By David Maillu
Published January 2, 2024
According to the Roman Catholic Church‘s traditional setting, sex is only
allowed in the marriage between man and woman, and homosexuality is
described as “intrinsically disordered.” The Christian marriage doctrine
is based on the belief that the Church is mandated to represent God here
on earth. Hence, when the Church blesses marriage God has blessed it
too. Unblessed marriage by the Church, therefore, is not right in the
eyes of God. The Catholic Church talks about ‘authorizing the blessing
of same-sex couples’.
Can the cause of homosexuality be linked to the advancement of
civilization? Is homosexuality a social advancement or degradation? How
can homosexuality be explained to a growing child based on moral
principles?
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When we enter the Christian Church, the Church takes a different
dimension from the African Spirituality. The Pope and the Priest are
presented as representatives of God. What the Church does, therefore, is
what God wants.
Fundamentally, the Christian Church is based on man’s whims whereby it
thinks for God and believes God accepts what it says on His behalf.
The debate over same-sex marriage has shaken the foundation of the
Church. It has raised great concerns for the Church because, if not
ad-dressed, it can affect the economics of the Church tremendously,
since its doctrine has commercial interests. For that reason, the
doctrine must change with time to keep and increase followers. This is
why the present Pope Francis, well into his 80s, threatened by the ugly
homosexual debate has thrown cold water on the debate by saying, “The
church MUST NOT become rigid or judgmental but welcome everyone.” This
is an attempt to face reality by keeping close to people. The Church of
England has been debating over blessing gay couples, and the pressure
has been building up within European countries.
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The Catholic Church has also been battling with the issue of celibacy
which was imposed upon the establishment over a century ago but one that
has been causing irreparable damage to the integrity of the Church.
In an African shrine, If there is any blessing whatsoever according to a
married couple, that blessing can only come from the parents of the
married couple. Beyond that point, no human has any authority to act as
a representative of God in marriage and sex matters. Consequently, the
thought of someone blessing a marrying couple on behalf of God is
ridiculous. On the ground, what a person does in sex
consummation remains a man’s choice that should be judged by society
according to its social rules.
The African faith is governed by natural laws. To the Africans, Nature
and God is the same Force. Natural law regarding sex has it that God
strictly created it to benefit the service of both female and male sexes
in procreation. Woman is made for man and man
for women, any deviation from that is irreligious and unacceptable.
RELATED: Homosexuality is Decadence of Human Integrity
African civilization does not see any sense whatsoever in a man seeking
sexual service from another man, or a woman seeking sexual service from
another woman. If that order is not followed, the act should take place outside eyes of the
society for, as the proverb goes, if you have an itch in the anus don’t
quench that itch by rubbing in public places. Homosexuality does not add
any value whatsoever to its civilization. There is no liquid in the
world however sweet it is, that can replace the natural taste of water.
Equally so there is no sex consummation better than the service between
man and woman. That’s African spirituality, chapter closed. African
governments are justified in rejecting homosexuality.
The writer is President of African Spirituality.