-
Desmond Tutu: I Would Never Worship A Homophobic God
15
“Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity — or because of their sexual orientation.” Those were the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in a touching open letter, written by the Archbishop and posted in the Washington Post this past Friday (March 12). The letter urged Africa’s politicians and citizens to take a stand against the wrong of discrimination based on sexual orientation. Tutu categorized the recent acts including, the jailing of a Malawi couple who sought to get married, consideration of a Ugandan bill to make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment and the exclusion of gay men for HIV treatment at a clinic in Kenya as “terrible backward steps for human rights in Africa.”
Check out the entire letter after the jump…
In Africa, a step backward on human rights
Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity — or because of their sexual orientation. Nor should anyone be excluded from health care on any of these grounds. In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. We knew this was wrong. Thankfully, the world supported us in our struggle for freedom and dignity.
It is time to stand up against another wrong.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people are part of so many families. They are part of the human family. They are part of God’s family. And of course they are part of the African family. But a wave of hate is spreading across my beloved continent. People are again being denied their fundamental rights and freedoms. Men have been falsely charged and imprisoned in Senegal, and health services for these men and their community have suffered. In Malawi, men have been jailed and humiliated for expressing their partnerships with other men. Just this month, mobs in Mtwapa Township, Kenya, attacked men they suspected of being gay. Kenyan religious leaders, I am ashamed to say, threatened an HIV clinic there for providing counseling services to all members of that community, because the clerics wanted gay men excluded.
Uganda’s parliament is debating legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment, and more discriminatory legislation has been debated in Rwanda and Burundi.
These are terrible backward steps for human rights in Africa.
Our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters across Africa are living in fear.
And they are living in hiding — away from care, away from the protection the state should offer to every citizen and away from health care in the AIDS era, when all of us, especially Africans, need access to essential HIV services. That this pandering to intolerance is being done by politicians looking for scapegoats for their failures is not surprising. But it is a great wrong. An even larger offense is that it is being done in the name of God. Show me where Christ said “Love thy fellow man, except for the gay ones.” Gay people, too, are made in my God’s image. I would never worship a homophobic God.
“But they are sinners,” I can hear the preachers and politicians say. “They are choosing a life of sin for which they must be punished.” My scientist and medical friends have shared with me a reality that so many gay people have confirmed, I now know it in my heart to be true. No one chooses to be gay. Sexual orientation, like skin color, is another feature of our diversity as a human family. Isn’t it amazing that we are all made in God’s image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? Does God love his dark- or his light-skinned children less? The brave more than the timid? And does any of us know the mind of God so well that we can decide for him who is included, and who is excluded, from the circle of his love?The wave of hate must stop. Politicians who profit from exploiting this hate, from fanning it, must not be tempted by this easy way to profit from fear and misunderstanding. And my fellow clerics, of all faiths, must stand up for the principles of universal dignity and fellowship. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.
The writer is archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Tags: Africa, Archbishop, black, Desmond Tutu, gay, gossip, HIV, Kenya, letter, lgbt, Malawi, Uganda, Washington Post
15 Responses to “Desmond Tutu: I Would Never Worship A Homophobic God”
-
Mr. Quincy
Equal rights for all is the only way. I don’t get how people could claim to believe in God yet turn a blind eye or even promote such hate and injustice
-
Porsce
I believe that religion was just a form of control from the get go. God and a belief in a higher being should be something that makes your life better not makes other peoples live miserable.
-
Shelly
I would never worship a homophobic god…wow…such a poignant statement
-
I agree that there shoild be no discrimination or hate acts against gays & lesbians, however, one with true common sense have to question that if GOD made Eve for Adam, is being gay not going against his word? Man and woman is what the Bible says, not man for man, or woman for woman…if that was the case, none of us would be here today……
-
Kyle
I’m a gay man and yes I believe God created Adam and Eve but I also know God made Adam and Steve. People are acting as though if you have one you can’t have the other. Adam and Eve should be free to procreate and Adam and Steve’s relationship doesn’t threaten that. Do you all really believe if gay people got equal rights, the whole world would turn gay and procreation would cease???? If that is the case, what does that say about your confidence in heterosexuality?
Anyone with common sense would recognize this world is not black and white. That’s why there are people of different ethnic groups, complexions, heights, the list goes on. Stop living in a bubble people.
And for the last time, please PLEASE stop acting as though God wrote the bible. Man wrote the bible. Imagine if George Bush, a man, wrote a chapter of a book later known as the bible that generation upon generations to followed lived life by, died by, went to war to protect. And we all know how flawed Bush and his way of thinking is.
-
epic fail
-
dominicanboi
I want to know why some people in the lgbt community have a big problem with christianity? Real christians dont preach hate, but love for their fellow man.
-
Mikilia
People in the LGBT community have a big problem with Christianity because it is often used as a weapon against not just the LGBT community, but many communities dating as far back as man can remember. But I do agree with you that religion should be about love not hate.
-
Tony
Not to mention the fact that the seemingly “most holiest” men often reveal themselves to be scum bags. That’s what the catholic church is dealing with right now.
-
algie
this is why you have to have your own personal relationship with god because there are things that he will show you that the world may keep denying until the world ends and one of those things is how much he loves you.so i take pride in my deep relationship with god because i am reminded daily by his holy spirit that he loves all of my blackness gayness and being a strong standing man for the rights of all people…these 3vibes feed thru my soul.
-
Brian C
The god of the Bible is Homophobic. His law orders their execution. I can’t speak to the millions of customized “Gods” out there that people have constructed, I can only speak to the God of Bible-believing Christians. I would never worship a God that would eternally torture people for not loving him either..
-
It is perfect time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I wish to suggest you few interesting things or suggestions. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article. I wish to read even more things about it!
-
I loved as much as you will receive carried out right here. The sketch is attractive, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an shakiness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come further formerly again as exactly the same nearly a lot often inside case you shield this hike.
-
I am so glad I discovered this weblog. Thank you for the information. You make a great deal of great points in your write-up. Rated five stars!
-
Magnificent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your site, how could i subscribe for a blog website? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear idea
Leave a Reply
Join Black Gay Gossip On:
Write For BGG…
NEED ADVICE??? Ask Dr. Mo Love
WTH? Lace Front Eyebrows?
Check Out An Event In Your City
blogarama.com
Recent Comments