Christianity is un-African, homosexuality isn’t – Nyamewaa

The Christian Council of Ghana has declared homosexuality un-African.
A statement issued by the Council said “same sex marriage was unbiblical, unchristian and un-African.” This was reportedly part of a sermon preached by the General Secretary of the Council, Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong at the Ridge Church in Accra.
“Marriage is between a man and a woman. This is supposed to be the foundation for every family as prescribed by God. Therefore, for a man to marry a man, and a woman to marry a woman is very ungodly and unnatural. The family is the bedrock of every nation. This means that if we compromise on our Christian and cultural family values, then the nation will virtually have no values to sustain her. This will ultimately lead to a weaker, chaotic and morally decayed nation.”
First of all, if anything is un-African in this situation, it is Christianity. Africans were here having all kinds of sex before the slave traders and colonialists arrived with the bible. And Victorian ideals. And the Quran. Before them, sexuality was more fluid on the continent.
Homosexuals (lesbians and gays) were found and tolerated on the continent. They were found among the Asantes and Nzemas in Ghana, the Bagandas in Uganda, the Zandas in Sudan, and the Khoikhois in South Africa. Some of these relationships were formalized, with the female husbands and boy-wives paying bride price to the parents of their partners. Research by Will Roscoe and Stephen Murray in Boy Wives and Female Husbands confirms this.
I am a Christian. I’m used to these sermons. I know what the Bible says about homosexuals. But Romans 13: 8 also says: “Owe nothing to anyone–except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.”
Ghanaian homosexuals are not asking for marital rights. It’s not like straight couples get any privileges from the state, anyway. Why are we hounding them? They are only asking for the space to live openly and freely as citizens of the land. They are not hurting anyone. Can we treat them with love and respect and leave the condemnation and judgement to God?
Both Jesus and Paul preached love and tolerance amidst great persecution.The Christian Council of Ghana and all the other Christian religious bodies ought to start asking themselves ‘what would Jesus have done?’ I know for sure, he would have looked out for the oppressed.
Credit: nnyamewaa.com