I hereby do so.
Here is a bit of what he has said:
Same sex marriage apart from being ungodly is also unscriptural, unnatural, unprofitable, unhealthy, uncultured, up-African and un-Nigerian. It is a perversion, a deviation and an aberration that is capable of engendering moral and social holocaust in this country. It is also capable of extincting mankind and as such should never be allowed to take root in Nigeria. Outlawing it is to ensure the continued existence of this nation. The need for doing this is urgent, compelling and imperative. The time is now.
This phrase alone is simply absurd at the least, and quite possibly an incitement to murder at worst. It is certainly no less so than what one tyrant of a pre-Modern nation once said, "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" It's easy to imagine that of the fives of millions of Anglicans in Nigeria, some will encounter these words and understand them to mean quite plainly that a crusade has been called for by the Archbishop.
He argues that gay marriage represents a potential holocaust to the Nigerian people. This is not only absurd, it casts a dark portent of what his own words may in fact engender. His murderous rhetoric recalls that toxic blend of imperial/nationalistic/pietism that begins with efforts to dehumanize a class of persons and ends with their systematic elimination. Ask the Armenians, Jews, Adriatic Muslims, and Tutsis about it.
When will other Christians speak out against this man?
10 comments:
What is sad is the the silence about it aside from a few blogs. The church imo needs to take a strong stand against hate language.
I would love to see the statistics on the birthrate in Nigeria. If it is similar to other developing countries, Nigeria need not fear that it will cease to exist.
Greg, I join you in rebuking these outrages from Archbishop Akinola!
And of course, not surprisingly, there is a deafening silence on T19, Stand Firm, and so son.
Well, I figured he would one day come out and really unleash his vile hatred of people of this leaning. I do hope this gets picked up internationally and he gets taken to task for it because some crazy lunatics will probably act on this. How different is what he said from what some radical Moslem sheiks have said regarding Jews and the "West"?
Perhaps I've just gotten cynical in my stil-not-quite-so old age, but I doubt this will go anywhere. If people haven't picked up on Akinola by now, I seriously doubt they ever will. Conservative blogs aren't mentioning this and probably won't, and whenever it's been brought up in the past, most have tried to defend Nigeria in some way. (Sort of along the lines of "Well, maybe we shouldn't beat the homos and throw them in jail, but they had it coming. Remember, the Muslims would do worse.)
T19 just posted on Nigeria embracing ACNA. I commented, asking if ACNA will embrace Nigeria in this, and I suggest people do the same. If they won't discuss this on their own, we need to force the issue.
Apparently, not only in T19 not saying anything about it. The "Elves" there are prohibiting this to be brought up. Obviously, this isn't a matter of ignorance but of willful disregard. Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, that makes them complicit in the persecution.
+Akinola is not only correct, but in the historic context of Chritianity, as well as Anglicanism generally, and Episcopal theology specifically, his comments would have been met with approval. The trend of TEC during the past forty or so years has been to desert the clear teachings of the Gospel in the areas of family, sexuality, and morality. Why on earth remain blind to the fact that TEC in particular is breaking up like a cobbled ship on a rocky coast? Anglicans in the centre are no help in the matter - they seem to have forgotten that Christians (of all faith traditions) have a stake in the preservation of the Deposit of Faith. +Akinola should be lauded, not rebuked, and I for one will stand with him as a traditional Anglican (Episcopal sect) against the zeitgeist that has invaded our Church and for closer adherance to that same Gospel that has stood firm for two millenia.
Frank, while in the abstract you have a couple of valid points as regards the deleterious effects of modernism/liberalism on the witness to the Gospel of the Episcopal Church, in the particular area of which this thread addresses, you have completely missed the point. Nobody here would ever rebuke someone for preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, the true faith symbolized in the the Nicene/Apostles creeds, or the essential moral teachings of God in Christ Jesus. Nor would anyone here rebuke someone for merely upholding - as say John Paul II did - traditional moral teachings regarding sexuality. No, the rebuke called for in this thread by me, and those who join me, has to do with the insipid, ill-thought, ill-intended and false version of the faith once-delivered by someone who has forgotten charity (to say the least) and gone completely overboard in his remarks and in his actions. The inability to tell the difference is remarkable.
All uneducated people have high birth rates; Nigeria is no exception.
It will soon be over 150 million people, with little prospect that its (shrinking) oil revenues will help 99% of its people.
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