GO FOR GOLD AT CCIC CAMPMEETING 2008

For Campmeeting Chief Hosts, Pastor Tunde & Victoria Joda, there is no doubt that this has been an eventful year. A year during which among other surprises, they were hosted to a reunion evening titled The Home-Coming by a large number of men and women who styled themselves as alumni of the Voice of Faith Ministries. These were people who went through the teaching and discipleship of the man we all love to call “the coach” and are grateful for his positive impact on their lives, ministries and careers. Indeed, if there is any incontrovertible truth in the annals of church development in Nigeria, it is that there is an ex-Chapelite in leadership position in virtually every major Pentecostal/charismatic ministry in the land. I am indeed blessed to be under the spiritual tutelage of such an icon of faith. I look forward to seeing you at Campmeeting!

Are you a man or woman of faith? Have you been standing firmly on the word of God? Have you refused to join the multitude to do evil in order to prosper, choosing instead to apply only the principles of the Word of faith? And have you sometimes found yourself wondering whether it’s worth it, since evil seems to be thriving and your success seem, at best, limited? If you are, if you belong in this category of Christian, I have news for you: “don’t give up; you will receive the reward of your faith”.

Yes, the word is out. A new season has come upon the household of faith. It’s a season of great and grand reward for the man and woman of faith; a season when the seeming glitter of darkness gives way, willy-nilly, to the enduring floodlight of godly success.

No, I am not the prophet. The prophet of God, the carrier of this message is none other than Rev Dr Chris Tunde Joda, Senior Founding Pastor (with his wife, Ebun), of Voice of Faith Ministries, more widely known as Christ Chapel International Ministries. Widely acknowledged as the loudest and most consistent voice of faith in the land, Dr Joda is so fully persuaded that the message is authentic that he has themed this year’s edition of his ministry’s annual convention, Campmeeting 2008 on it.

I have had occasion to say it somewhere before, but it can bear repetition, I think. It is difficult to say which event members of Christ Chapel International Churches prepare most feverishly for, campmeeting or Christmas! And that’s only a little exaggerated. Campmeeting, which has held every year since 1987 lasts only five days, but its impact lasts the whole year on Chapelites, as we the members of the church like to be identified and non-Chapelite Christians of the faith movement who keep an annual date with the event.

This year’s meeting which opens in Lagos this Wednesday (October 22) may be described as the coming-of-age edition if you see age 21 as such. Venue is NPA (Nigerian Ports Authority) Sports Ground located at 43 Bode Thomas Street in the Surulere area of mainland Lagos. It is one of the signs of the times that the National Gymnasium Hall of the Nigeria Institute of Sports on the grounds of the National Stadium which used to have the honour of hosting this great event cannot this year. Reason: official government policy! But, as someone has put it, stadium or no stadium, we will keep a date with our destiny in God!

In the event, Campmeeting 2008 promises to be a landmark event. With more than 40 ministers of God coming from several parts of the world, it promises to live up to its billing as the faith reward season opener.
Among the ministers expected are campmeeting veteran Clyde Oliver, Senior Pastor, Maranatha Christian Center, Melbourne, Florida in the United States. Pastor Oliver, a 1981 graduate of the Overcoming Faith Bible Training Center in Fort Worth, Texas emphasizes, like the Jodas, the development to maturity of the every believer who come under his wings. Licensed and ordained with Kenneth Copeland Ministries, he is a member of the International Convention of Faith Ministries, among others
Earlier in 1979, the Lord had instructed the young Oliver to move from Richmond, VA to Fort Worth, Texas. While there he served on the staff of Kenneth Copeland Ministries for 11 years as: Tape Production Supervisor, Crusade Sales Manager, and Prayer Minister. These years were to prove foundational training ground for hands-on opportunities for mentorship, scriptural principles of faithfulness, and servanthood.
His church, Maranatha Christian Center of Melbourne, Florida opened its doors on Easter Sunday, April 15, 2001 with the vision statement as "Preparing People for the Service of the Lord"..
Among the other ministers of the word coming from abroad are Rev Mike Moore and his wife, Anne who pastor Covenant Life Church, Summerville, South Carolina, USA, Maxwell Masakona, Stanley Moniki, Bosun Oke and Olu Ojobaro all from South Africa.

From the home-front are a number of widely-acclaimed anointed ministers of the word of faith: Rev Dr Lekan Babatunde, a campmeeting veteran from Ibadan, Dr John Idowu from Akure, and Rev Poju Oyemade, Pastor, Covenant Christian Centre, Lagos.

