editorial guest editorial

Reproduced by Sabinet Gateway under licence granted by the Publisher (dated 2013)

MISSIONA~JA.. ::

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Volume 29, Number 2, August 2001

EDITORIAL

Two guest editors, Dr Musa Dube (University of Botswana) and Prof. Tinyiko Maluleke (Unisa) have refereed and selected the contributions in this issue. On behalf of the editorial team and the subscribers I wish tej'thank them sincerely for this labour of !ove. It addresses an urgent priority for the church in (Southern) Africa. May it challenge us all to deeper action and reflection. For the record, the term "pandemiC" is used in this issue with the meaning of an epidemic occurring over a wide geographical area. Due to the number and the length of th~ contributions in this issue, we have included no abstracts. The forthcoming 'issue (Volume 29:3, November 20(1) will have more than the usual nUrr10er of abstracts, to make up for this. ..-' " Klippies Kritzinger Coordinating editor

GUEST EDITORIAL HIV/AIDS as the new site of struggle: Theological, biblical & religious perspectives Musa W. Dube & Tinyiko S. Maluleke HIV/AIDS is not only a matter for health professionals. Its impact encompasses individuals, families, communities, faith communities, entire nations and continents. In short, it is a global phenomeno!) .. HIV/AIDS has espeCially devastating socio-political and economic· effects, on those countries with a high prevalence of the disease., This reality ,calls for a multi-sectoral approach to its prevention and care. For an effective fight against HIV/AIDS to emerge, all government depadments, the private sector, NGOs and faith communities must make fighting HIV/AIDS part of their "core business." All of. us everywhere must make it our business to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as to minimise its impact. One way in which academic institutions can contribute to this huge challenge is by opening up a· brave, informed, creative and constructive discussion on HIV/AIDS issues. It is hoped that this issue of Missionalia will contribute towards such a discussion. Nay, we make bold.to say that the essays collected in this issue clearly reveal the traits of openness, depth,


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and constructive creativity that are neede~ right now. Hly/~19S is serious enough to· warrant anp demand the best and the most p~ofound responses from the theological academy. . While we have noted the multi-sectoral nature of the HIV/AIDS challenge, we believe that there are certain aspects of this challenge that church and theology are well positioned to meet. Few diseases foreground qu~s tions. about the meaning, objective and· content of life in the way that HIV/AIDS does. The fact that HIV/AIDS is a disease shrouded - at least in many African contexts - in a cloud of taboo and shame accentuates its devastating status as a life-shaking and not merely as a life-ending disease .. What is life for tho~e living with the HIV/AIDS "death sentence?" What is life for·those who have seen whole families and numerous friends succumb to this deadly disease? What is life for whole villages, communities and even nations living under the shadow of HIV/AIDS? No single individual or institution has final answers to these questions. Yet it seems to us that faith communities are~na good position not only to ask these kinds of questions, and to do so sharply; but also to attempt answering them in ways that few other arms of civil society are able to. Furthermore, as several contributions in this issue reveal, HIVIAIDS presents a culmination and a further complication of many of the themes and issues addressed by earlier theological developments in Africa and much of the two-thirds world. The categories of gender, race· and class continue to be reliable tools of analysis even in relation to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and all its ugly consequences. Southern Africa is one of the regions in the world hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. It contains the country with the highest infection rate (Botswana) . and the country with the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS (South Afr!ca). Indeed, of the 25.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS in I subSaharan Africa, 10 million live in Southern Africa (SADC 2000:4). J Given the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and its concentration in Africa·and southern African in particular, we must ask ourselves whether I our theology and religious studies departments have responded adequately. I' Can we say, that we have produced sufficient publications? Can we say we have organised enough conferences and workshops on HIV/AIDS issues? : Can we say our departments have formulated and adopted policies that deal ; with HIV/AIDS in the work place and in teaching and research? Can we say , we have made deliberate efforts to integrate HIV/AIDS into our curricula, - : either by infusing it in our existing courses·or by deSigning new courses, or both? Are our departments running regular short courses for Christian leaders on HIV/AIDS? : Different academic institutions and departments will answer these ques- I tions differently. But perhaps we are not far from the truth if say that ;

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many academic departments of theologY 'and religious studies ~hav-e Dee'n very slow in responding. hi many :ihstit~tions: :the' HIVIAIDS wOrk.~ti~fis being done is still left to individual activistsWho.haveho structu~al support from their leaders or· no institutional policy to baclf'them'up.ConseqUentlY-: their work tends to have an insuffiCientini'pact: This·also meahsthat many graduates leave theological 'ahd' teligious:-in·stitl..itiorllfwith! little" or 'no preparation to'serve,in HIV/AIDSinfected'and affecfeasocieties. , i~ -, , More recently, however, there has been some positive sighs. In June 2000, the Nairobi-based organisatiorFMAP: Ihternatibnal,":backed :6y the WCC andUNAIOS, convened' a;eortfere!nce-of theolOgiCai·educatorS 'an'a administrators from both east arid southern Atricato initiate the development of an H IVI AI DS curriculum' guideline 'fonheological seminaries'iand ·Bible schools. The conference was well- attenaed' and :'has resultec! in 'a' draft HIVlAIDS'curriculum for'thelogical eolleges"and Bible schools Which' is being piloted in various places,'Thisis a milestone which must be;warmly commended. However, much work remains to'be done: For one thing, the curriculum guide is no more than that - a guide which leaVes theologicai educators with the ,task of creatively aaapting"it'for their Conditions and needs. Furthermore, the curriculum'guide isa rather thin documEmfthat needs beefing up both in terms of quality:and qiJahtlty-.'..· ': . "', , In addition to this, inaividual theological'institutions have explored or launched their own HIV/AIDS initiatives: ,For a'nuniber:of year's the wec has been engaged in advocacy work on HIV/AIDSwith"the churches. Indiv~dual denominations have launch'ed various initiatives. Individual academic and theological institutions have done the same: Noteworthy' in this regard are the initiativesofSt Paul Theological Seminary in Nairobi,the Uriiversities of Zambia, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Botswana, Unisa ana the'University of Natal's School of Theology. -, . ,

. Contributions in this iS$ue This special issue consists of a rich variety of articles, dealing with HIV/AIDS from different perspectives. Tinyiko Maluleke asserts that HIVIAIDS 'is a new' kairos that challenges every form of theology - inculturation, black theology, African women's theology, etc. - to integrate HIV/AIDS into their theological frameworks. The paper argues that the prevailing liberation frameworks are , useful for a theology of HIV/AIDS. It also calls for the development of an HIV/AIDS theologica(curriculum. By so doing, the paper fo~ces allof us'to stop and ask ourselves if we have integr(3ted HIV/AIDS into our individual " . theological work as well as alan institutional level. Emmanuel Katongole argues that ethical and theological discussions


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