HIV, The Church And Theology

Not many Theologians
would accept  that sexual and reproductive health and rights are issues that the church can discuss particularly going by the meaning of theology and the stance taken by churches.
The stance, when taken by the church on such issues bordering  on sexuality, reproduction, HIV and their attendant rights as it affects  women,  is mostly based on the general feeling  that the pulpit, nay church, is only meant for discussions and teachings about God.
The extent to which  this is true, or otherwise, has been a subject for  discourse in different fora. Lately, there are  indications that the refusal of the church to address such issues may, to a large extent, have culminated in the rampant societal decadence.
Those were the  views canvassed recently at a 3-day  training workshop on “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), and Prevention of Mother-To-Child  Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS”. The event was organised by the World Council of Churches (WCE) in conjunction with the Christian Council of Nigeria from August 7-9 at the Presbytarian Church, Rumuomasi, in Port Harcourt.
In his presentation titled “Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights  and Theology”,  The President, Nigeria Commission  of Reformed Churches, Rev. Dr. Benebo Fubara –Manuel, noted that the inability or refusal of the church  to openly address issues on sexual and reproductive  health and rights has led society into  seeking  other explanations regarding the issues.
In the process, society has  continuously degenerated into what it is today, mostly because the church, which sees itself  as the originator of truth, guides  its own version of the truth jealously.
Fubara-Manuel, who is also  the  Chairman, Christian Council of Nigeria  (CCN), Rivers State and the immediate past Principal  Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, said a major  mistake the church has made is its refusal to listen to society  on issues.   about sexual and  reproductive health and rights. This situation, he said had affected society negatively.
“This is because most churches are formed with the notion that they have truth in their hands. This concept of truth that was bequeathed to us was given to us with a lot of untruth. So, many churches  think  that they have truth in their possession and therefore have no room to listen to others.
“Every truth claim of every church is a contextual  truth claim. It is not wrong in its entirety because it testifies to Jesus Christ,  the way, the truth, and the life. But it is limited, and  therefore, always to be  understood as dated, hence the truth understanding of the church today, may be different from the truth understanding of tomorrow … whereas, the truth is bigger than every church”, he said.
Continuing , the Clergyman  said if the Church could come off its high horse in such issues and include its teachings in its curriculum, society would have   fewer  cases associated with sexual and reproductive  issues.
Such issues include: early marriage, early indulgence in sexual activity, issues relating to divorce, unwanted pregnancy and the rights of women in marriage, different from the strict doctrines of the Church, which bases its teaching on a woman’s  submission to her husband, even when  her right is trampled  upon.
Fubara-Manuel said the church should, for instance, see it as its duty not to condemn the woman with an unwanted pregnancy, and address the issue in its own contest. This would most likely lessen the number of unwanted pregnancies in the society.
In her presentation titled “HIV and AIDS in Nigeria”, the Executive Director of  “Support for Mankind Development Initiative”, Mrs. Iminabo Austen-Okoroafor, highlighted the present state of HIV / AIDS in Nigeria.
The focus of her presentation was on key operational challenges experienced in the fight against the HIV/ AIDS pandemic, and the role expected of the church. She identified six key operational challenges:
They are: poor ownership and leadership of the HlV response at various levels, limited state government contributions to the fight against AIDS, and weak supply chain management system and limited human capacity and service delivery.
Others are: Limited private sector, including faith-based organizations (FBOs) in the fight against AIDS, more monitoring and evaluation plus data management system.
She also stated the President’s Comprehensive Response plan (PCRP) for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria from  2013 to 2015, which is aimed at achieving Global Commitments, Universal Access, as well as the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halting and reversing the HIV epidemic by 2015.
The objective of the PCRP, she said, is to avail 80 men and women aged 15 and above knowledge of their HIV status, to enroll an additional 600,000 eligible adults and children on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), and provide ART for 244,000 mv pregnant women for PMTCT.
Others are: 2,000 new PMTCT and ART service delivery points across  the country, provide access to combination prevention services for 5,000 MARPs and provide access to combination prevention for 4 million (9%) young persons aged 15 – 24 years.
Mrs. Jessie Fubara-Manuel, the Coordinator of the training, which was organised under the auspices of the Ecumenical Hl V and AIDS Initiative in African WorId Council of Churches (EHAIA/WCC), in collaboration with the CCN, focused on “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Families and Communities”.
Using concrete situations, Jessie identified specific issues about SRHR in family and community settings and established  the need for open discussions on SRHR both within the family and various shades of communities and how to take specific actions against acts bordering on SRHR.
Taking participants  through the topic, “Youth and Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights in Nigeria”, a clergyman, Reverened Okechukwu Kalu Iro, x-rayed youth and adolescent psychology as it concerns their indulgence, and the attendant right issues that emanate from it.
President of the “Niger Delta Coalition of Persons with Disabilities”, David ThankGod Enogho, in his paper titled “Disability and Marginalization in Nigeria”, laid bare the dehumanizing experiences meted on the physically challenged by the Nigerian society, which constitutes outright infringement on their fundamental human rights.
Tracing “disability” and its attendant marginalization to the Bible, he identified some key areas in which discrimination and marginalization of people with disability can easily be noticed. Such areas include education, employment, transport, housing, political participation and religion.
A trainer on SRHR, Mrs. Kaine Bob-Manuel, presented a paper on “Sexual and Gender- Based Violence in Nigeria”, particularly as it affects the girl- child and women. She identified five types of Sexual and gender-based violence against women. They include sexual,  physical, emotional, psychological and socio-economic violence.
She also identified avenues through  which such violence manifest in Nigeria. They  are forced  prostitution, ponography, trafficking in women, partner violence and marital rape.
Others are dowry abuse, murders, partner homicide, psychological abuse, abuse of women with disabilities and forced pregnancy.
While making their presentations, speaker after speaker re-echoed one key phenomenon and that is that the church  needs  to take a clear stand on such issues as critical to society as Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and the fight against the HlV/AIDS pandemic, particularly as it affects the woman and youth, who are the worst hit.
All speakers agreed on the fact that beyond affording members spiritual guidance, the church has to venture into issues of SRHR and HIV/AIDS. Among its members, different from strict adherence to what is perceived to be the dictates of the Bible, as interpreted by the church.
The central message from the workshop was to the effect that  the church should, not regard issues pertaining to SRHR and HIV / AIDS as being out of its purview or something capable of attracting disrepute and hence must be avoided.

Participants at the 3-day training workshop. Photo: Soibi Max-Alalibo