In a candid interview, Nigerian bishop Emmanuel Badejo has responded bluntly to Hillary Clinton’s recent assertion that religious beliefs “have to be changed” in order to give women access to reproductive health care.
“If these values are not precious to Hillary Clinton, I think she has no right at all to call for a change in religious values and religious beliefs,” he said.
“I believe there are three groups of people in this world: those who believe in God, those who do not believe in God, and those who think they are gods. Hillary Clinton I think is one of those who thinks she is a god,” said Badejo, who is Director of Communications for the African Bishops.
Speaking at the 6th annual Women in the World Summit, Clinton said: “Deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed” for the sake of giving women access to “reproductive health care and safe childbirth.”
“From the way she spoke, people like herself very clearly don’t want to hear anything about God. Even if they say they believe in God, they really don’t,” said the bishop.
“It’s evident even in her language: she talks about ‘deep seated cultural codes.’ I feel she’s gotten too wrapped up in technology and has stopped realizing that there are values, there are things that are innate to people, that are not just ‘codes’ that can be taken up and thrown out,” he said.
“We talk about the dignity of life, the sanctity of life, etc. Is she saying they ought to be changed?” he said.
Bishop Badejo’s remarks echoed the reaction of Gov. Bobby Jindal to Clinton’s comment.
“Hillary Clinton said that people who are pro-life have to change our religious beliefs. That’s crazy talk. This is why the fight for religious freedom is so important. Our religious beliefs are between us and God, not us and Hillary Clinton,” he said.
“Hillary Clinton and The Left want to socially engineer everyone to adhere to their leftwing ideology even if it’s in violation of a person’s sincerely held religious convictions,” he said.
Bishop Badejo says he wishes only that Americans know who their candidates are and what they stand for.
“It is my desire that the American people open their ears and their eyes and know exactly what kind of people are running to be the next President of the United States,” he said.
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter @tdwilliamsrome
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