A program that’s saved 25 million lives is at risk of losing its congressional authorization for the first time.

  • @PolydoreSmith
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    1 year ago

    Politically, it was championed by some of the country’s most prominent Christian conservatives — like Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson and mega-evangelist Franklin Graham. The evangelicals provided the political muscle on the right, as well as a kind of unvarnished Christian moral argument for healing the sick, that ultimately got Bush and Congress on board — leading to PEPFAR’s creation in 2003. PEPFAR thus should not be seen only as a great American accomplishment, but also a great evangelical accomplishment.

    When people talk about AIDS relief to Africa that provides zero funding for contraception on religious grounds, this is the program they’re talking about. It’s the same imperialist bullshit that’s been going on in Africa for centuries. If they really wanted to help people, they’d be sending billions of condoms a year. Prevent the spread instead of treating the disease.

    The article completely glosses over what the evangelicals wanted in return for their support. Because just helping people wasn’t enough, it had to be on their terms. The writer for Vox then goes on to spend several paragraphs making the same weird “Trump was worse than Bush” comparisons that have become so popular among neo-liberals in recent years.

    All-In-all, this is a terrible piece of journalism.