AIDS was not just spread sexually.
voice of reason,
In the beginning it was !

Diseases don't care about the morality of those that transmit them. Rats and fleas carried the plague not because they were sinful.

Any epidemiologist worth his salt would first look into how the disease was spreading and act to modify the behaviour of those most at risk.

Dear ShadowMinister,

Without prejudice on the original subject matter, you wrote:

«Diseases don't care about the morality of those that transmit them.»

Which is correct from the point of view of a disease (bacteria or virus, rats and fleas).

Then,

«Any epidemiologist worth his salt would first look into how the disease was spreading and act to modify the behaviour of those most at risk.»

Yes, epidemiologists make such efforts, but their efforts would fail unless people listen to them and follow their advice at the proper times.

And this is where morality comes in: the more moral a person is, the more likely they are to be blessed with the intuition to follow the epidemiologist's advice at the crucial places and times and avoid the "bad luck" of catching the disease by happening to be, possibly despite the epidemiologist's good advice, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Also the more likely they are to be around others who do the same.

SM,

In earlier times many believed The Plague was caused by sin, and was God's wrath being unleashed on mankind as a result of that sin. Many religious moralists said the same thing about AIDS. Then you could say that about anything, the war in Ukraine is the result of Ukrainian sinfulness, and God has unleashed the Russians on them as punishment for their sins. Its all the same hooey.

Dear Paul,

«In earlier times many believed The Plague was caused by sin»

Please understand the following subtlety:

Yes, the Plague had natural causes, no doubt.

But the EXPERIENCE, the subjective feeling of being "plagued", of suffering from the ailment of one's body, is caused by sin.

It is sin which makes one identify with their body, so when their body is ill or injured, one believes that they themselves suffer: for the one who is without sin, or who has gone beyond sin, even when their body is undergoing an illness, or is being wounded by Russian shells, they just calmly witness, almost bemused, how nerves send frantic impulses to their brains - they understand that only their bodies are hurt, not themselves!

Apparently, the Church failed to explain this too well.

Paul,

Zealots religious or political will opportunistically make all sorts of ridiculous claims. You do that frequently.