Stigma and Compassion: Religious Responses to HIV/AIDS

Abstract

This Bachelor Thesis, conducted in the field of Religious Studies, concerns the different discourses that have formed around HIV/AIDS, as formulated by religious leaders, and the stigmatising effects these discourses can have. This study was inspired by a statement made by Gillian Patterson, claiming that the discourse of compassion is often deeply stigmatising. The research question therefore asks: What did Patterson mean when she wrote that the discourse of compassion, as formulated by the Roman Catholic and Anglican communities in sub Saharan Africa, is merely another (unintended) way to stigmatize the people infected with HIV/AIDS? This thesis compares the discourse of compassionate hope to the concept of stigma and the discourses that have been known for their stigmatising effects. The discourses that have been singled out for this purpose are the discourse of morality and the discourse of war. These discourses, along with the discourse of compassionate hope, have been analysed by statements made by Roman Catholic and Anglican church leaders in sub Saharan Africa.