The ardent followers of religion have always maintained that their guides—mainly
the Bible and the Qu'ran—teach humility and compassion. These very holy books
teach against judging others and about a dreaded day of reckoning where each of
us will be held accountable for our stewardship on this earth, including the
judgement we pass on others we view as unholy and infidel. The norm is that
religious people are meant to live righteously, love their neighbours including
their fearful foes and eschew hatred in all its shapes and forms. The Supreme
Being has the final say as to who is deserving of His blissful eternal Kingdom!
But must perceived righteousness serve as the basis for judging others and even
lead to homophobic sentiments?

Contrarily to the contents of the holy books, some religious people seem to have
conceived—quite against the Word of God—that some sins are greater than others.
A lot suppose murder a bigger sin than adultery! It is extremely preposterous on
the part of any religious connoisseur to apportion certain marks to certain sins
without having access to God’s marking scheme. We would want to know who has
seen God's plans; we equally want them to tell us how many points one loses for
which sin. If nobody possesses God's thoughts on what sort of justice will be
meted out for a particular transgression, then we would want to civilly wonder
why many self-righteous folks are quite ready to judge others on marriage,
religion and sexuality.

In fact, we should foremost stress the fact that we do not condone any sins in
this world. We do appreciate our own ceaseless indiscretion for which we always
ask the Holy Father for clemency. By now Jehovah, the Almighty Father, looks at
us and notes how recalcitrant we are because of our penchant for sinning even
when we have asked for pardon and vowed not to sin again only to return to the
same sin for which we have asked for exculpation. If the Biblical contention
that whoever falters at one point of the commandments breaks them all is
anything to go by (See James 2:10), then we all have a long way to go! Like
Jesus Christ asked those erudite Pharisees who were inclined to stone the
adulteress if they were sanctimonious, we also ask modern-day religious fanatics
who preach revulsion to do a self-appraisal before casting the first stone at
gays.

Homosexuality is an eye sore. There is nothing as appalling as a man, without
mincing words, sticking his manhood into the hairy and unsightly anus (a
stinking place specifically created for the excretion of faeces) of another man
and trying to derive pleasure from this abominable exercise! Such people need
both spiritual and medical help for anything abnormal can be alleviated. In all
fairness, homosexuality is very disgusting as men with this inexplicable
peculiarity finish by having to wear pampers just like babies for the rest of
their miserable lives as the stinking solids have nothing to hold them back due
to the aberrant use of their anal organs and the "unnatural" objects inserted
into them. If the dressing of ladies in this 21st Century which bares all to the
extent of bringing down the Solomons of this world does nothing to gays but
forces them to want to ravish flat-chested men through the backdoor, then we
believe it would not be a mark of atrocity to ask that their mental faculties be
verified!

Although there is something amiss with gays, however, when it comes to passing
judgement as to what God will do to homosexuals, we need to ask what the Word of
God says about judging others. The Bible—unless we read a different
book—admonishes us against judging others for not only do we pretend to do God's
work for Him; but we also give God the benchmark with which to judge us. It is
always blatant that we tend to use very high standards (based on an assumed
moral high ground) which we may never reach were we scrutinised in the same way
when judging others. Why then do people—mere mortals to boot—try to presuppose
the craftsmanship of God when their earthly righteousness is questionable and
seen as filthy rags before God Almighty? And why do we elevate our level of
criticism of others if we cannot pass the test were we put through the same
system?

Over the decades, marriage has become a most important judging implement in the
hands of many. A lot of ink has been poured on paper in arguments in favour of
the fact that the institution of marriage was established by God when He put the
first couple into the Garden of Eden. In essence, we are all descendants of Adam
and Eve irrespective of our colour, race and creed. It is for this reason that
we are quite bewildered to see people judging others based on their ethnicity,
colour and race. There have been white supremacists in Europeand North
Americawho have committed atrocities due to their detestation of inter-racial
marriages. The British National Party, for instance, overtly abhors mixed
marriages. There are similarly black people who hate people from their ethnic
groups and countries from marrying black people from other ethnic groups and
countries. How sad and pathetic!

There are so many controversial subjects; nonetheless, there has never been a
matter more contentious that has dominated the latter parts of the 20th Century
and is gaining notoriety for judgement and disrepute in the 21st Century than
homosexuality. We have observed the posture assumed by heterosexuals when
talking about homosexuality. And that stance is concerned with looking down upon
gays as infidels who are ordained for certain destruction in the Biblical lake
of fire. By so doing, these straight people do see themselves as superior beings
who are very upright in the sight of God and can thus pronounce judgements on
sexual sinners—they forget fornication and adultery are likewise sexual sins—
who prefer anal satisfaction rather than vaginal bliss. But on what grounds do
these straight people censure gays? They embark on that extraneous venture by
quoting from the Holy Bible and the Holy Qu'ran!

Talking about religions, let us examine what Islam thinks about homosexuality.
The Hadith indubitably condemns homosexuality by stating categorically that:
"When a man mounts another man, the throne of Allah shakes". In the Bible, there
are instances to substantiate why Christians condemn gays. After all, for this
crime, God wiped out a whole city! Remember the people of Sodom and Gomorrah? In
the New Testament, Paul's letter to the Romans actually sees same-sex
relationships as God's punishment for humankind's reluctance to honour Him
(God), our futile thoughts and idolatry (Romans 1:21-27). In this respect,
people who proudly assume the title of Christians and Muslims must not become
gays.