Two song ministers make their encore at Campmeeting 2008, after the very profound impact they made on the congregation last year: Bobby Connors who runs a music ministry in the United States and Christine Joda, a lawyer in whose vein the gospel blood runs being daughter of Dr and Rev Mrs Tunde Joda.

ArtistDirect website has this to say about Connors: “Bobby Connors is a man of integrity and passion with a strong conviction and servant's heart…He does not imitate Christian Artistry, but delivers purity in worship and praise. He has been chosen for such a time as this, with an anointing that can best be described as "different". There is an old saying, "You can not lead others where you have not been." Bobby Connors has definitely been there. Bobby Connors is a unique and talented artist that gives a new definition to the words "gifted & anointed"! Bobby's music reflects a mighty move of God in his life and music ministry.”

Christine Joda has been described as “an authoritative, singing sensation with a strong unique voice, and a stage presence that is not only engaging but is one that emphasises a passion for God’s presence and for music. She is an up and coming singer, songwriter and at the age of 19 she has already sung some of her own songs which have blessed the hearts of many.”

She is an award winning song minister who was chosen to represent her university in the singing category of the annual battle of the universities’ talent competition where out of twelve contestants from other universities, she emerged the overall winner singing gospel. That was in February 2005. one month later, also ministering a gospel song, she took first place out of eight contestants in the Millennium Artistic Platform (MAP) showcase in Waltham Forest for which an article was featured in the local newspaper. In May 2005, she was a finalist in the UK’s annual gospel newcomer’s competition. In November 2005, she also took first place in the Ilford ‘Mall Stars’ a secular competition which she won singing a worship song. Christine is a truly godly example to her generation, ministering to both Christians and unbelievers with a true fervor for God.

Campmeeting 2008 is not restricted to Lagos. As has been the practice in the last several years, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Ibadan Abeokuta are among major cities in the Federal Republic that will receive the same visitation. London will follow four days after the Nigerian edition closes on Sunday, October 26.

For Campmeeting Chief Hosts, Pastor Tunde & Victoria Joda, there is no doubt that this has been an eventful year. A year during which among other surprises, they were hosted to a reunion evening titled The Home-Coming by a large number of men and women who styled themselves as alumni of the Voice of Faith Ministries. These were people who went through the teaching and discipleship of the man we all love to call “the coach” and are grateful for his positive impact on their lives, ministries and careers. Indeed, if there is any incontrovertible truth in the annals of church development in Nigeria, it is that there is an ex-Chapelite in leadership position in virtually every major Pentecostal/charismatic ministry in the land. I am indeed blessed to be under the spiritual tutelage of such an icon of faith. I look forward to seeing you at Campmeeting!

FOR OLUYEDE AT 50

Thank you for letting God grow my faith, and love me through you. As your days be, so shall every aspect of your life and ministry, in Jesus’ peerless name

I once described him as a man of the word who understands the world. That is why he has been and continues to be a great success as a pastor, a lawyer, a politician and business man. A man of great faith and patience, at 50, he counts among those in his sphere of influence, much older persons and even those who have held major public offices. Congratulations to my Centre Pastor, Richard Ajibola Oluyede on your birthday which coincides with the opening of Campmeeting 2008. on October 22. Thank you for letting God grow my faith, and love me through you. As your days be, so shall every aspect of your life and ministry, in Jesus’ peerless name.

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

CHRISTIAN JOURNALISTS MUST BE PEACEMAKERS

In closing we drew attention to the situation in Nigeria’s Niger Delta where violence has been raging. The truth out there is clear: the resources of the people have been seized; being used to develop other parts f the country. And they are living in dehumanizing conditions. The truth is that under a just federal system, they should have the first call on the resources located on their soil. So what is the journalist- peacemaker’s role in the Niger Delta? Propagate this truth in season and out of season. Anything short of the truth may bring tenuous peace, the type in Kenya and the type being cobbled together in Zimbabwe, but not enduring peace. Only the Prince of peace’s methods can bring enduring peace and that method is one of truth.

Tomorrow, Christian journalists from across the globe will gather in Cape Town, South Africa to discuss the place of journalists in peace making. The forum, which will be the fourth congress of the World Association of Christians in Communication (WACC), holds October 6-10, 2008 and has the theme, “Communication is Peace: Building Viable Communities.”

