Many evangelical Christians agree that combating AIDS is “a moral imperative,” as the aide puts it, but they shun a chief AIDS-prevention tool: the condom. Believing condoms encourage promiscuity, they prefer abstinence-until-marriage education instead. The Bush plan, however, relies on both. Bush’s new policy won mostly glowing reviews from the global AIDS community. “The fact that he has said this is extraordinarily good news,” says Sandra Thurman, president of the International AIDS Trust. “Now we have to ensure that the rhetoric becomes reality.”
