The persecution of homosexuals continues in Nigeria with four young men convicted of homosexual relations and flogged on in open court. The judges and lawyers watched as the men (aged 20 to 22) were laid prostrate on the floor, stripped, and whipped on their buttocks in a demonstration of Sharia justice. The sadomasochistic nature of the punishment appears to have escaped the onlookers. While a crowd outside tried to grab the men to kill them, the court explained that stoning was not needed since the men admitted to homosexual acts previously but said that they were no longer engaging in such relations.
Each was sentenced to 15 strokes and may also face a year’s imprisonment if they cannot pay a fine of $120.
The case was brought under the the new infamous Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act in January that targets homosexuals. The crowd insisted that under Sharia law the men should be stoned to death.
The question that I have is why Americans, particularly gay and lesbian Americans, are expected to give large amounts of aid to a country that would execute or flog many of our citizens if they visited the country. At some point, it would seem reasonable to deny aid to countries who want to kill our own citizens.
Recently, Sweden cut off aid to Ugandan for its anti-homosexual laws. Is it time for the United States to do the same for countries like Nigeria? I would also add other core rights as a threshold test, including the denial of religious freedom and free speech and women’s rights.
What do you think?
Source: Guardian
“U.S. military presence in Africa growing in small ways”
“Small teams are deployed quietly. The limits stem from President Obama’s effort to end a war footing and from African opposition to a U.S. troop presence.”
By David S. Cloud
March 7, 2014, 2:40 p.m
“U.S. military commanders working in Africa thus rely on small teams of special operations troops, U.S.-trained forces from friendly African countries, and European allies, especially France, that have stepped up their own military presence and operations.
In Niger, for example, U.S. and French air forces based at an airport in Niamey, the capital, are flying unarmed Reaper drones to gather intelligence. They conduct aerial surveillance across several Saharan countries where some members of the Tuareg minority group have joined Islamist warlords and farther south in Nigeria, U.S. military officers say.”
http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-usmil-africa-20140308,0,4469091.story#ixzz2vNLs7frm
The judges and lawyers watched as the men (aged 20 to 22) were laid prostrate on the floor, stripped, and whipped on their buttocks in a demonstration of Sharia justice.
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now make everyone there open their robes and see who’s packin wood.
Uh, are we going to stop sending aid to any and all racist, misogynistic, backward, religiously prejudice country we currently send aid to? If we did that we’d stop sending aid all together. Maybe a good idea. (maybe not)
Dredd, I’ve seen Black in concert. He is one of my favorites.
nick spinelli
Have their been Christian beheadings, stoning of women, etc. that I’ve missed? When one fails to acknowledge degrees of craziness and brutality it tells me there is an agenda.
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No, because they misinterpret the Elderest Testament.
So sayeth The Black Evangelical of Jewrulessalem:
Spinelli,
Straight out of the Cato Institute. Do you know how to cite anything you assert? If you are too lazy to read the numerous links I’ve provided then I can’t help you understand the abuse homosexuals are receiving in countries in which Christian fundamentalists meddled in their laws and culture. I haven’t made any claims that Islamic fundamentalism is on par with Christian fundamentalism, that is your big huge STRAW MAN. I did however state that Christian fundamentalism is catching up with Islamic fundamentalism in its desire to control people’s behavior.
Political correctness is an affront to the First Amendment and it must be stopped and never tolerated. “Some” diminishing of the First Amendment is unacceptable!! And I ask again, have Christians been beheading, stoning, cutting off hands, etc. If so, I’ll agree. If not, your agenda is the same intolerance fundamental Christians have toward gays. Those unable to acknowledge or see degrees of behavior are fundamentalist or blind.
Oh, you misspelled “there”. 🙂
There IS an agenda, one in which there is concern for the lives of homosexual people in countries that would beat them, imprison them and put them to death. The agenda aslo concerns itself with fundamentalism and its influence on our society. It’s a noble agenda. Some agendas are good, some political correctness is good, I believe most decent people recognize this.
Have their been Christian beheadings, stoning of women, etc. that I’ve missed? When one fails to acknowledge degrees of craziness and brutality it tells me there is an agenda.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/02/03/the-painful-case-of-pastor-scott-lively-homophobe-to-the-world/
Pastor Scott Lively, it turns out, has not only influenced African nations with his fundamentalist Christian anti gay ideology, but he obviously influenced Putin! Read his 2007 letter to the people and leaders of Russia, in my linked article. It appears he is being sued by a Ugandan group, Sexual Minorities Uganda.
Love between consenting adults is a bit different love between a guy and his pit bull.
Why would anyone ever consider sodomy okay. It’s plaguing our society. It doesn’t mean I hate gays but they’re opening our society to immoral relationships. The number one argument I’ve heard supporting homosexuality is that love is love whether it be heterosexual or homosexual. According to that logic is love still love if it’s beastiology, pedifile, or incest relationships? This is not a rhetorical question and I would love to hear another side of the argument.
“Support by United States rulers is rather in the nature of the support that the rope gives to a hanged man.”
— Nikita Khrushchev
Jeff Sharlet has been writing for years about the lobbying by U.S. evangelicals for the adoption of brutal anti-gay legislation in a number of African countries. Furthermore, the Nigerian law has been supported by Christian groups in that country, including the Catholic archbishop of Abuja and the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church. There is no doubt in my mind that many Christians would support similar laws in this country if they could find legislative sponsors for them.
United States do the same? Not likely…oil. Corporations run the show in this country.
Spinelli, good speller. Not going to mention your agenda against PC.
“Uninquisitive”
Uninquisative keeps getting corrected to uninqusative on my iPad. Strange, maybe it has an agenda.
Again, “agenda” is not a bad word, nor is “politically correct” except to uninqusative people who parrot party lines despite protestations of independent thought.