The congress, according to its organisers, will focus on the role of communicators in conflict situations and offers participants the opportunity to learn more about how they can contribute to creating conditions which lead to sustainable peace in their communities.
WACC states among its objectives, the promotion of communication for social change. It posits “that communication is a basic human right that defines people’s common humanity, strengthens cultures, enables participation, creates community and challenges tyranny and oppression.” The association states on its website that its “key concerns, are media diversity, equal and affordable access to communication and knowledge, media and gender justice, and the relationship between communication and power”. It listed “advocacy, education, training, and the creation and sharing of knowledge” as among its means of pursuing these objectives. WACC partners worldwide “with faith-based and secular partners at grassroots, regional and global levels, giving preference to the needs of the poor, marginalised and dispossessed.” Being WACC, it emphasises “means ‘taking sides’”.
Preparatory to the congress at which Mr Lekan Otufodunrin, Editor, Sunday Nation, would be one of Africa’s delegates, Journalists for Christ (JFC) which he also coordinates held a pre-Congress seminar on Saturday, September 20, 2008. The seminar had its theme as “Journalists as Peacemakers” and saw yours sincerely as one of the speakers. And that is where today’s piece developed from.

Before, I continue, however, I wish to place on record my very sincere appreciation to Lekan and the rest of his team at Journalists for Christ, not just for the opportunity to speak at the seminar, but the clever packaging of my presence at that gathering as a kind of 60th birthday gift! It was touching to listen to so many professional colleagues sing the “birthday song” in my honour. Thanks a million, gentlemen.

Now, I found the topic of journalists as peacemaker a bit ironic at that particular point in time. I rather thought, journalists as peace-receivers, as professionals needing a peaceful atmosphere to operate, would have been more current, against the background of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s recent invasion of Channels Television on account of a certain report it found unpalatable. I did say that I disagreed with the indecent haste with which Channels went to town with an unconfirmed story, but I pointed out that unless the Gestapo tactics of the government was firmly and legally resisted, this may well be the beginning of fang-bearing by the rule-of-law touting administration.

I could not stay away from the theme, however, and so had to contend with the subject of the peace making journalist. Strictly in context, one noted that a genre of journalism, known as peace journalism was already being developed. Revolving around a book of the same title written and published in 2005 by Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick, this genre will probably develop into a full fledged branch of Advocacy Journalism in no distant time. And why not, we asked. If many acclaimed journalists made their names as War Correspondents and, peace is sometimes seen as the absence of war, there is no earthly reason why we cannot soon be having peace correspondents in our media houses! Don’t laugh, although my audience did, particularly when I publicly applied to be considered for such an opening.

But, I wasn’t led to discuss the role of the journalist in making peace in such troubled zones of the world as Iraq or Afghanistan or even Darfur. My thesis was that the journalist, particularly, Christian journalists, who constituted my audience, had no business being anything but peace journalists!

And I began like this. To be a Christian anything, lawyer, medical practitioner, anything at all, is to be that thing in a Christ-like manner. In other words, A Christian journalist is supposed to practise journalism in a Christ-like manner. In this context, the most important attribute of the Lord Jesus can be gleaned from the prophesy about him in the book of Isaiah Chapter 9. It reads in verses 6-7 like this: “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. There is no end of the increase of His government and peace on the throne of David, and on His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on, even forever. The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts will do this”.

These verses of scripture say Jesus symbolizes peace, a peace that will endure forever. So, for a journalist to be Christ-like, he or she has to stand for peace; that is he/she has to be a peacemaker. And, so enamoured of peace and peacemaking was Jesus that he declared: “Blessed are the peacemakers! For, they shall be called the sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

The questions that followed were, what is peace; what is the peacemaking process practiced or endorsed by the Lord Jesus; how might a journalist go about being a Christ-like peacemaker? We turned to the scriptures for guidance. Declaring has become recognized as his manifesto; Jesus opened to the book of Isaiah and read to a Sabbath day audience in one of the synagogues like this: "The Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those having been crushed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).

Standing out from this manifesto is freedom: free the captives; set at liberty those ensnared, proclaim jubilee. In other words, freedom is a major tool of the prince of peace. This is because at the root of most wars is deprivation of one kind of freedom or the other. There is no doubt that Jesus took the subject of freedom seriously, such that you could liken him to a freedom fighter! But this was not your ‘all is fair in war’ kind of fighter. He wasn’t a guerilla hiding in the shadows to snipe at the unwary foe. This was a fighter who proclaimed and displayed his weapon for all to see. In the book of John chapter 8, verse 32, he presented his freedom fighting weapon in these words: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”.

Flowing from all of these, we posited that propagating the truth is a critical assignment of the journalist, if he is to enhance freedom, which is a non-negotiable condition for peace.

