by Amogelang Senokwane

Growing up, we were always told that charity begins at home.  What you were taught at home is what we exhibit to the outside world.  The church is of God and it is supposed to teach the highest tenet which is love.
The church is our family just like our blood family and we learn how to live through it.
How then is it that the church is preaching a message of fear?

Pastors and fellow Christians are supposed to epitomize love by living and preaching love, but what comes out of some of their mouths looks and sounds like hate and condemnation.
It makes one resent the church and end up fearful of God.  Grim language that tells us we will burn in hell for being homosexuals has created this image of God being a monster.
Instead of us embracing the Word and moving towards God’s counsel, we are terrified and running away.

In Uganda, Nigeria and other African countries and beyond that have deemed homosexuality to be unnatural and thus illegal, our brothers and sisters are being persecuted; jailed, stoned, burned and even put to death.  Systemic laws have been put in place for these government mandated murders to happen because ‘it is the law’.

As if that was not enough, some families rejoice in these outcomes.
It behooves one to think that a mother, father, sister, brother or friend can watch their loved one go through an unthinkable and painful process just for being themselves?
How do they sleep at night when they speak with forked tongues?

We are taught that God is love and that we should all aim to be that kind of love.  We however experience so much hate.
The late President Nelson Mandela so eloquently stated “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, then they can be taught to love, for love comes naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

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