With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Anti-gay ‘historian’ leading pro-Ted Cruz PAC says Bible forbids finding an AIDS vaccine

The man who will be controlling millions of dollars in his role as head of GOP presidential nominee Ted Cruz’s super PAC believes that scientists will not be able to create a vaccine for the AIDS virus because he thinks a Bible verse says AIDS is God’s retaliation for sin.

This is just one of the many strange beliefs held by David Barton, who has been tapped to lead Keep the Promise PAC, an umbrella organization related to pro-Cruz committees that raised $38 million in the first half of 2015, Right Wing Watch reports.

“I don’t think they will ever find a vaccine for HIV/AIDS,” Barton said in a talk posted to the RWW YouTube account in March. “I say that based on a particular Bible verse.”

He then cites Romans 1:27 that says, “Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”

“The Bible says if you engage in homosexuality, your body will do things that penalize you,” Barton goes on. “So if you can have a vaccine for AIDS, then you’re keeping your body from penalizing you. I don’t think they’ll ever find a vaccine for AIDS.” ...

Read entire article at Raw Story