Question: Is AIDS God's plague sent to punish homosexuals, lesbians, and other promiscuous people?
Answer: I would think not, because little babies and others who bear no responsibility for their disease are also suffering. But consider this: If a person chooses to leap off a ten-story building, he will die when his body crashes to the ground below. It is inevitable. Gravity was not designed by God to punish human folly. He established physical laws that can only be violated at great peril. So it is with His moral laws. They are as real and predictable as the principles that govern the physical universe. Thus, it should have been obvious with the onset of the sexual revolution back in 1968 that today's epidemics would come. That time is here, and what we do with our moral crisis will determine how much we and our children will suffer in the future.
By the way, did you know that God created the moral basis for the universe before he made the heavens and the earth? That's what we read in Proverbs 8:22-36, referring to the universal moral law in first person:
The Lord brought me ["me" here refers to "wisdom," or God's moral perspective] forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind. Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.
Isn't that a fascinating Scripture? It tells us that the moral foundation existed prior to the Creation, because it is an expression of God's very nature. It didn't come along with the Ten Commandments after God saw the need for rules. The moral law is as eternal as God Himself, and it actually outranks physical laws in significance. The universe will wear out like a garment and be rolled up like a scroll, but the moral foundation will exist forever.
This understanding is directly applicable to homosexual and heterosexual immorality, and to every other form of sinful behavior common to humankind. If we conform to God's ancient moral prescription, we are entitled to the sweet benefits of life. But if we defy its clear imperatives, then death is the inevitable consequence. AIDS is only one avenue by which sickness and death befall those who play Russian roulette with God's moral imperatives.
The Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide
By Dr. James Dobson