religion Archives - TalkAfrique

May 24, 2011May 24, 2011

Judgement Day Posponed to October 21

Rapture: Harold Camping issues new apocalypse date

The evangelical broadcaster who left followers crestfallen by his failed prediction that last Saturday would be Judgement Day says he miscalculated.

Harold Camping said it had “dawned” on him that God would spare humanity “hell on Earth for five months” and the apocalypse would happen on 21 October.

Mr Camping said he felt “terrible” about his mistake.

But he said he could not give financial advice to those who spent their life savings in the belief the end was nigh.

Mr Camping had predicted that on 21 May, true believers would be swept up to heaven while a giant earthquake would bring destruction for those left behind.

His independent ministry, Family Radio International, spent millions of dollars on broadcasts, billboards and campaign vehicles to publicise the prediction.

Some followers donated their life savings or simply gave away their worldly possessions as the day approached.

Many expressed bewilderment and shock as the day came and went with no sign of the global cataclysm.

“I’ve been mocked and scoffed and cursed at,” said Jeff Hopkins, a retired TV producer in New York state who spent some of his savings customising his car to showcase Mr Camping’s warning.

“It’s like getting slapped in the face.”

‘Not accurate’

Mr Camping had not been seen since Saturday until he appeared on a show on his Open Forum radio show, broadcast from Oakland, California, on Monday to give a 90-minute sometimes rambling presentation that included a question-and-answer session with reporters.

He said that when his prediction had failed to materialise he felt so terrible that he took refuge in a motel with his wife.

He said sorry for not having the dates “worked out as accurately as I could have”.

Over the weekend, he said, he had returned to the scripture and it had “dawned” on him that a “merciful and compassionate God” would spare humanity by compressing the apocalyptic destruction into a shorter time frame.

But he insisted 21 October had always been the end-point of his own chronology – or at least his own latest chronology, as a previous prophecy that the apocalypse would strike in 1994 also failed to come to pass.

Asked if he had any advice to offer those who had given away their material wealth in the belief the world was about to end, Mr Camping said they would cope.

“We just had a great recession. There’s lots of people who lost their jobs, lots of people who lost their houses… and somehow they all survived,” he said.

“We’re not in the business of giving any financial advice,” he added.

“We’re in the business of telling people maybe there is someone you can talk to, and that’s God.”

December 15, 2010January 6, 2011

Homophobic Ugandan MP ordered out of the US

Kampala (Uganda) – Ndorwa West MP, David Bahati, who authored the Anti-Homosexual Bill in Uganda, calling for the death sentence of gays and their allies, has been ordered out of the United States of America. Bahati obtained a single event visa to the USA to attend the International Consortium of Governmental Financial Management conference.

But on Tuesday he was denied entry into the conference venue, despite the fact that other MPs from Uganda had been allowed to participate.

The conference organizers cited the fact that they would not associate themselves with the author of what became known as the Kill Gays Bill, officially The Anti-Homosexual Bill; which Bahati hopes will pass.

Reports from the US state that Bahati, who was taped for Thursday’s Rachel Maddow TV Show, was told to get out of the USA by the authorities Thursday.

Bahati who had planned on staying in the USA and to leave over the weekend, was asked to leave right away by department of State officials.

The US authorities informed Bahati that he was no longer welcome and nor was he legally entitled to remain in the USA. He was put on a plane for Paris and is probably on his way back home.

A large group of activists were planning to protest today – Friday. But now that Bahati has left, the protests have been called off and the activists assert they are happy he is gone.

The Observer (Uganda)

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December 1, 2010January 2, 2011

Religion, Politics and -Phobias

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.

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.