Well, I don’t know if you’re a Christian or not, but the Bible implies the world will be like Sodom and Gomorrah near the end. It also talks about a bunch of end time plagues.
Do I think we’re in the end times now? Perhaps. No one can say for sure, but Christians should be able to see the signs of the times and know when we’re getting close.
I don’t think AIDS and worse things to come are God’s punishments BTW. I think He simply permits free will and allows us to choose our own poison. AIDS is just nature telling us that we shouldn’t be doin’ those things. God is like a father admonishing his children to not play with fire. If the children ignore their father’s wise advice, they are very likely to get burnt.
As far as the political ramifications go, I don’t think people will wake up even if worse diseases ravage mankind. We know homosexuality is a detestable, unhealthy and unnatural thing, but many Americans are thoroughly deluded. I just don’t see anything getting through that delusion on a mass scale. If the SHTF, we might be forced to live more carefully, but modern technologies give us the ability to mitigate a lot of the harm (at least in this world) that comes from our stupidity.
I am Christian, indeed, and agree with your post. I do however think the political winds would change if HIV reared its head again like it did 30 years ago. Survival and self interest are pretty powerful forces and when those are put at risk then the wishy-washy liberals will sing a different tune. I see it in my lib friends now, whether its the economy, terrorism, immigration. When the repurcussions start hitting home, they dance to a different tune.
If God let’s children get burned to learn, no one learned from Aides. No one is learning from abortion. Remember the Egyptians and the plagues? God does get mad and does act. He is veeeerrrrry angry about abortion. Limb for a limb. If we do not act, He will. Don’t be shocked.
Not even close. We'll know when, and it will be beyond anything we can imagine.
Those times will be recognizable and fear will grip us all.