Of course, we noted that the question would be asked, what is truth? After all didn’t Pilate ask the same question of the Lord? As it was then, so it is today. The truth is under attack; it is subjected to the concept of relativity, such that there are shades of truth! But it doesn’t matter how much verbiage and philosophies we try to bury the truth under, the truth is the truth. Jesus defined it like this in one of his parting prayers for his disciples and the rest of us: “Sanctify them through Your truth. Your Word is truth. (John 17:17). Put simply, the only truth there is, is the word of God. So, if anything runs counter to the word of God, it is untrue. If it is untrue, it is incapable of bringing freedom; if it cannot set free, it cannot bring enduring peace. So, the Christian journalist desirous of being a peacemaker must not propagate it.

In closing we drew attention to the situation in Nigeria’s Niger Delta where violence has been raging. The truth out there is clear: the resources of the people have been seized; being used to develop other parts f the country. And they are living in dehumanizing conditions. The truth is that under a just federal system, they should have the first call on the resources located on their soil. So what is the journalist- peacemaker’s role in the Niger Delta? Propagate this truth in season and out of season. Anything short of the truth may bring tenuous peace, the type in Kenya and the type being cobbled together in Zimbabwe, but not enduring peace. Only the Prince of peace’s methods can bring enduring peace and that method is one of truth.

STILL ON OBAMA, GOOSE PIMPLES…

The 'church' has blindly adopted the Republican Party as the party of the broad political grouping called the evangelicals and have consistently watched president after president of the republican party continue to enact policies that will cause Jesus to use weightier words than he did the Pharisee’s in his time. The truth is that the democrats who championed the civil rights and eventually ended slavery and is further pushing the rights of blacks and other minorities to achieve some equality, are stuck in that broad grouping - minorities, it is difficult to push one and not the other. My conclusion is that Christians should come out in their numbers and vote for Obama who has a true desire to bring about change. Thereafter they should constitute a pressure group in the party to review the party’s position on abortion and the whole discussion on the murder of innocent/helpless unborn babies.

I had these interesting exchanges with one of my most ardent readers during the week, which might interest others. I have combined Rev Mrs Uche Biosa’s two very brilliant and informed contributions into one, unabridged, while due to space constraints, I have abridged my two responses Happy reading.

Mrs Uche Biosa
I am one of those Obama supporters and i have more than goose bumps for his candidacy for several reasons. I have read with great interest the 'Church' position on his candidacy and the only thing they seem to have against him is his pro-choice stance. But really to me, the underlining reason is his colour.

I was devastated when John Hagee and Rod Parsley in my opinion carelessly 'endorsed' John McCain who is not a born-again Christian and his stance on abortion to me is mere public posturing for political gains. Take for example, Sara Palin and her Republican supporters have cancelled fornication as a sin, but abortion is because the party that owns 'GOD' has given that verdict, Shame!

The 'church' has blindly adopted the Republican Party as the party of the broad political grouping called the evangelicals and have consistently watched president after president of the republican party continue to enact policies that will cause Jesus to use weightier words than he did the Pharisee’s in his time.

The truth is that the democrats who championed the civil rights and eventually ended slavery and is further pushing the rights of blacks and other minorities to achieve some equality, are stuck in that broad grouping - minorities, it is difficult to push one and not the other.

My conclusion is that Christians should come out in their numbers and vote for Obama who has a true desire to bring about change. Thereafter they should constitute a pressure group in the party to review the party’s position on abortion and the whole discussion on the murder of innocent/helpless unborn babies.

Dick Cheney's daughter is a celebrated lesbian and he is a great favourite of the conservative right/the church. The question is, what do they really believe and what did they teach their children. These people get the ‘church’s' vote to win election and then spin the biggest lies to invade another nation in order to make tonnes of money for themselves. The only good that was achieved in Iraq was the removal of Saddam Hussein. Bush and his people bombed out a whole country and awarded contracts to themselves to rebuild the country at the expense of the people of Iraq who by the way had nothing against the USA. Immoral and shameful, if you ask me. They vote against social security that will give disadvantaged millions the slightest chance to get out of difficulty, the list is endless.

Mitt Romney is a Republican, who is a member of the church of mammon and was "pro-choice" before he became "pro-life". Or Huckabee an ordained Baptist priest who wanted Obama knocked off (killed), why? Is it because he is black - so not fit to be the president of America or what? Please tell me, and the church was as silent as a grave yard on that one. The anchor woman of a Foxnews (conservative Christian right news network) program put Obama on the same board she put Osama Bin Laden and wanted him dead.

The religious bigotry of the so called Christian/evangelical right SMELLS to high heavens and they truly do not speak for God but for themselves. Take a look at the Catholic Church that protects paedophile priests who introduce children to homosexualism and other vices at such tender ages.

