Anglican Africans

(1 Cor 9:16 NKJV) For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!

The Christian Post article “Anglican Bishops Resolve to Tackle Africa's Social Ills” dated 31 Aug 2010 reported that the African Anglican Bishops from 400 diocese after a weeklong conference in Uganda issued a strong statement against gays. It was stated in the article that “in their communiqué that "in order to keep the ethos and tradition of the Anglican Communion in a credible way, it is obligatory" of all provinces in the global Anglican Communion to continue to observe and honor the moratoria on the ordination of partnered homosexuals, the blessing of same-sex unions, and cross-border interventions.”

The African Bishops in the “2nd All African Bishop Conference” had also invited their American Anglican schism partner, the “Anglican Church in North America” including Archbishop Robert Duncan, Bishop Martyn Minns, Bishop John Guernsey and Bishop Bill Atwood. The Anglican South represented by Archbishop John Chew of Southeast Asia, have also been invited to join with the primates of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA). The conference was also attended by Prime Minister of Uganda, Apollo Nsibambi.

With such a strong focus on gays, even interfering with the sovereignty of the Episcopal Church in the United States by the cross border attempts to steal the American conservative diocese, and hunting down gays in the streets within their cities, speaks of a continents deep in grave “social ills” of rampant violence, poverty, injustice, corruption, military dictatorship, infant mortality, abortions, and disease pandemic. It is a horror of a dark continent where the Bishops closed their eyes on the desperate issues and sum them us as a Gay issue. There are no easy answers or solutions except it seems to blame gays.

Whilst the religious leaders put gays on the altar of sacrifice for all the “sins” of the deep dark African Continent, NGOs are calling for a doubling of the 50 Billion dollar AID that goes to Africa each year. This AID should actually be reduced significantly since obviously from the communication of the African Bishops, the main problem or social ill they have is gays and not poverty. So, the solution is obviously simple, the AID money to be used to emigrate the gays from Africa to Europe/USA/Canada/South America. Surely, it would overnight resolve all the social ills and bring prosperity to Africa where 350 million of the population lives below USD 1 per day.

The Conference was hosted by Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, head of Uganda's Anglican church. According to CNN, “Bishops from Singapore, Southeast Asia and Africa told Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in closed-door sessions Tuesday and Wednesday that there should be no more diplomacy on homosexuality ….. However, Williams preached tolerance in a sermon after the meetings, reminding African bishops that a good leader does not abandon his flock. He did not bring up the issue of homosexuality”.

The Rev Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke that the 21st Century may well be the “African Century.” Archbishop Orombi quoting from 1 Cor 9:16, exalted the crowd that the time has come for ‘fresh wine’ from ‘new wine skins” from what the conference website advocated as “represented by the potentials in the conference to go to Europe and America to bring fresh life in the ailing global Anglicanism”, ie for the voice of the African Anglicans to spread their hate of gays to Europe and America.

Africa is a continent of Population of 1 Billion (2005 census) with 45% Muslim, and 40% Christian. It will be an African Century as said by Rowan Williams, but a century in the news front page of continued economic, social strive and famines, wars, coups, and with the growing Christian Fundamentalism demonstrated at the Bishops’ conference, the religious confrontation between the Muslim North and the Christian South will represent further tragedies. Whether the Christians will march out of the Middle Kingdom to hunt gays all over the world is yet to be seen, but the battle remains up North where the desert of the Sahara is ever expanding to make the land desolate and religious based warfare now starting to dominate the scene, AIDS/HIV threatened as a grim reaper to bring millions of death even bringing down the life expectancy to below 50 years. Africa is indeed a tragedy, so rich in human and natural resources, yet doomed to fail because the real issues have not been addressed by going after a non issue such as gays.

The Gospel is not about making gays a scapegoat, but preaching Christ instead, His love, Grace, and mercy to the lost, the poor, and the outcasts. We are indeed truly lost when we could not see ourselves and how sinful we are but to see the spec in others eyes.