A Case of Selective Discrimination

Not to bring the skeletons out of the closet, but I have a point.

A couple of decades ago the world experienced apartheid.

It lasted in South Africa from up to 1994.

Through this policy, white South Africans dictated how and where non-white South Africans should live.
Namibia was directly affected by apartheid.

As in South Africa, black Namibians were restricted from having any political, social and economic freedoms.

Irrational racial fears and attitudes led to laws designed to do one thing: to keep the black people in their own designated spaces, and to be separate from a group which had decided they are superior.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa after 27 years in prison, and put an end to apartheid in 1997.
How quickly have we forgotten this!

That we, as a human race and as individuals, were at the receiving end of gross human rights violations.

Let’s recap what discrimination means. According to the Oxford Dictionary, discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.

Much like the kind that has led some activists and churches to protest the recent Supreme Court ruling recognising same-sex marriages concluded outside of Namibia.

This decision makes Namibia only the second nation on the continent to do so after South Africa.

South Africa – the country which endured years and years of apartheid, is one of the countries where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) people enjoy the same legal rights as everyone else.

Probably exactly because they understand the notion and idea of discrimination and suppression, and so should we!

Imagine someone had an issue with you based on the colour of your skin! Imagine someone had a problem with you because of who you decide to have sex with!

I don’t know whether churches really know why they have a problem with the LGBTQI+ community in Namibia.

What exactly is the issue?

The answer is there is no issue. Who does not have a family member, friend, co-worker or acquaintance who is gay?

Do they then ‘hate’ them as individuals, or does it only count when it is the collective?

I think the church is having this strong negative reaction because it thinks this is what the nation expects.

It is about showing face and maintaining the false perception of moral superiority and righteousness.

Eckhart Tolle in his book ‘A New Earth’ writes: “The history of Christianity is a prime example of how the belief that you are in sole possession of the truth, that is to say, right, can corrupt your actions and behaviour to the point of insanity.”

This kind of thinking is quite the opposite of what the church should stand for.

It is apartheid all over again!

Churches should have the responsibility to implement social change – not to cause further division.

Live and let live, and let that living be in love.

Marbeline Goagoses