You might not know it from reading the comments left here on my blog, but there are more than a few AIDS dissidents who really don’t like how I think or what I write about.
There’s a whole thread on a very popular Facebook page called “Rethinking AIDS”, discussing my open letter to Dora. Last I looked, that thread had nearly 100 comments, and very few of those comments were about Dora, Ruggiero or the defense of academic freedom.
No, the gist of the thread was whether or not I am in “the AIDS Zone.” It seems that because I did not use “air quotes” around the term “HIV disease”, I’m not really an AIDS dissident. Others took issue with my post for daring to publish that some AIDS Rethinkers hold a very narrow view about “HIV” and “AIDS”, while others of us are merely “questioning” the whole affair. None of them chose to comment directly to me here.
Some of the most visible and vocal Rethinkers seem intent on imposing their own “beliefs” (another loaded term that deserves quotes) on the entire movement. There has long been a tendency to try to impose a sort of litmus test to determine whether or not one is a true “AIDS dissident”.
Since I first met the AIDS dissident community via the AIDS Myth Exposed forums—since renamed Questioning AIDS—several years ago, I’ve become aware of several of the various factions, distinctive personalities and divisions within that broad group. Now I’m finding it ironic just how guilty some of these people are at their own version of “bone-pointing”.
It’s great that there are more and more videos/documentaries and the like, which rather delicately let us know that there’s something wrong with the whole HIV/AIDS paradigm.
But we’re looking for outside sources when we should be looking inside. We’re still asking for outside validation and approval, whether it’s for our sexuality or our right to know the truth. It’s still totally fucked up.
We’ve ALWAYS had the ability to “go back home” (a slight Wizard of Oz reference, if you will). WE JUST HAVE TO WANT TO DO SO.
The power is ours. When we give it away to the medical establishment and authorities, is it any wonder that they do the horrible things they do with it?