From The Washington Post

A call for greater acceptance of gays and lesbians has put African and Western churches on a collision course, as some African clerics liken mounting criticism from the U.S. and Europe to a new wave of colonization by the West.

Consider some of the statements at a news conference last week led by Bishop Arthur Gitonga of the Redeemed Church in Kenya:

“Homosexuality is equivalent to colonialism and slavery,” said one participant.

“We feel it’s like a weapon of mass destruction,” said another.

“It is not biblical and cannot bring blessing to Christians,” said a third.

Gitonga, a powerful East African Pentecostal church official, is among a group of Kenyan leaders who have launched “Zuia Sodom Kabisa,” Kiswahili for “Stop Sodom Completely.” The campaign seeks 1 million signatures to petition legislation to criminalize homosexual acts in Kenya.

Scholars warn that such radical comparisons blur real issues.

“There is little connection between homosexuality and the historical occurrences: slavery and colonialism,” said George Gona, a historian at the University of Nairobi. The differences are cultural, he added.

Still, the harsh language attests to a sense of betrayal some Africans feel toward the West.

Across Africa, thriving churches are a testament to the work of missionaries from Western nations. Clergy say they are ever grateful to Western churches for sending missionaries to Africa and making converts to Christianity.

Now many clergy feel Western churches are on a reverse trajectory, as they accept homosexuality, which is seen as unscriptural and contrary to African culture.

Support for government legislation criminalizing homosexual acts and levying harsh penalties is widespread among Christians.

Written by Fredrick Nzwili | Read more at The Washington Post