I am totally against abortion, but that is not the only reason to disqualify a person for secular office, but I also understand that individuals have a responsibility to make the right choices, as the Bible clearly indicates that we must choose who we will serve. Every issue cannot be legislated by government or politicians. We will stand before God and give account of our works on this planet that is the bottom line…

Let me move my argument further a bit, so that I am not misunderstood. As I stated earlier, the democrats have found themselves in a tight corner having to fight for all sorts of interests and perhaps positions they may as individuals not accept as right. If you are fighting for minorities, then you have to take all of them, which I think is a very difficult situation to be in.

However, what I advocate is that if Christians have a strong enough vote to get Obama elected, then he/democrats will listen to us. If we continue to vote based on one or two issues, then we will not have the advantage of a critical mass which the 'evangelicals' seem to exert on the Republican Party. McCain knew that he was already sunk without the conservative right vote, so he went and did what is now history and suddenly the presidency is within his grasp. That precisely is my point. He does not believe in any of these things that he is now associated with by the church. As soon as he gets into office he will go ahead with his war mongering and his other agenda which I don't wish to go into here, rather than pay attention to the poverty that is ravaging America and the whole world.

For me personally, McCain/Palin are not the people that can turn around the battered US economy, I truly believe that Obama can. God has endowed him with the intellect and the exposure which will stand him in good stead. He also has the vision and the discipline to lay out a plan of action and follow it through - take a look at his campaign and his officers, very well chosen, competent people. I don't know these people from Adam, so initially I listened and wanted to be objective about the 2 candidates and what they can do. McCain himself confessed that the economy is not his strongest point and right now, the economy should be the most important issue in the US election, unfortunately it is not really. Perhaps if Americans go through a period of 'famine' they will really understand what the issues are, but right now they still think that their country is strong. You cannot be a strong nation without a strong economy - they should go ask the former Soviet Union.

..In conclusion, if we vote for him, we will influence policy. After all, he who pays the piper dictates the tune. Winning election in the US, where people's votes count, is about having enough interest groups support and people vote for you. If the 'church' does vote for him, how can they expect to influence his stance on policy. Let the church fan out to the two parties and push their agenda and not allow the republican elite bourgeois class to monopolize the church vote. So that which ever party is in power, we will have enough influence on public governance. That will ensure that parties produce only 'qualified' candidates who will work for the people and listen to the people, not only during elections.

My Response
Thanks for your powerful points, not in favour of Obama, but against his opponents. You did not deny Obama's position on abortion, which statistics…show kills in the millions! You have not addressed his pro-gay position either, vis-a-vis its approval as public policy at the federal level!.. The points that individuals are one thing or the other (bigots, lesbians, paedophiles, fornication-endorsers etc) is noted, but what is the man seeking to hold the most powerful office in the world today committed to doing with the power?.

…Many mistakes have been made, labels manufactured or unearthed and frantic attempts made to glue them on the opponent. Obama as Hussein and a friend of terrorists and haters of America etc: but so are democrats playing the game. Even you seem to have bought into the name-and-damn game: Catholics not Christian enough and as paedophiles; Republicans as racists. No, we can't join them in order to beat them: at least, not on the basis of conjectures such as racism, hypocrisy, posturing to get the votes etc. This should not be just about what you said or did in the past: it should be about what you are committing yourself to do in power!..

..I still find myself unable to get into the conjecture game about what McCain might do or not do when he gets into office! I'll rather take his words for it and hold him accountable later. And I have no difficulty extending the same trust to Obama. Which is why I shall be surprised if Obama can be influenced to move away from positions he took during the campaign; positions which could be said gave him the votes!

The point about Obama's competence is another area where I can't join issues with you correctly since it's a matter of what you believe. But I wonder how one can be as sure as you are on his ability to turn the economy around, only on the basis of having run a reasonably efficient campaign; and nothing else, never having served in any executive capacity. But you believe and all I can say is 'so be it.'

You see, the economy does seem like the "real issue" in current American reality, but you cannot build something on nothing! No matter how competent, how efficient or how economically sound, an administration may be, it will achieve nothing in the Sodom & Gomorrah ambience that an Obama at peace with abortion and gay marriages is set on creating! That I believe!

OBAMA, GOOSE BUMPS AND NIGERIA (2)

He threw in some statistics” …The number of U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq since 2002 currently stands at 4,092. Yet a slightly smaller number of unborn babies, approximately 3,900, die every day in this country because of abortion. Currently we kill 1.4 million babies a year. Since abortion was legalized we’ve snuffed out more babies than the entire populations of Iraq, Israel and Jordan. That’s more than 40 million people. It’s a holocaust we deny ever happened”


We were saying that there is more to the popularity, in Nigeria, of Barack Obama, candidate of the Democratic Party in the fast approaching presidential election in the United States. We admitted that his rock star image, his youth, his meteoric rise from obscurity to the national stage, and his African heritage have all captured the imagination of many, if not most Nigerians. We noted that he has considerable animal attraction for many of the fair sex who swoon and serenade at the sight of his picture or the sound of his voice.

