Tanzania Archbishop Says Homosexuality Is Example of Western ‘Colonialism’

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 10, 2014 file photo, Kenyan gays and lesbians and others suppo
AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File

A Tanzanian archbishop has called upon his countrymen to reject homosexuality and abortion as new forms of Western “colonialism.”

The newly consecrated archbishop of Mwanza, Renatus Nkwande, said that these vices are serious sins against God that demand repentance, in an address not long after he was ordained bishop on May 12.

Archbishop Nkwande said that the practice of homosexuality and abortion are caused by adopting the mistaken cultural practices of others.

“We (Africans) are fond of imitating others. They have popularized homosexuality and abortion, and some of us have imitated. I am aware there are some NGOs in the country that dish out medical equipment for abortion,” the archbishop said.

“When our forefathers became tired of colonialism, they fought against it. It is time we did the same, fighting against these vices,” he added.

A 2015 article in the New York Times said that the Obama administration had invested “more than $41 million specifically to promote gay rights globally” as well as a portion of $700 million earmarked for marginalized groups “to support gay communities and causes.”

“More than half of the $700 million, and $6.6 million of the $41 million, was spent on sub-Saharan Africa,” the Times article stated.

When Mr. Obama visited Africa during the summer of 2015, he made the LGBT agenda one of the pillars of his message, comparing discrimination of gays in Africa to the treatment of blacks in America prior to the civil rights movement.

“As an African American in the United States I am painfully aware of what happens when people are treated differently under the law,” the Obama said.

Immediately after the Obama visit, a number of African bishops and other leaders criticized the president for his western “cultural imperialism,” and requested that he learn to respect Africa’s values rather than imposing his own.

Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese in Nigeria, said that the position of Catholics against homosexual behavior is irrevocable and that the Church will continue to maintain its stand against same-sex marriage.

“Unfortunately, we are living in a world where these things have now become quite acceptable but for the fact that they are acceptable doesn’t mean that they are right,” he said. “The Catholic Church considers itself as carrying the banner of the truth in the world that has allowed itself to be so badly deceived.”

“In the same way that we don’t try to impose our culture on anyone, we also expect that people should respect our culture in return,” said Theresa Okafor, a Nigerian activist.

Archbishop Charles Gabriel Palmer Buckle of Accra, Ghana, also weighed in on the President’s words, noting that the Catholic Church is against homosexual practice as contrary to the law of God, and that homosexuality is “anti-human.”

“We will not respect homosexuality but have respect for homosexuals because they are created in the likeness of God. We are against them adopting children because it is difficult for homosexuals to raise a child to be responsible in the society,” he said.

Buckle urged Christians to stand up and affirm their belief in the unchangeable truth that marriage is the stable union of one man and one woman.

“The Church cannot but uphold the fundamental truth about marriage and family life and within the role of sex and sexuality in the whole of the human and social ecology,” he said.

Prior to President Obama’s visit, 700 Kenyan evangelical pastors wrote an open letter asking the president not to come to their country to push the gay agenda.

Mark Kariuki, the leader of an alliance representing 38,000 churches and 10 million Kenyan Christians, was the main drafter of the letter.

“We do not want him to come and talk on homosexuality in Kenya or push us to accepting that which is against our faith and culture,” Kariuki said.

Kariuki said he welcomed the president’s visit but suggested he leave “the gay talk” in America.

In her powerful 2018 book, Target Africa: Ideological Neocolonialism in the Twenty-First Century, Nigerian human rights activist Obianuju Ekeocha decried attempts by the west to impose the LGBT agenda on Africa and “normalize” homosexual behavior.

“The world is witnessing an effort to reshape society with judicial sledgehammers, legislative chainsaws, and executive bulldozers that are tearing down the meaning and purpose of male and female and replacing them with gender fluidity and interchangeability,” she wrote.

“What will become of Africa as the social engineers attempt to redesign the human race?” she queried.

“Will Africa be chopped off, knocked down, or just reconditioned to accept the new definitions of ‘male,’ ‘female,’ and ‘marriage’?” she asked.

Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter

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