I grew up in a very conservative African community, typical of what I guess most readers know. Church on Sundays was literally a requirement in order to have your laundry done to begin the school week. If I look back, I may be tempted to say that even the non-believers, as we used to call them, were more conservative than regular church goers in some western societies.
Certain word and phrases such as ‘homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender’ were not part of the vocabulary. If you heard somebody read Leviticus 20:13 which says ‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads” it actually wouldn’t mean much to you, because as far as you know, such a thing could only happen in Gomorah.
That was then. Today reading the verse quoted above in public, especially by a powerful man or woman, might actually result in death of people, especially if read by a politician or Man of God. A few weeks back, one Ugandan MP proposed the death penalty for gay people. Again, the PM of Kenya on Nov 29 declared a national crackdown on homosexuals and called upon the police to arrest anyone found to be a homosexual.
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I understand why African politicians see this as a winning strategy. Homosexual lifestyle is foreign to the African way of life and therefore anyone who promises to root out this tumor from the society is likely to have his approval ratings bump a significant number of points. Again, religious leaders are very powerful in most African communities. An endorsement by a man or woman of God is worth more than a billion-dollar worth of campaign donations. The politicians know this and they’re exploiting it to the fullest. Western religious activist are also pumping resources into Africa to energize greedy politicians to hold the fort.Christians, Moslems and even traditional African rulers have condemned homosexuality for centuries so that is news. Draconian measures such as execution are just kind of new. Or is it just me?
If you were raised in religious home as I was, I will understand why the practice may be repulsive to you. It is not in my blood either. But who am I to call for someone’s death because he or she chose to live a particular way? From a religious point of view, if I have negative views about homosexuality, ‘prayer and fasting for the lost sheep’ is what Jesus will advise. Death by firing squad? I’m not sure about that.
Another thing that is difficult for me comprehend is a report that in Kenya, some Muslim groups are joining the campaign to crackdown on homosexuals. I’m a Christian but a few weeks ago I presented a strong position against ‘Islam-Phobia ‘ and ridiculed Juan Williams of Fox News and former NPR contributor for his blinkered comment about Moslems.
Just like homophobia, Islam-phobia has become a powerful weapon used by politicians to appeal to defined groups of people. For a Moslem who is constantly fighting against the bigotry and discrimination to join the call for the death of homosexuals is incomprehensible. It’s just like Juan Willians, an African American wresting with black stereotypes to join the chauvinism against Moslems.
Negrophobia, Xenophobia, Bibleophobea/Theophobia, Judeophobia. Which do we support? When politics comes in, it’s whichever the occasion calls for
I’m a chemist and I’ve tried very scary chemical reactions in my career. Politics plus religion is not one of my favorite reactions. The two don’t mix very well, and if they do, the product is always an explosive waste.