We also noted that some men also develop goose bumps about the prospects of an American president of African descent, not least of them, the internationally acknowledged African-American preacher, singer, author and entrepreneur, Thomas Dexter Jakes, better known as Bishop T. D. Jakes. To understand the bishop’s point of view, let me serve you a bit of his widely quoted statement:



“Last night, I, like most Americans of all stripes, watched with visible goose bumps as history was made. I sat with my 13-year-old son and looked from the screen to his eyes as Sen. Barack Obama became the first African American in history to lead a U.S. major-party ticket when he claimed the nomination for the Democratic Party for president of the United States.
“I congratulate Sen. Obama on this historic accomplishment. I thank him for accepting the torch that was lit by our forefathers and proudly carrying it through the darkness of our struggles, trials and tribulations, bringing light and hope to a new generation, and for facing all those who said "No" and "You can't win," or "It will never happen," and firmly, proudly, defiantly saying, "Yes I can! However, what I really hope people take away from that night is that this is not just a victory for African Americans, it is a victory for democracy that proves that our country provides possibilities for all people. It is also a sign that a metamorphosis is in progress. Today we saw that Americans respect experience, but are interested in change. I hope that we can somehow merge the best ideas of our differences and emerge with a president who epitomizes our highest and best ideals. While it remains unclear where we are going, last night proves that we as a people have moved beyond business as usual…”



So, for this man of God, this was about his heritage as a black man, the crashing of a seeming glass ceiling beyond which the man of colour is not expected to rise. It is about the American commonwealth redefining itself as a nation where the equal opportunity ideal is at last being extended to the highest office in the land. It is for, him, a thing to be misty-eyed about. This indeed is a position most Nigerians can and do identify with.



We said here last week, however, that beyond identification with colour and heritage and, the historicity of the Obama phenomenon is the appeal of his liberal platform to many. We homed in on the area of cultural liberalism, which according to Wikipediia focuses on “the rights of individuals pertaining to conscience and lifestyle, including such issues as sexual freedom, religious freedom, cognitive freedom, and protection from government intrusion into private life. …Cultural liberalism generally opposes government regulation of literature, art, academics, gambling, sex, prostitution, abortion, birth control, terminal illness, alcohol, and cannabis and other controlled substances. Most liberals oppose some or all government intervention in these areas…”



We then tried to show how this agrees with the world view of the Nigerian elite, the ones who mould opinions through their control or access to the media of mass communication.
A cursory look at how bills that seem to impinge on the unfettered exercise of human rights and fundamental liberties particularly in the areas sex, religion and other religion at the National Assembly indicate this. The anti-nudity bill is the most recent example. Given the vociferous opposition to it by the very vocal segment of society as reflected at the public hearing, that bill is as good as dead. And the reason for the opposition? There are more serious issues confronting our nation than the length of a a lady’s skirt or blouse or the depth of her neckline! The Obasanjo anti-gay marriages bill is another example. It’s dead. Dead, because the current administration is unlikely to re-present it. Were it to try, the avalanche of derisive remarks that will welcome it will most probably stop the Assembly from paying it any attention. Again the retort would be: we have more pressing issues. We have said all of these to say that our liberal tendencies tally with the Obama platform particularly in the cultural arena. He is, in the American socio-political lexicon, pro-choice. Which simply means: he supports abortion. He is also anti-homophobia, which is euphemism for support for gay rights.



But let’s take a closer look at the abortion issue, for example. Obama is not your borderliner on the issue of abortion. J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine in his “Fire in my Bones” column wrote: “Everyone on Capitol Hill knows Obama is a radical when it comes to abortion policy. He opposed a ban on partial-birth abortion (a clinical term for stabbing a baby in the neck when his arms, legs and torso are already outside the mother); then he criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold that ban. While an Illinois lawmaker, Obama opposed a bill that would have prevented the killing of an infant born alive during an abortion.To top that off, Obama said in April that if his young daughters got pregnant out of wedlock, he didn’t want them to be “punished with a baby.” In other words, he wants the abortion industry to thrive.”



Of course, there are many Americans who, like many of us, would say those two issues are unimportant. There are those who’ll say that Iraq and Afghanistan and the sub-prime mortgage crisis are much more important, and should carry greater weight in the choice of a presidential candidate. And that will be true, on the surface.