We hasten to place on record that the authenticity of the Hadith has been
disputed by certain factions in the Islamic world. While the traditional
orthodox Muslims assert the Hadith literature contains the bona fide sayings of
the Prophet Muhammad, liberal Muslims have always doubted its validity. Talking
about the accuracy of the Bible, it must also be affirmed that we have had
different interpretations of the Bible because of the divisions in Christendom.
The Roman Catholics thinks differently; the Jehovah's Witnesses see themselves
as God's chosen people on the narrow path to inherit His eternal Kingdom whereas
everybody else is on the broad way to everlasting damnation in Hell's flowing
lake of fire! The Seventh-Day Adventists will beg to differ and the very
numerous and still mushrooming Pentecostal and Charismatic churches will sway
with what they read from the Bible that they are the real deal. In the end,
there is so much rigmarole created by Muslims and Christians that, Darwinism is
blooming to the discontentment and detriment of the so-called religions which
claim to possess the key to life eternal. Indeed, Christianity and Islam
covert-all-at-all-cost policy makes Buddhism, Hinduism and Atheism quite
appealing because of their peaceful doctrines.

Moreover, the discrepancies which are evident in the two main religions in the
world do not take anything away from Christianity and Islam. These two religions
are divided by so many doctrines. Both maintain they are on the right path and
that the other is wrong. This is the level affairs have been upheld until the
imposing menace by homosexuality to obliterate the very fundamentals of their
credence: faith for which some are prepared to die. Homosexuality and its
concomitant homophobic outlook have become a common ground for the unanimity of
Christians and Muslims! The recent furore in certain parts of Africa and the
unremitting moralising of abhorrence towards gays have brought about violence
which is the consequential effect of populism employed by politicians and most
prominently by the clergy of both Christianity and Islam. In Malawiand Uganda,
the topsy-turvy mass organisation to kill gays has been given loud affirmation
by politicians after it was discovered that some men who moved in twos (we could
not call them couples) were planning to tie the knot! In truth, if any of the
homophobic morons had murdered any of the arse-wrecking guys, they would
undeniably have escaped justice—they may never have even been arraigned before
court!

Nevertheless, in Europe, the Anglican Church is ordaining Gay Bishops! Only the
Christians and Muslims in Africaseem to be speaking with one accord.
Homosexuality is therefore bound to create more divisions in Christendom that,
in less than a decade there will likely be a church known by the sobriquet of
"Gay for Christ International Church of God"! The great arsey-versey situation
in the world at this moment is absolutely created by the fidus Archates of
Christianity and Islam. Wanting to know the truth, we recently spoke to an
even-tempered Muslim. From our conversation, one of the lessons drawn from Islam
is that the Holy Qu'ran’s treatise about thieves having their hands chopped off,
adulterers and homosexuals being stoned to death is not to be taken literally.
According Afzar Ali, the rules and commandments and their mortally draconian
retribution are meant to deter rather than sending sinners to early graves to be
judged by the Creator. The point of the chastisement is irrelevant; the notion
of the punishment should be enough to serve as a restraint to all and sundry.
The commandments are comparable to knowing the effects of fire: if one knows it
burns then one would not touch it!

This is where we pause to ponder. First, both the Bible and the Qu'ran argue
quite convincingly that none of us was born a criminal. Ergo, if we find
thieves, fraudsters, murderers, lesbians and gays in the world today, it is
because the system is at fault. The blemish with the system means that we come
into this world all innocent until immoral traits creep upon us and make us
murderers, idolaters, homosexuals and so on. From the believer's point of view,
the fellow with any tendencies towards homosexuality should seek spiritual
remedy. Thus, we should offer prayers for gays that God takes away the unnatural
feeling towards a fellow man from them. Those who do not have any trust in the
spiritual must adopt a more holistic approach by seeking psychological and
medical guidance.

What about Gay Bishops or Pastors then? Well, we may want to reiterate Paul’s
philosophical musings to the Romans: God has given up people engaging in
idolatry, swimming in frivolities and dishonouring Him to uncleanness to debase
their bodies by engaging in deviant sexual acts. Learning from the Holy Writ, we
can surmise that gays have no place in the House of God let alone lead His
flock. In all honesty, gays should not be loathed but they ought to play by the
rules of the game of religion. If they want to be Muslims or Christians, then
they need to follow the commandments spelt out in the Bible and the Qu'ran. A
fortiori, we can use a lame analogy of the game of football to buttress our
point. An infringement is given against one's team if one handles the ball. But
if one happens to be a mere spectator, this rule is definitely not binding.
Thus, how can a gay become a Christian/Muslim and a bishop when they do not obey
the decrees in the Bible or the Qu’ran?—an abuse of the rules of the game!

In the end, homosexuals need prayers, psychological directions and medical aids
to help do away with their dissenting sexual desires. Gays should not be
Christians/Muslims let alone become leaders of the church/mosque. They should
have privileges but not the right to adopt. Elton John may be affluent enough to
give a child a better life but is he a role model for an innocent child? And if
everyone took it into their heads to be gays, who will give birth to children
for Sir Elton John to adopt? Believing that homosexuality must be detested and
not gays, we strongly revile without reserve any attempts to make the whole
world a homophobic place for gays. Killing a homosexual will not exonerate the
killer from the commandment which condemns murder. Homosexuality is both a
sinful and perverted deviation from the norm but, like the other sins; they are
habits we acquire due to lack of proper guidance and education. Christians who
adopt holier-than-thou attitudes and judge gays should take the counsel of God
to Ezekiel: namely; you tell the sinner to turn away from their sins. If you do
not, then God will ask you for their blood if they perish. But you are not to
judge!

Thomas Dickens (yesiah2003@yahoo.com)
www.thomasdickens.blogspot.com