Africa Is Burning: How Clinton's Speech Has Inflamed Nigeria And The Homophobia Exporters.

Being gay is not a Western invention; 

it is a human reality.

And Even Rick Perry got into the act.:

“Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights.

We can see the flames from Africa now, and they are not coming from bonfires declaring liberty for LGBTQ people. They are the flames coming from countries like Uganda and Nigeria. They are the flames of anger and vengeance being wreaked upon gay communities. Where the fires came from, however, is something that should concern everyone in America, because, like some perverted Prometheus, America's Christian Right gave Africa it's fires. Clinton was right to say being gay was not a Western invention, however, she should also have said that homophobia was certainly a Western invention, promoted in Africa by Christian Right leaders such as Scott Lively, Lou Engle and, to a certain extent, Rick Warren. 


The Christian Right's exportation of homophobia has been happening over a number of years, well ahead of the "Kill-the-gays" bill in Uganda. 

Think Progress has a good list of Christian Right reactions including Rick Santorum, Peter LaBarbera (Americans for Truth About Homosexuality), Peter Sprigg (Family Research Council), Matt Barber (Liberty Counsel) and Pat Robertson, who warned of God's wrath and claimed that it's really Christianity that's being persecuted (see below).

"I kissed a girl and liked it - 
and I got ten years in jail."


Nigeria has reacted so strongly to Clinton's speech that it purportedly added MORE offenses in its anti-gay bill. "To hell with them," said lawmaker Jakari Mohammed, referring to other denouncing the bill. It could  be argued that Nigeria has seen same-sex "marriages" for centuries (actually as part of a surrogate tradition, with a woman marrying another woman for her husband), but somehow traditions have a way of disappearing and appearing when according to expediency. 


According to the current bill, kissing in public would be an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Anti-gay vendettas - like those in Uganda - will become rife in the most corrupt country in the world. 


And Nigeria has never been alone in its attitudes about gays. Here is a list of countries that could definitely be cut off from American aid:

     Algeria  Angola  Botswana  Cameroon  Egypt  Gambia  Ghana  Guinea*  Lesotho  Liberia  Libya        Malawi*  Mauritania  Mauritius   Morocco  Nigeria  Senegal   Sierra   Leone   Somalia  South Sudan Sudan   Swaziland   Tanzania   Togo  Tunisia  Uganda  Zambia   Zimbabwe  

*carry the death penalty for homosexuality.

THE SPEECH


Clinton's speech was concise and eloquent (a full transcript is HERE), and the group gave her a standing ovation, so what did she say in particular that inflamed so many Africans and "social conservatives" like Rick Perry? 

1. Many LGBT Americans have endured violence and harassment in their own lives, and for some, including many young people, bullying and exclusion are daily experiences.

Notice the inclusion of "bullying." Clinton has taken on the newest, most sensitive issue facing the Christian Right: it opposes anti-bullying laws unless dispensations are made for religious beliefs. And while Tony Perkins screams "we're not not the ones who cause teen suicides," people are beginning to note just how many cases are connected to "you're going to hell" accusations.

2. Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs. So I come here before you with respect, understanding, and humility.

It's the last part they can't stomach, because they don't believe the Left has anything but disrespect, ignorance and hubris when it comes to Christian Right dictums.

3. The third, and perhaps most challenging, issue arises when people cite religious or cultural values as a reason to violate or not to protect the human rights of LGBT citizens. This is not unlike the justification offered for violent practices towards women like honor killings, widow burning, or female genital mutilation.

How dare she compare discrimination against gays to hideous acts like widow burning! She's talking about pagan, anti-Christian practices!

4. I am also pleased to announce that we are launching a new Global Equality Fund that will support the work of civil society organizations working on these issues around the world.

Taxpayer money used to forward a perverted agenda!

We will be hearing about reactions to this speech for quite some time, with politicos screaming about how the Obama administration is pandering to gays and how this foray into world cultures will signal Armageddon.

Stay in your seats. The circus performances are just starting.

Evangelical Healing Or Sanctified Manslaughter? British Deaths Allegedly Result From Nigerian Preacher's Scam.

WILL NIGERIAN SCAMS NEVER STOP?

Before Cortez conquered Mexico, there were over 25 million Meso-Americans living in western North America (from Alta California down to Chile). 100 years later, there were only 1 million Meso-Americans. Many were killed off by the diseases (mostly STDs) unknown to them, many died in slavery, and some died simply because they were considered "heathens" occupying valuable land. In a sense, what Cortez had really brought along from Spain (besides missionaries and soldiers) to the Americas was the plague of Western Civilization. 

In the realm of underdeveloped countries, only Nigeria has ever been able to return the favor: it has unleashed such a plague of scams upon the rest of the world, that it even has a particular scam named after it and the penal code that prohibits it: the Nigerian 419 scam*.  

And now, it's getting back at all those missionaries who told Nigeria it was going to hell for scamming everybody: it's exporting another version of evangelical Christianity.

BBC News, London:

At least three people in London with HIV have died after they stopped taking life saving drugs on the advice of their Evangelical Christian pastors.

The women died after attending churches in London where they were encouraged to stop taking the antiretroviral drugs in the belief that God would heal them, their friends and a leading HIV doctor said.

THE WORLD OF PASTOR T.B. JOSHUA

The "churches" were linked to a Nigerian humanitarian/televangelist, Temitope Joshua, who has dubiously claimed to heal people of HIV/AIDS, cancer, paralysis and a myriad of other illnesses (he also treats dwarfs as well, but I haven't been able to find out how). He also listed (by Forbes) as one the five richest pastors in Nigeria.

FORBES:

God is good, especially if you’re a Nigerian pastor with some business savvy. These days, millions of souls, desperate for financial breakthroughs, miracles and healing, all rush to the church for redemption. And while the bible expressly states that salvation is free, at times it comes with a cost: offerings, tithes, gifts to spiritual leaders, and a directive to buy literature and other products created by men of God.

The Pastor of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) - yes, that really is its name - Joshua also owns Emanuel TV, a Christian television network, and is close friends with Ghanaian President Atta Mills. He is also known as a  great humanitarian, establishing schools and rehabilitation programs, but it is no great surprise that his donations (upwards of $20 million) mysteriously outstrip his fortune (estimated at $15 million). He also has a history of giving "scholarships" and cars to winning football players on his team. 

If this sounds like an amalgamated profile based on some of our own "prosperity gospel" leaders, my guess is that Joshua comes close to being the offspring of Pat Robertson and Bishop Eddie Long. With Benny Hinn as the Godfather.

And it gets better: legends have sprung up around him, abetted by SCOAN and its website; probably the best of which is that his mother carried him in her womb for 15 months and that his birth was predicted one hundred years ago. Joshua has no known education in religion or theology, no Masters of Divinity degree. His "calling" is based upon his testimony alone. 

Whatever his fame and prominence in Nigeria, Joshua is now fostering "healing" in Britain, South Africa, Ghana and Greece (which, alas, can no longer afford him), hence, the deaths in the UK. 

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has denounced Pastor T.B. Joshua as an "impostor" and seriously questions his life, calling and ministry, but evidently this denunciation has done nothing to decrease his popularity. It is all the more evident that corruption and con men overflow in Nigeria to such a point that seepage onto the rest of the world was inevitable. 

*I'm ashamed to say that I've almost fallen for one myself, but after the first 50 or so, I don't read past the Line "My name is ______ from the _____(bank/embassy/wealthy family) of Nigeria. (or Lesotho)"