Grady’s take on this in his write-up which inspired the headline of this serial is very illuminating: “ I have dialogued with young Christian voters who say they are supporting Obama because they believe he will bring justice to poor people who’ve never achieved the American dream. Who are we fooling with this empty talk about justice? Hello? The God of justice abhors the slaughter of unborn babies!”

He threw in some statistics” …The number of U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq since 2002 currently stands at 4,092. Yet a slightly smaller number of unborn babies, approximately 3,900, die every day in this country because of abortion. Currently we kill 1.4 million babies a year. Since abortion was legalized we’ve snuffed out more babies than the entire populations of Iraq, Israel and Jordan. That’s more than 40 million people. It’s a holocaust we deny ever happened”

Stephen Strang, publisher of Charisma also dwelt on this issue in his statement endorsing the candidacy of John McCain of the Republican Party. Giving Obama’s stance on the gay issue as the third of three reasons why he and the magazine group, Strang Communications, cannot support Obama, he said:

“The third reason we cannot support Obama is his sympathy toward those who are attempting to legitimize homosexuality. Since the beginning of recorded history, marriage has been defined as a union between one man and one woman, an institution designed by God for the primary purpose of bringing children into the world and raising them in a family. But radicals in our country now want to change the definition to include unions between two people of the same sex. Many of them are also pushing for the passage of legislation that would give homosexuals special legal rights and that would protect them from "hate speech," loosely defined as language that criticizes them in any way, even if it is based on biblical beliefs. We must not elect a leader who will support this legislation or aid the homosexual agenda in any way—because if same-sex marriage is ever legalized or protected on a national level, there will be no turning back.”

I cannot add much to all of that. But let me say in closing that I believe that Obama is not good for America, on the basis of his extreme liberalist tendencies in the socio-cultural area. 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. We must avoid that. It is for this reason that I repeat what I have said here before: the Church must enter the arena of moulding opinion and influencing governmental policies. (Concluded)

OBAMA, GOOSE BUMPS AND NIGERIA

Incidentally, Obama does not elicit goose bumps from only doting and swooning females. No less a man, one hulk of a man than the preacher of preachers and the United States leading African-American pastor, T.D Jakes admitted to such susceptibility recently. He was quoted as telling a CNN interviewer recently that he “watched with visible goose bumps” as Obama claimed the Democratic Party’s nomination, shortly after, rival Hillary Clinton conceded defeat and wound down her campaign.

If Dr Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Director-General of the Nigeria Stock Exchange did not create Africans for Obama, someone else would. And it won’t necessarily be because there is money to be made. It would be because they love Obama and would want to contribute their quota to having him elected as President of the United States of America.

Let me make two or three quick points in passing. One, unless we are careful, we will end up demonising everybody in public service for even the most basic of mistakes. Even, if one agrees that the Africans for Obama dinner was one fundraiser too many for the Stock Exchange boss, the speed with which she was accused, tried and convicted by the media smacks of indecent haste. Thank God, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has come to the conclusion that no known laws have been violated and she has therefore been told to go and sin no more. That notwithstanding, the EFCC has taken on the role of seizing the money (about N74million) made from the dinner and returning it to those who contributed it. That is wrong. Has any of the contributors complained to EFCC? Even if they did, is it not a civil matter for which they should be advised to take out a writ? This is institutionalising the widespread practice of policemen and soldiers serving people as rent and debt collectors! Perhaps Okereke-Onyiuke should consider challenging the EFCC’s decision in court.

The second point that needs to be made is that the indiscretions of this “green-card” holding lady sitting atop one of Nigeria’s apex financial institutions should by now have convinced her employers that she’s lost touch with corporate ethical best practices. She should therefore be, as someone would have put it, “kurucified” or in this case sent to Harvard or wherever it is that her erstwhile comrade-in-arms in the ”third-term for Obasanjo” project, Festus Odimegwu, was sent by the board of Nigerian Breweries Plc.

Thirdly, it is one of those ironies of life that projects of more enduring values do not get the funding support of the many rich friends of Ndi who could garner N74million afterhours for a foggy idea with a high-sounding title.

As I was saying before the digression however, Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and Company are not alone in the Obama song-and-dance. Obama is the closest thing to football in Nigeria today. That may be a bit exaggerated but, man, Nigerians, particularly the women folk love this guy! While some swallow hard at the mention of his name, others develop goose-bumps at the sound of his voice; yet others swoon at the sight of his picture. Obama-mania is growing in leaps and bounds. His youth, his oratory, his rock-star image and his African heritage have all combined to enthrone passion for the man to such levels that the all-time poster boy of US politics, John Fitzgerald Kennedy must be envious.

