The New Colonialism: Ganging up on Nigeria

http://accurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2009/03/reverse-colonialism-ganging-up-on.html

[The Anglican Curmudgeon] 14 Mar 2009--The Anglican blogworld (or a certain part of it, at any rate) is alight with outrage about a law that has been proposed for passage by the National Assembly of Nigeria, and that makes it a crime for two persons of the same sex to come together (in some sort of ceremony, presumably) "with the purpose of leaving together as husband and wife". The bill also criminalizes all who aid or abet in performing any such ceremony uniting two people of the same sex. (A press release from Amnesty International USA quoting parts of the law, and speculating on ways in which it might violate parts of the Nigerian Constitution, as well as international treaties to which Nigeria is a party, may be read here.)

What has some Episcopalians, as well as the bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the liberal and gay-rights bloggers, in such an upset is that the Anglican Church of Nigeria has issued a five-page statement in support of the bill under the authority of its Primate and Metropolitan, the Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola. The statement quotes passages from the Bible in support of its arguments against same-sex marriage, and condemns homosexual practice, as well as those who support making it legal in Nigeria. (Existing law in Nigeria already makes criminal sex between two males, or between two females, with a punishment nearly three times as severe as that proposed for same-sex marriage. So in one sense, I suppose one could say that the proposed bill improves existing law, by encouraging same-sex couples to marry in order to reduce the time they have to spend in jail.)

My purpose in commenting here is not to join this fray, but to note that it is a campaign mounted mostly by those on the liberal side of the Church, and as such may possibly lack a certain degree of consistency---or, as I shall now say more frequently, it may exhibit a certain fuzzy logic. Consider these points, if you will....