To mark Worlds AIDS Day, President Bush last week visited the Calvary United Methodist Church, in Mount Airy, Md., to praise its partnership with an orphanage and school in Namibia for children who lost their parents to the disease, reports the Associated Press.

But Mr. Bush’s emphasis on the role of religious, especially Christian, groups drew mixed reviews.

Last week, 44 AIDS activists were arrested outside the White House as they protested abstinence-only education, which is often stressed by evangelical Christians, and other policies, the Associated Press reports.

But Charles W. Colson, founder of the Prison Fellowships Ministries, points out on his charity’s blog, Breakpoint, that it was an evangelical Christian member of Mr. Bush’s inner circle that pushed him to fight AIDS.

Adam Taylor, director of campaigns and organizing for Sojourners, a Christian charity in Washington, also praises evangelical pastors, like Rick Warren, who are embracing the need to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

But on the God’s Politics blog he writes that Mr. Warren’s discussions “have often shied away from the political nature of this epidemic and failed to deliver a clear call for political action to address the systemic injustices that so often fuel it.”

What do you think? Have evangelical Christian groups helped or hindered the fight against AIDS? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.