Nigerian Archbishop – Interview re ‘Homosexualism’

Nigeria’s Archbishop interviewed about “homosexualism”

HIS GRACE THE PRIMATE OF ALL NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION) THE MOST REV NICHOLAS OKOH

An interview with His Grace The Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion) The Most Rev Nicholas Okoh has appeared on the CoN website. Indications are that the interview was conducted by someone associated with CoN, but that is not made clear. Among urgent topics like corruption in Nigeria, Okoh is asked about homosexuality and the end of the world.  (Episcopal Church News)

QUESTION: HOMOSEXUALISMWHAT IS YOUR NEW (sic)? RESPONSE: The fight against homosexual had been on for quite some time and the Anglican church in Nigeria and I must say not only in Nigeria in other places of the world have said no to the homosexual lifestyle, that that type of sexual orientation is unbiblical, ungodly, unnatural, unacceptable.

We have said that over and over again, we discover that those who are set on it think we are ignorant, they think we are living the old past time- ancient days but that this is a post modern day and that they can rewrite the bible to suit their culture the way they want it.

But what we have continued to say is that that sexual relationship is against the society because the society rules through procreation and when we allow a sizeable member of the society to be homosexuals or Lesbians we cannot expect procreation to take place so naturally it is against nature.

It is unfortunate and right now, the other time I visited United Kingdom they were saying that people are free to come to the places where they worship to come and solemnize their homosexual relationship or lesbian relationship in their places of worship.

I am aware that the Church of England says no and so also the Roman Catholic Church.

There are quite a number that says they don’t mind and that the basic thing is that two people love themselves which is a very selfish perspective.

The issue at stake is not just a case of if it will make two people happy if they love themselves. I think that the rejection of absolute truth, absolute right and wrong had turned everything to the doctrine of relativism.

We are in a kind of free moral fall and we do not know when it is going to stop. Let me say this is not an Anglican form, it cuts across denominations. Some have decided to keep quiet because it is very embarrassing they decided to hide it.

The Anglican Church has been quite vocal about it discussing it openly. Those of us in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and some other parts of the world, some parts of Australia, some part of America, some parts of United Kingdom.

You don’t have a particular place where you will say the whole of this people are homosexuals we just have pockets, in fact this is a kind of focal minority who are trying to turn the table against the majority and right now as I talk to you, the journalists, the lawmakers, in the UK, the politicians, the school authorities, the government, they are all in support. In America, we now have two bishops who are homosexuals and of course Canada supported it.

I can say that this vocal minority has redefined the family in a very radical way. What we used to know is a family made up of a man a woman and Godly raised children. We are now being told that a man and a man can form a family and then they can get a child.

There was even a very amusing one claiming to be a mother and presenting another man who is the husband and they adopted a child from a surrogate mother. All these are happening in our time, and when you dare raise objection they say you are not sufficiently educated, they say you are living in the pre-medieval age, they say you need to be exposed.

But the question we continue to ask is that the gospel came to us and identified areas where we were not living well and the gospel corrected us, the gospel transformed our lives, for instance we were killing twins here and when it was exposed to us that we were wrong, we dropped it.

The irony of the situation now is that the people who brought this are now telling us that such things are right but thank God we are not very confused we are not confused at all.

The scripture has been given to us we will not return it to anybody, we have accepted it and we are implementing it because we have a heavenly agenda.

QUESTION; – WHAT DOES THIS PORTEND? DOES IT MEAN THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEAR?

RESPONSE: – Well certainly we are getting deeper and deeper into the age that was spoken of by Timothy when people will love themselves more than God, when the pleasure and comfort will determine many things and so we are in the end time and in this end time there are boundless opportunities of evil, but the joy of it all is that evil will not win in the end.

This is God’s own world and according to Daniel 4;17, the Lord rules the affairs of men and the whole book of Revealation is telling us that no matter the strength of evil God has the victory at last.

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“when we allow a sizeable member of the society to be homosexuals or Lesbians we cannot expect procreation to take place so naturally it is against nature.” –  Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh –

This is only part of Archbishop Okoh’s statement about what he sees as the problems of homosexuality in the Church. Obviously he has not been kept up to date with modern scientific research and social observation regarding the ‘natural’ occurrence of homosexuality within the compass of varied responses to gender and sexual identity.  Also, To couple the incidence of homosexuality with surrogate parenthood as twin ‘evils’ against which the Christian Church must take up arms seems, in today’s world, a parody of what the Kingdom of God is about.

What Archbishop Okoh is doing in this inteview is displaying an ignorance about human biological fact, that is only exceeded by his misunderstandoing of the basic Christian principle of ‘loving one’s neighbour’ – to the extent that judgement belongs to God, and not to the Church.

Until the Churches in Africa are willing to dialogue with those Provinces of the Church that accept the value of LGBT people as co-heirs of the Kingdom of God, there can be no commonality of understanding of the complexity of gender and sexuality that will fit in with the demands of the Gospel outreach to ALL people – regardless of class, creed, colour, social standing, gender or sexual orientation. ALL are made in the image and likeness of God  – worthy of redemption.  

Father Ron Smith, Christchurch