
was c_:ommunity—based organiza-
tions.

Since 1988 when the

AIDS Project of Southern Vermont
began its work, we have provided
direct services for hundreds of peo-
ple infected and affected by AIDS.
We have provided three targeted
prevention programs since 1993.
They are for men who have sex
with men, women and youth at
risk, and for users of injection
drugs. These programs have been
primarily funded, but not totally,
by the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC). We have faithfully fulfilled
the requirements for these pro-
grams by the CDC. But even
beyond that, we have raised thou-
sands and thousands of private dol-
lars — money our town govem-
ments did not have to raise. We

have always had the faith we could

do that. And we have year after
year. This year, 2004, we are writ-
ing a new three-year grant. This is
for CDC money distributed by the
Vermont Department of Health. We
may not befunded at all. We may
be funded but with large cuts.
Whatever happens, I am
outraged by a government that will

 

punish us, and’Verrnont CARES in
Burlington, and ACORN in
Lebanon, New Hampshire, with
less dollars because we are not
connected, as an organization, with
any church. I’ve lived in thisgworld
for 69 years. I feel blessed every
day to work with the people I do,
and with the clients we have. They
have taught me’ that love, compas-
sion, friendship and caring are the
primary values in this world. They
have taught me that life is pre— '
cious. They have taught me what
faith, real faith, is all about.
How much more faith-

based can you get? V

{Lynn Martin belongs to Putney

Friends Meeting. She has worked ‘I
at the AIDS Project of Southern
Vermont since1991 and as an HIV

_ Prevention Specialist since 1998.

Her book of poetry Visible Signs of
Defiance was published in 1995. -

Views:

Death, Life & Politics

irth, Life, Death, Rebirth.
These are the cycles of
nature, the cycles we see in

our own lives. There is something
native to my soul when I watch the
seasons change, and at this time of
year watching all the death, it often
brings a bittersweet feeling.
Hallowe’en, or Samhain

(SOW-en) is that time of year
when, according to ancient beliefs,
the veils between the worlds are
thinnest. The veil between the land
of the living and the land of the
dead is thinned and we honor those
that have passed in the previous
year, and beloved dead from years
past. We honor the ancestors and
what they’ve passed on to us in our
cells-, in their stories: their wisdom
and folly too.

zeichner S        

This year, as autumn takes
over, warningof the coming winter,
we are also witness to the great
performance that American politics,
especially presidential, has become.
For your entertainment this year we
have the military deserter taking
aim at the service of the decorated

 

war hero. LIES = TRUTH as
Orwell might ‘say. Something has
died in American politics. We
watched its lingering demise for
decades but, in the decision of the
Supreme Court in Gore vs. Bush,
the death knell sounded. American
democracy is officially up for grabs
to the highest bidder, no need to
even pretend otherwise anymore.
That being said, I can’t
give up hope. I will vote. And, while
participating in the political game, I
will also continue to do what I can
to leave as small a mark as I can on
the planet. I continue to distance
myself from consumer culture. The
less we revere the dollar, the less
relevant the corrupt political system
will become. By working and con-
verting life energy into money, we

make it possible to “spend” our
energy in the ways we choose. If we
send less and less of it to the corrupt
politicians in the form of taxes, in
the form of supporting the corpora-
tions that “own” the politicians, we
reclaim our power! Buying less stuff
= reclaiming power!

My hope is that more and
more people will continue to honor
the earth in their daily lives, in
community rituals, in remembering
to see the sacred earth all around.

Samhain is “Pagan New
Year’s.” It’s the end of one cycle of
fertility, the seeds gone to rest for
winter, gestating the beginning of
the next fertile season. Let this year
end by releasing that which we no
longer need. Let the New Year
begin by the people reclaiming

their power.

Postscript: Since this was writ-
ten some things have occurred in
my life that affirm my belief that
the sacredness of life takes prece-
dence over everything. Life trumps
wealth, stuff, power, etc., all things
which people in our society strive
for. It is my deep disappointment in
our species, in our willingness to
kill for stuff, that causes my great-
est grief. It is the wonder of our
spirits, the kindness and generosity
we are capable of, and our creativi-
ty, which inspire and nourish me.V

Walter Zeichner is a psychothera-
pist, bodyworker, farmer, witch, and
political activist of conscience who
lives in Bolton.

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