There is an interesting story in the Bible, in John 8:1-7. We are told the Scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught red-handed in adultery. They quoted the existing law to Jesus, which according to Moses, prescribed capital punishment for the woman for the sin of adultery – the Scribes and Pharisees had been commanded by the existing law to stone the woman to death. They wanted the opinion of Jesus. The latter’s response was, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” (New International Version).
I have often said that this woman was very lucky to have lived at the time of Jesus and indeed, the Pharisees. While many preachers and Bible scholars have portrayed the Pharisees as hypocrites because Jesus often rebuked them as such, not many people recognise that they were just religious fanatics, but ones who at least had a conscience and a sense of equity and fairness.
These Pharisees recognised that they had also been committing various sins for which they would have had to be stoned to death if they had been caught. Recognising that their deeds could be exposed by Jesus, they accepted that it was only fair for them to abandon the blood-thirsty adventure to stone the woman. Had that incident happened today, the Scribes and Pharisees of today would have stoned that woman to death, while they have skeletons in their cupboards.
Let me cut to the chase. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. (King James Version). All, no exception. The pastor and the politician who hide behind closed doors in their offices and corruptly enrich themselves at the expense of the majority of church members and Ghanaians have sinned, according to several verses of scripture that are against corruption and theft.
When the Bible talks about “all” who have sinned, that includes all the promoters of the Anti-LGBT+ Bill – the MPs, the pastors and the evangelicals backing the Bill. What is different is that, unlike the Pharisees, all these people are baying for the blood of LGBT+ people, while hiding and suppressing their sins, wickedness, corruption and iniquities, because they have not been caught.
There is nothing new under the sun, as the Bible says. Throughout history, except for religious anecdotes like David slaying Goliath, the mighty, the wealthy, the strong, the powerful, and the majority have always defeated, conquered, suppressed, overpowered, enslaved, dominated, colonised and controlled the weak, the poor, and the minority! Despite the intervention of the West, Russia is pummelling Ukraine and destroying their country brick by brick, because they have the military might and economic wealth to do so.
If Jesus had not intervened, the mighty and powerful Scribes and Pharisees would have stoned that woman to death, even though they were just as guilty as she was, if not more guilty for the worst crimes. Democracy, despite its positives, still offers even the most corrupt politicians and their ultra-religious backers an opportunity to use their majority to pass laws to harass, suppress, overpower, dominate and seek to knock minorities out into oblivion. It is often the case that someone has to defend, protect or speak out for such minorities, even at the peril of their own lives, from the majority that is baying for blood.
Much of the rationale for the Anti-LGBT+ Bill that is likely to be passed by Parliament was based on the fear that wealthy Western countries are trying to impose the legalisation of same-sex marriage on Ghana. No one who has lived in Ghana and knows our history and culture can deny that gays and lesbians have existed and lived in peace in this country since time immemorial. Many of you have known one or two people from that community – whether during your boarding school days or in your village.
All those years, nobody killed or attacked them, nor did we seek to cast them into overcrowded and stinking prisons for engaging in same-sex activities. If our problem is the financing and public promotion of their activities with support from wealthy Western countries (who are foreigners), could we not use the new law to stop those activities without seeking to attack these persons (who are Ghanaians and have been part of our society) by throwing them into our overcrowded and stinking prisons? Should our response to wealthy Western countries be to destroy our people, even if we don’t accept what they do for religious and cultural reasons?
Today, Russia is beating down Ukraine because it can. Tomorrow, Nigeria may decide to beat down Ghana, because it is mightier than us, regardless of whether or not they would have a just cause. Would Ghana need protection from more powerful nations if we were attacked by Nigeria? There will always be reasons why the mighty and powerful and majority may decide or make laws (including international laws) that threaten the very existence of the poor and the minority.
I am a straight guy, married to a woman with two children. But, while I do not share the ideologies, principles, and practices of the LGBT+ community, I would never support their incarceration for their being LGBT+. If we don’t want foreigners imposing their practices on us or promoting same to our children, we can still deal with that without endangering the lives of our own people who are just as human as we are. There is absolutely no way I will obey the new law, if it imposes any responsibility on me to report any LGBT+ person so they can be incarcerated just to satisfy bloodthirsty, self-righteous folks who are less honest than even the Pharisees. My name is Kwaku Antwi-Boasiako. I am straight, but I choose to speak out for the safety and security of the minority LGBT community in Ghana!
Kwaku Antwi-Boasiako, Accra
April 1, 2023
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