Yes, Homosexuality is a Sin but thats not the Point By Murendehle Mulheva Juwayeyi, Ph.D.

. The issue of homosexuality refuses to go away. Parliament is currently discussing, among other things, repealing the section in our penal code that makes homosexuality a crime, one punishable by up to 14 years in jail. Not surprisingly, a chorus of righteous indignation has erupted from various sectors in society. I think it is fair to say most Malawians are opposed to the practice of homosexuality, and a majority of those opposed would like to maintain the law that punishes the practice. Various reasons have been given for why homosexuality is bad and ought to be opposed, indeed even criminalized. One reason is that homosexuality is unnatural. This is just another way of saying that those of us who are heterosexual find it incomprehensible that a man would want to be sexually involved with another man, or a woman with another woman. Fair point! Another argument is that homosexuality is unMalawian. This argument is laughable. Homosexuality has been around at least, if you believe the Bible, as early as the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Greeks and Romans were unabashedly homosexual in some of their relationships. To say homosexuality is unMalawian is to say Malawians are not humans. As long as you have a population of humans living in a community like Malawi, some among such a population are bound to be partial to same-sex relationships. The third and final argument, which, for me, has been the impetus for writing this article, is that homosexuality is a sin according to the Bible. As a Christian country, Malawi cannot allow homosexuality within its borders so goes this argument. (For the record, Malawi is not a Christian country; it is a secular country with Christians in it.) I have much to say about this last argument against homosexuality, but I must start by pointing out that I am a Christian in the evangelical tradition. Like many of my brethren, I believe the Bible when it says that homosexuality is a sin. I believe it wholeheartedly. However, I also recognize that saying homosexuality is a sin and should therefore be criminalized is like saying adultery and fornication are sins and we should therefore criminalize the sale of condoms. Does anyone really believe that people would stop sleeping around if the sale of condoms became illegal? Lawmakers and policymakers in government including, I have no doubt, some very good Christians have made the decision that it is in the long-term interest of the citizens of Malawi to sell them condoms so that they can protect themselves when they engage in adultery and fornication sinful, though, these practices may be. Such is the role that government should play in society. Every government must provide for and protect all its citizens, protect them even in spite of themselves and their tendencies to self-destruct by engaging in risky behaviours. As much as the government of Malawi continues to protect 1

Malawian citizens who are fornicators and adulterers by ensuring that they have access to condoms, so too it must at least ensure that homosexuals are not persecuted or prosecuted, even though a majority of Malawians finds homosexuality sinful. Are all sins not equal? Criminalizing the sale of condoms would not stop fornication and adultery, and the continued criminalization of homosexuality will not make homosexuality go away. Similarly, pontificating about the sinfulness of homosexuality will not make it go away, nor will it make Malawi a more Christian country. It is very easy, and somewhat convenient, for those of us who are Christians to use the issue of homosexuality as an opportunity to express and channel our religious fervor. We evangelicals are particularly adept at pointing out sin, and the issue of homosexuality has aroused the zeal of many religious leaders. Just the other day, I read a particularly lucid pastoral declaration in The Nation, courtesy of the CCAPs Nkhoma Synod. Such pronouncements though well intended and much appreciated by believers should never be the guiding principles for enacting laws and policies. Government should enact policies based on whats good for all its citizens even its fornicating, adulterous, and, yes, homosexual citizens.