Celebration of Humanity ........
Fear, Shame, Hatred, Segregation, Discrimination, Execution, Exclusion and Pain..........Sound familiar? These are some of the struggles millions of people around the world face to get what they want, to live the life they deserve, to feel like part of a society, to be accepted by the same society that often inflicts these conditions on them. With more gay, lesbian, bisexual, Pansexual and transgender people living openly over the last decade in Africa and around the world, it is important to talk about this. This post you're about to read has been one of the most difficult posts to write, the entire process has been mentally tiring and slow, but in all its been an interesting experience. I promised to talk about the LGBTQ Community and I felt it would be proper to add it to the Tolerance series. I am about to shake tables..........
To a great extent we fear what we do not understand or what doesn't fit into our standards of "normal" and we can go the extra length to preserve these standards, even if it means to eliminate people. In Africa the LGBTQ+ Community is often shunned and hated with a passion that makes you wonder why it is so important to know what two consenting adults are doing in the comfort of their homes. No doubt sometimes the followers of religion have had a hand in the ill treatment of the LGBTQ+ community around the world. While, religion has always taught us about love, to love each other, and to love our enemies, hate seems to thrive. It sits in the hearts of man, most times expressed through religion and spread by ignorance.This simply means that the heart of man often carries elements of evil and religion can be corrupted to spread this evil.
The only person that has the authority in Heaven and on Earth to let people into the kingdom of God, IS GOD ! Not you-self proclaimed child of righteous.....I once asked someone why they were so against it and he said oh that God will rain down fire on any man doing that thing, but he doesn't mind if two women are into it😕. It would be funny if he was the only person who reasoned that way, but unfortunately many men and women would rather die than see two men publicly hug, but would have a good show if two women were making out. Our ideas of sin are often altered to fit our personal interests and then we begin pointing fingers at who we feel is a bigger sinner than us, to pacify our guilt, while we forget that sin is sin; there are no big or small sins.
We hear stories of parents or guardians evicting their children/wards from their homes because they come out as LGBTQ+, while some are lucky enough to have pastors deliver them from the hands of demons. I would be lying if I say I was surprised, these are the same people that categorize troubled emotions, depression, anxiety and other mental health problems as "demonic". Some parent/guardians care more about their reputation than the well-being of their child/wards and will do almost anything to uphold that reputation. People feel the moment you accept people of the LGBTQ+ community you have compromised your morals or values and might even assume you have a curiosity for it. You shouldn't be surprised though in Africa people will mind anything, but their business.
Is the LGBTQ+ community one of Africa's major problems? No, they should be treated with the same level of humanity that we give ourselves, family members and neighbors. Nobody is asking any pastor to wed anybody, but why use your God given authority to preach hate? It's surprising how these hate messages doesn't just affect the LGBTQ+ community, but also cuts across people of other faith and people who do not fit into our standards of Godly. There are thieves, murderers, abusers, fornicators, liars, fraudsters, pedophiles and others who are often followers of a faith, even leaders of a Faith, but people with a different sexuality should be shunned because they "sin" different. SMH...
During the course of my survey I realized that this generation is more accepting or should I say more tolerant compared to most of our parents. Choosing not to judge or hate people because of their sexuality or orientation, many have chosen to respect their decisions and realize that the actions of two consenting adults does not in any way affect their lives and they must simply mind their business.
My fav says there are many reasons to celebrate humanity and I have no doubt about that, but what is humanity without diversity? Sometimes we have to realize that the only religion worth considering sometimes is our humanity, our diversity and not everyone can think like us or be like us and maybe we can foster unity in this ever changing world. We need spaces where the LGBTQ+ people can feel safe and be free to express .We need to be able to accept each others values and celebrate our differences and similarities, be able to criticize our ideologies logically and we shouldn't just preach love we should make it an experience that love moves the world.
To a great extent we fear what we do not understand or what doesn't fit into our standards of "normal" and we can go the extra length to preserve these standards, even if it means to eliminate people. In Africa the LGBTQ+ Community is often shunned and hated with a passion that makes you wonder why it is so important to know what two consenting adults are doing in the comfort of their homes. No doubt sometimes the followers of religion have had a hand in the ill treatment of the LGBTQ+ community around the world. While, religion has always taught us about love, to love each other, and to love our enemies, hate seems to thrive. It sits in the hearts of man, most times expressed through religion and spread by ignorance.This simply means that the heart of man often carries elements of evil and religion can be corrupted to spread this evil.
The only person that has the authority in Heaven and on Earth to let people into the kingdom of God, IS GOD ! Not you-self proclaimed child of righteous.....I once asked someone why they were so against it and he said oh that God will rain down fire on any man doing that thing, but he doesn't mind if two women are into it😕. It would be funny if he was the only person who reasoned that way, but unfortunately many men and women would rather die than see two men publicly hug, but would have a good show if two women were making out. Our ideas of sin are often altered to fit our personal interests and then we begin pointing fingers at who we feel is a bigger sinner than us, to pacify our guilt, while we forget that sin is sin; there are no big or small sins.
We hear stories of parents or guardians evicting their children/wards from their homes because they come out as LGBTQ+, while some are lucky enough to have pastors deliver them from the hands of demons. I would be lying if I say I was surprised, these are the same people that categorize troubled emotions, depression, anxiety and other mental health problems as "demonic". Some parent/guardians care more about their reputation than the well-being of their child/wards and will do almost anything to uphold that reputation. People feel the moment you accept people of the LGBTQ+ community you have compromised your morals or values and might even assume you have a curiosity for it. You shouldn't be surprised though in Africa people will mind anything, but their business.
Is the LGBTQ+ community one of Africa's major problems? No, they should be treated with the same level of humanity that we give ourselves, family members and neighbors. Nobody is asking any pastor to wed anybody, but why use your God given authority to preach hate? It's surprising how these hate messages doesn't just affect the LGBTQ+ community, but also cuts across people of other faith and people who do not fit into our standards of Godly. There are thieves, murderers, abusers, fornicators, liars, fraudsters, pedophiles and others who are often followers of a faith, even leaders of a Faith, but people with a different sexuality should be shunned because they "sin" different. SMH...
During the course of my survey I realized that this generation is more accepting or should I say more tolerant compared to most of our parents. Choosing not to judge or hate people because of their sexuality or orientation, many have chosen to respect their decisions and realize that the actions of two consenting adults does not in any way affect their lives and they must simply mind their business.
My fav says there are many reasons to celebrate humanity and I have no doubt about that, but what is humanity without diversity? Sometimes we have to realize that the only religion worth considering sometimes is our humanity, our diversity and not everyone can think like us or be like us and maybe we can foster unity in this ever changing world. We need spaces where the LGBTQ+ people can feel safe and be free to express .We need to be able to accept each others values and celebrate our differences and similarities, be able to criticize our ideologies logically and we shouldn't just preach love we should make it an experience that love moves the world.
Comments
Post a Comment