World News and Trends: New risks from homosexual sex
Health officials in New York City have issued warnings about two new strains of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) affecting homosexual and bisexual men.
Health officials in New York City have issued warnings about two new strains of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) affecting homosexual and bisexual men.
The first, lymphogranuloma venereum, or LGV, is a form of chlamydia known for two decades in the tropics, but which in recent months jumped to Europe and now to New York. Among other things, it can cause permanent damage to the bowels and increase the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and other STDs.
On the heels of that disturbing announcement came one even more troubling—word of a rare and aggressive form of HIV/AIDS in one man that is resistant to most drugs and progresses rapidly to full-blown AIDS in a matter of a few months.
Some had predicted that this deadly development was only a matter of time, as the AIDS virus is well known for its ability to mutate—a primary reason that no effective vaccine has been developed.
With the development of powerful (and extremely expensive) drugs in the 1990s, many developed a false sense of security, thinking that AIDS was no longer such a deadly threat and, if infected, they could continue life pretty much as usual. Many homosexual men reverted to unprotected sex with many partners, as evidenced by increasing rates of syphilis, chlamydia and other STDs.
The man infected with this latest deadly strain illustrates the problem health officials face in trying to keep the disease under control. The man admitted to having had hundreds of sexual partners, many in sexual marathons fueled by methamphetamine, a powerful illegal stimulant.
Patrick McGovern, executive director of Harlem United Community AIDS Center, explained that "people become hypersexual when they're using crystal [methamphetamine], but crystal by itself can limit your ability to function sexually. So people combine it with something like Viagra, that lets them keep going for hours."Dennis DeLeon, the president of the Latino Commission on AIDS, said men using such drugs commonly have sex with 10 to 20 partners in a single night. Methamphetamine "is a drug where they just lose count," he said.
Such depraved practices bring to mind the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 1:24, where he notes that because men reject the idea of a great Creator and Lawgiver, God "has given them up to their own vile desires, and the consequent degradation of their bodies" (Revised English Bible). (Sources: Associated Press, Newsday, The New York Times.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: March - April 2005
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
