Progressive black church leaders are beginning to tackle the subject of AIDS, according to reporter Ivan Gale: Black clergy in America have long been out on the front lines of important causes affecting the black community. But the increasing crisis of AIDS in black America, and what the church’s role should be, remains a deeply unresolved issue. Over the last decade, the rate of new HIV infections among whites has held steady while the rate has doubled for blacks. Though they constitute just 12 percent of the population, blacks now make up 40 percent of Americans living with the virus, and account for 50 percent of new infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The issue is a delicate one for clergy. Addressing AIDS means broaching sensitive topics like drug use, homosexuality and out-of-wedlock sex. There are ministers who see AIDS as a punishment for sinful behavior, who choose not to use their pulpit to talk about the prevention and treatment of the disease. Yet with World AIDS Day approaching Dec. 1, some progressive ministers are beginning to take a stand, preaching tolerance, creating AIDS ministries, and even opening up their churches for HIV testing.

Nancy Haught looks at the pomegranate, “a most spiritual fruit”: Next time you’re wandering the produce aisle, pick up a pomegranate and treat yourself to a lesson on world religions. Beneath that smooth, red and bitter skin lie hundreds of tiny scarlet seeds-and almost as many religious associations. “People use whatever is at hand to express their religious beliefs,” says Frank A. Salamone, an authority on religious symbols and a professor at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y. Centuries ago, in the Fertile Crescent, where so many religions arose, the pomegranate was at hand. By its very nature, it lent itself to religious symbolism. Ancient Persians painted pomegranates on their shields for protection in battle. In Greek and Roman myths, it was the pomegranate that seduced Persephone, the goddess of fertility, into marrying her kidnapper, Hades, god of the underworld. Here in the midst of November-National Pomegranate Month-is a look at what this well-rounded fruit portends in Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.