Slender Agenda
Member
- Aug 26, 2014
- 57
- 45
In the past few weeks we saw the lifting of the anti-gay bill in Uganda that was proposed last year, signed and brought into existence this year by Ugandan President Museveni. This bill made homosexuality illegal with death as punishment should you be caught indulging inhomosexuality or "attempted homosexuality", whatever that means.
Interestingly enough, this ban was not just for domestic Ugandans but applied to those outside the country. Ugandans involved in same sex acts out side the country were meant to be extradited for punishment back in Uganda. This also extended to media organizations and non-governmental organizations that supported LGBT rights.
In Tanzania, we are not too far from this, according to the Penal Code,acts between men are illegal with a 14 year to life sentence inprison. Hon, Ezekiel Wenje, member of parliament claims that homosexuality in our country is running rampant because we do not have stricter laws in the country against homosexuality.
After a lot of activism, and withdrawals of funds from their major donors,Uganda officially took off the anti-gay law. But what does this mean for the homosexuals?
Brizan Ogollan, founder of Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp that harbors fleeing homosexuals from Uganda said of the lifting of the bill, "they knew at an international level and at the diplomatic level, the decision is going to have an impact, but at the local level, it wont really. You can overrule the law, but you cant overrule the mind."
When it comes to social morals and norms, it is interesting to note how things are only as relevant as they are needed to be in a particular moment. Things are only as significant as they are required to be to serve a particular group of persons interest.
An illustration: during the colonial era, colonialists, sold us religion in exchange for our land. We discarded our former methods of worship,lost track of one-ness amongst ourselves and each other. Now that they are done with serving their purpose, they are bringing up conspiracy theories against religion and selling it to us.
Another illustration: I'd like to believe that every religion, regardless of who they worship advocates the "loving" of one another, of humanity and that "God" is the supreme judge of all human actions. Taking Christianity as an example, people are called to"love one another" and all sins are considered the same,regardless of how small your action. Divorce is wrong, fornication is wrong, lying is wrong, but for some reason no one is getting up and signing petitions to put to death people who divorce.
Does this not say something about the shallowness of society, the rules we live by and how they are all there to further one group's interest?When we say homosexuality is wrong because the Bible/religion says so, why are we not getting up in arms and fighting for all the other things that religion says is wrong?
Interestingly enough, this ban was not just for domestic Ugandans but applied to those outside the country. Ugandans involved in same sex acts out side the country were meant to be extradited for punishment back in Uganda. This also extended to media organizations and non-governmental organizations that supported LGBT rights.
In Tanzania, we are not too far from this, according to the Penal Code,acts between men are illegal with a 14 year to life sentence inprison. Hon, Ezekiel Wenje, member of parliament claims that homosexuality in our country is running rampant because we do not have stricter laws in the country against homosexuality.
After a lot of activism, and withdrawals of funds from their major donors,Uganda officially took off the anti-gay law. But what does this mean for the homosexuals?
Brizan Ogollan, founder of Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp that harbors fleeing homosexuals from Uganda said of the lifting of the bill, "they knew at an international level and at the diplomatic level, the decision is going to have an impact, but at the local level, it wont really. You can overrule the law, but you cant overrule the mind."
When it comes to social morals and norms, it is interesting to note how things are only as relevant as they are needed to be in a particular moment. Things are only as significant as they are required to be to serve a particular group of persons interest.
An illustration: during the colonial era, colonialists, sold us religion in exchange for our land. We discarded our former methods of worship,lost track of one-ness amongst ourselves and each other. Now that they are done with serving their purpose, they are bringing up conspiracy theories against religion and selling it to us.
Another illustration: I'd like to believe that every religion, regardless of who they worship advocates the "loving" of one another, of humanity and that "God" is the supreme judge of all human actions. Taking Christianity as an example, people are called to"love one another" and all sins are considered the same,regardless of how small your action. Divorce is wrong, fornication is wrong, lying is wrong, but for some reason no one is getting up and signing petitions to put to death people who divorce.
Does this not say something about the shallowness of society, the rules we live by and how they are all there to further one group's interest?When we say homosexuality is wrong because the Bible/religion says so, why are we not getting up in arms and fighting for all the other things that religion says is wrong?