Incidentally, Obama does not elicit goose bumps from only doting and swooning females. No less a man, one hulk of a man than the preacher of preachers and the United States leading African-American pastor, T.D Jakes admitted to such susceptibility recently. He was quoted as telling a CNN interviewer recently that he “watched with visible goose bumps” as Obama claimed the Democratic Party’s nomination, shortly after, rival Hillary Clinton conceded defeat and wound down her campaign.

Jakes, a best-selling author of many books, singer, and entrepreneur’s goose pimples however had other roots. In his words: “This is not just a victory for African-Americans, it is a victory for democracy that proves that our country provides possibilities for all people.” He is not alone in situating the Obama appeal beyond animal attraction. My Centre Pastor, Rev Ajibola Oluyede, for instance, saw the rise of Obama as the product of “the audacity of hope”, which happens to be the title of Obama’s autobiographical book. In his opinion, and he illustrated many sermons with it, Obama is the modern day manifestation of the powerful symbiotic relationship between faith and hope as powerfully taught in the Epistles.

You can hardly fault that. You cannot ignore the grass-to-grace substance of Barrack Obama’s life. His meteoric rise from one-term state senator to one-term federal senator to presidential candidate is the stuff fairy tales are made off. Recall the fact that he was given next-to-no chance when he started the nomination race against the combined political clout of Hillary and her former president husband, Bill Clinton. Consider that no black leader, including the once popular Rev Jesse Jackson of the Run Jesse, Run fame ever went beyond the first few months of any nomination race. Think about how his pastor, Jeremiah Wright became an albatross he had to , reluctantly, remove from his neck; his well publicised Kenyan and Moslem roots; his wife’s gaffe on her new-found pride in America and so many such campaign stumbling blocks. From all of these, it is easy to find something Davidic about this man.

But, apart from all of these there is one strong thing that connects Obama to Nigeria and Nigerians: his liberal political tendency. Liberalism is alive and well in Nigeria, largely. Many truly embrace the liberal school of public governance which is where Obama stands. To appreciate this, it is germane to define liberalism, particularly in the context of this piece.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word liberal was not used in the English Language as a public governance concept until 1801 when it was defined as: "tending in favor of freedom and democracy." Does that remind you of the average Nigerian? My focus here however is more in the area of liberalism described as cultural liberalism.
Wikipedia defined cultural liberalism as focusing on “the rights of individuals pertaining to conscience and lifestyle, including such issues as sexual freedom, religious freedom, cognitive freedom, and protection from government intrusion into private life. …Cultural liberalism generally opposes government regulation of literature, art, academics, gambling, sex, prostitution, abortion, birth control, terminal illness, alcohol, and cannabis and other controlled substances. Most liberals oppose some or all government intervention in these areas…”
When this is applied to the Nigerian environment, you begin to see a certain meeting of minds between the vocal population of Nigerians , the one’s who have access to and or control the media of mass communication.

Permit me to show a couple of examples of how this unarticulated though clearly discernible leaning play out in the direction of public policy in Nigeria.

Very recently, a delegation of the National Inter=religious Council (NIREC) .paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola. Among other things, he drew their attention to the surge in homosexuality in the nation, From the next day and for at least one week thereafter, Fashola was the butt of many jokes in cartoons. He was lampooned for leaving more serious matters to dwell on an insignificant subject.

The same goes for the people’s reaction to the so-called Anti-nudity bill. Respected women rose up through many NGOs to attend the public hearing on the subject. There arguments: it is a distraction.

One Mrs Kenny Babalola-Adepoju, said to have served with ex-Governor Bola Tinubu’s government as Special Adviser on Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, and a leading light of the Action Congress (AC) in Lagos State describes those behind the bill as having “nothing to do”. She continued in a newspaper interview very recently: “May be, they have nothing to do. There are lots of more important and serious bills panting for enactment. We are all human beings. We are all created with, at least, a minimum level of intelligence that will tell you what to do to belong in the society, save there is a problem somewhere. Most of us are grown up and we know that it is not good to go out naked. Mostly, its when you go to parties that you see such things as exposure of erotic zones of the body. Anti-nudity bill? What kind of bill is that? Does it portray us as serious with the job we should be doing? I even learnt that they took a large entourage to America to discuss the bill. Imagine taking such bill to America, a land of freedom and liberty. I’m sure, one of the people they met could have even worn ordinary bikini to the meeting. I want to see who will cast the first stone in this case of anti-nudity…” That is liberalism in practice. (Continues next week)