HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE PRICE OF FISH

The import of this story is that within the space of 43 years, homosexuality and same-sex marriages has transformed from being a sin, a crime and a mental illness, to become an orientation to which human rights apply, a social preference and is increasingly being de-listed as a sin in many parts of the United States of America.The whole point of this piece is to warn that homosexuality might fare better sooner in Nigeria, if Nigerians, particularly the Church do not move against it now! The best of economic strategies will flounder in a decaying social milieu. The current state of the world’s economy is clear evidence that everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and that only that which is built on righteousness will stand.

In “Obama, Goose Bumps and Nigeria (2)” (September 14, 2008), I made the point that extreme liberalism is not good for the United States and certainly not good for Nigeria either. That piece concluded in these words: “By the same token, the extreme liberalism of the Nigerian elite is not good for Nigeria. When all those so-called more serious matters have been dealt with, the issues being currently touted as unimportant would have become intractable…”

Incidentally, one of those issues being characterised as unimportant today, as noted in that article, is homosexuality. As someone would have put it, what has homosexuality or nudity got to do with the price of fish, or garri? For effect, he would have added, “make we hear word, jare” which is street lingo for, let’s get serious.

They would be dead right, if the gay challenge wasn’t getting dead serious, as a recent newspaper report demonstrated. The report headlined: ‘Gay Church Arrives Nigeria’, had two riders: ‘Christian, Muslim clerics declare: it’s evil!’ ‘National Assembly must fight it.’
Published by Sunday Sun, it read in part like this: ”For the first time in Nigeria, men who openly declared themselves as homosexuals gathered penultimate weekend at a church in Ojodu, a Lagos suburb. Under the auspices of a yet-to-be registered church - House of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church - the men held a seminar and night vigil. The heavily guarded event paraded men who wore necklaces, rings, conducted themselves and spoke softly like women”.
Continued the report: “Ironically, the homosexuals held the fiesta in the hall of United Bible University, Yakoyo Road, Ojudu, Lagos. The venue also serves as a place of worship for Christian Pentecostal Mission (CPM). The event, Sunday Sun learnt, was championed by a lawyer and theologian, Rev. Roland Babajide Macaulay. On the days of the event, a retinue of mean – looking, ill-tempered security men barred our reporter from entering the venue and meeting the men…”

”Sunday Sun investigation”, said the report, which carried the bylines of Jossy Idam and Paul Omo Obadan “reveals that the man is the son of the founder, president and director of studies of United Bible University, Rev. Dr. Augustus Olakunle Macaulay... “
The report quoted the Archdeacon of Oleh Diocese in Delta State, Venerable M.A.E Igri, as reacting to the existence of the gay church in these words: “the church is not biblical and out of tune with God’s plan. God created man and woman to be married to themselves. The situation where a man will be married to a man is wrong and unacceptable.”
A Moslem cleric, Abdurrahman Ahmad, identified as the National Missioner of the Ansar-u-deen Society of Nigeria, was also reported to have called on the National Assembly to legislate against homosexuality in Nigeria, saying: “All people of conscience and people of faith must rise to fight this evil.”
Apart from the spiritual angle, to which we shall return presently, the Sunday Sun report pointed out the health hazards of homosexuality. Drawing a nexus between the so-called sexual orientation and HIV/AIDS, the newspaper recalled that ” in a recent survey, Integrated Biological and Behaviour Surveillance ranks homosexuals second to female sex workers, as the group with the highest figure of HIV/AIDS. In fact, the survey puts the prevalence rate among men who have sex with men (MSM) at 13.5 percent.”
A Lagos lawyer, Mr Godwin Ewa also spoke to the newspaper on the development, which he saw as “a fad in Europe and America being imported into the country.” He said that “Nigeria is a dumping ground for all manner of products and perverted ideas and lifestyle” saying that “from this development, it won’t be long before we begin to hear of gay rights, same sex marriage and so on,” .

Examining the legal angle, Ewa was reported to have declared that homosexuality is an infringement and a complete assault on the nation’s core values and blamed it on the lax law and lenient punishment for offenders. According to him, the law classifies it as “unnatural offences” under Section 214 and “indecent practices between males” under Section 217 of the Criminal Code.” He however noted that the Criminal Code criminalizes homosexual, gay marriages, lesbianism and sodomy, whereby a convicted offender could be jailed for up to 14 years.
House of Rainbow Metropolitan Community Church is reported to have been in existence since 2006 and is said to be affiliated to other metropolitan community churches in America and Europe. Its “mission and vision”, according to the Sunday Sun report, quoting a public statement by Rev. Roland Macaulay is “to transform hearts, lives and history and especially, to help people reconcile their sexuality and spirituality.”
Yours sincerely first heard about this so-called church about two months ago in a BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) news report. In the report, a man said to be the pastor of the church spoke about how fast expanding his church is, saying that they were offering homosexuals the love that the rest of the church was denying them.
I have quoted the newspaper report copiously simply to show one thing: the international gay movement is gaining inroads into our nation while we “get serious” with those seemingly urgent issues “that has to do with the price of fish and garri.”
The experience of the United States of America is instructive in this grave matter. It is graphically illustrated in a beautiful CNN (Cable News Network) report by Jonathan Mandell, posted on their website June last year.
Mandell traced the progress of gay rights over the years through the lives and times of Sharon and Tanya Dillards, who, according to him “describe themselves as ‘a typical family with soccer, brand new puppies, church, choir and not enough time in the day.’” Permit me to quote a bit of the story by Jonathan Mandell:
“When Sharon was born in 1962, homosexuality was treated in the country as a sin, a crime and a mental illness. It was only in 1974 -- the year after Tanya was born -- that the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders.
“In 2003, the year Sharon and Tanya became a couple, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the laws in states that singled out same-sex relations for criminal prosecution.”
“Is homosexuality still viewed as a sin? A recent Gallup Poll found Americans nearly evenly split between those who saw homosexual relations as "morally acceptable" (47 percent) and those who saw them as "morally wrong" (49 percent).
“Some religious denominations now welcome gay parishioners and accept openly gay members of the clergy. The Episcopal Church in America has even consecrated an openly gay bishop. But some of those same denominations, including the Episcopalians, are now threatened with schism as a result. Sharon, who grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, has a saying about the reaction of the religious in her home state: "In Oklahoma, I have more people praying for me than with me."
“In one instance, the couple applied for membership in a Lutheran church in Oklahoma. Though they were eventually accepted, it was only after much debate and an unprecedented vote by the elders of the church.
“A couple of years after they met in Ponca City, Oklahoma, Sharon and Tanya decided to make a big move to Massachusetts, which since 2004 has been the only one of 50 states to permit same-sex couples to get married legally. More than 8,500 couples have done so, including at least one couple from Oklahoma.
“They did so for at least three reasons. First, both wanted to adopt the son and daughter that Sharon had adopted as a single parent. Second, Tanya was a police officer and says she started having problems on the job because of her sexual orientation. Third, the couple say they wanted to "validate" their relationship…
“The were legally married on January 21, 2005, in a small ceremony at the courthouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts, at which time Sharon took Tanya's last name of Dillard…”
The import of this story is that within the space of 43 years, homosexuality and same-sex marriages has transformed from being a sin, a crime and a mental illness, to become an orientation to which human rights apply, a social preference and is increasingly being de-listed as a sin in many parts of the United States of America.
The whole point of this piece is to warn that homosexuality might fare better sooner in Nigeria, if Nigerians, particularly the Church do not move against it now! The best of economic strategies will flounder in a decaying social milieu. The current state of the world’s economy is clear evidence that everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and that only that which is built on right