The headline of the Dec. 14, 1999, Final Call newspaper, "Why Blacks are dying from AIDS" and the headline on page three of the same paper, "A killer is loose in Black America," hit me like a bolt of lightening.

Are these realities apart from me, or are these realities an extension of me?

In the world of politics, impressing others, pretending, and pointing fingers, I can act as if these realities are totally unrelated to me. But in the world of atonement, created by Allah (God) acting through the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, I must first look at myself and into my life to see whether my life and conduct have been contributing factors to the 20-year epidemic that is destroying my people.

Have I been a sinner? No. Have I been a criminal? No. I have been a diseased man in need of healing and God would send me a doctor.

What is that disease? I will name the disease "sexual addiction," and I will rightly define myself as a recovering sex addict.

What is a sex addict? A sex addict is one who uses sex for a purpose less than the purpose for which sex is given to mankind by Allah (God).

Do we have examples of non-sex addicted people so we can have an objective view of what a sex addict is and what it is not? Further, do we have an example of a sex addict so we can see the outcome of sexual addiction?

Let us look at two men and two women in order to see the principle and conduct in the life of those who were not afflicted with sexual addiction.

"Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking ... his master�s wife ... said, �lie with me.� But he refused ... and said to his master�s wife, � ... How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?�" (Genesis 39:6-18)

"Jesus went up on the mountain and taught his disciples saying, �You have heard that it was said, �you shall not commit adultery,� but I say to you that anyone who looks on a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:1-28)

"Hannah rose ... and she vowed a vow and said, �O Lord of Hosts ... if thou will give to thy maid servant a son, I will give him to the lord all the days of his life.�" (1 Samuel 1:9-11)

"And Mary said, �Behold I am a maidservant of the Lord; let it be unto me according to thy word.�" (Luke 1:38)

Joseph, Jesus, Hannah, and Mary are reflective of people who are not sex addicts. Any sexual conduct beneath the principles, thought and conduct of these four people is reflective of sexual addiction.

When we examine the son of Hannah who was the prophet Samuel, and the son of Mary who was Jesus the Christ, we can see what children look and act like who are born to those who are not afflicted with sexual addiction.

Let us look at the life of two sex addicts, and examine the consequences of such conduct and people.

"When Delilah saw that he had told her all his mind ... she called the lords of the Philistines ... and she said, �The Philistines are upon you Samson!� And he awakened from his sleep, and said, �I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.� And he did not know that the Lord had left him.

"And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes." (Judges 16:18-21)

Have not the spiritual eyes of African American males, including myself, been gouged out�resulting in Blacks dying of AIDS?