Sometimes in January of 2014, the Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of the then president Dr Ebele Goodluck Jonathan signed the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013 into law. The president went ahead to give assent to the Act that made that bill into law despite protests from some western powers. For those who may not understand, the signing of that bill into law meant homosexuals in Nigeria will from hence risk a 14-year jail term if they do not retrace their steps and renounce their sexual orientation or if they engage in Same-Sex Marriage or relationships. The bill also prescribed that any person who operates or participates in the activities of any gay club, societies and or organizations whether directly or indirectly will earn for himself or herself a 10-year imprisonment. Those who administer, witness, abet or aid the solemnization of a Same-Sex Marriage are also going to bag a 10-year jail term and so on. Well, this is what I believe in summary, the bill is all about.

A lot of ink has been spilt on paper regarding the question of homosexuality- its definition, why it should be or should not be prohibited, what the Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender (LGBT) community represents, about discrimination against and oppression of those who are homosexually inclined and so on. For this reason, I will not dwell on the subject matter of what homosexuality is in this article. However, I am going to look at this question from an entirely different perspective, which is, what Jesus’ stance on the matter may be! How would Jesus Christ have reacted if he was here today and the subject is broached?

First, as a writer who has written countless articles about the oppressed minorities in so many media, as one who believe the LGBT community is in the minority in this country, I believe it is my right to voice my opinion on this matter just as I believe that everybody has a right to make their opinion on the subject known. I am also certain that, just like me, most of the people who have spoken or written about this topic, whether for or against, are moved by some genuine concern. However, let me make it clear here that homosexuality is just a type of the over 20 sexual orientations that people exhibit around the world today. As a matter of fact, in my own opinion, compared to other types of sexual orientations, homosexuality is even a mild sexual orientation that should not have generated the sort of argument it generated when the issue came up. I recently read somewhere that the former president said the issue should or will be re-visited. How far that is true, I am not sure. What this government intends to do about it, I am not also sure. But what I am sure of is that there was no need for the buzz about the matter to the extent that it warranted the Senate to abandon other pressing matters of national relevance and then begin to spend precious time in passing a bill that even that president needed to assent to. If we are this repulsed by homosexuality, how about pedophilia which is a sexual orientation where an adult engages in sex with a child- and this is still currently going on in some quarters in Nigeria today as we speak- or necrophilia which is sex with the dead? How about fetishism which is sex with non-living object belonging to someone one admires or coprophilia which is a sexual orientation where one engages in sex with the faeces of someone that that person admires yet cannot approach, or Urophilia and Bestiality which is sex with the urine of a person one has a crush for and sex with an animal respectively. Or are we in denial that there are no Nigerians who engages in these sort of sexual activities? If we call for the heads of homosexuals because they engage in consensual sex with each other, what are we going to do to or about those having sex with the dead bodies?

At this point, I think it is best I make some clarifications before I proceeded with my write-up. I am not a homosexual neither did I choose to write this article for anyone or group of people. I decided to write this article because of the clear conviction that I have which is, we do not as a people need such a bill that will prohibit law abiding citizens of this country from loving who they choose to love. That said, the reaction of Nigerians that greeted that president’s assent to the bill mirrors the non-acceptance of homosexuality and the mind-set of majority of Nigerians on this issue, and this to me, is sad. Debates on this subject matter have been on for a while and I believe if a referendum were to be organized in Nigeria today, homosexuals will find as they may already know, that they are in the minority in this country. But this should not be a reason or licence to call for their heads or victimise them. I also read recently that the western world strongly advised African nations to make laws that will protect homosexuals, in as much as I support this advice, I believe the western world should recognize that majority of Nigerians find homosexuality offensive and would rather not talk about it (even though the practice is clearly on the rise here) and therefore should not in the future bully us into a position that may create certain difficulties for us. At least the west of all should know that in a democracy, the minority will have their say while the majority will have their way and as such should not try to force the hand of the Nigerian government on this matter by way of threats. Even though the majority have already had their way on this matter, personally I still hold the view that whatever any two consenting adults do with their genitals behind closed doors and in the privacy of their rooms shouldn’t be anyone’s business let alone that of the government. Therefore, the majority should allow the minority have their own say too. If two adults decides to take their love for each other further by deciding to solemnize it in marriage, I think they should be allowed to so do and I do not see how that will change anything? How does that affect the price of garri in the market especially if these adults discharge their duties to society with utmost responsibility and patriotism? Why should any government imprison anyone because of who he chooses to love or want to spend the rest of his or her life with? Isn’t this tantamount to sending a child to jail because he or she is a Leftist? It is my believe that in this life, just as we have the hunger for food and thirst for water so also we possess the urge for sex. Now, if Mr A decides to satisfy his thirst for water with a soft drink and Mr B decides he will satisfy his with a glass of water, what or who gives Mr B the right to condemn Mr A for his choice of what he chooses to use in the satisfaction of his thirst? The same thing applies to sex in my thinking. I believe no one, not even the State should have the right to dictate which sexual orientation is right or wrong- after all some people are already pushing the argument that even the State has not right to execute anyone even criminals in their advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty. What I think is that the State should make laws that protect citizen who feel repulsed by the act- like making laws that prevents homosexuals from displaying affection in public places. This is my take on the matter. Now let me explain why I hold this view.

In cultures influenced by the Abrahamic religions like our own, the law and religion established homosexuality as a transgression against divine law or a crime against nature. Still, history is full of great men who have influenced civilization from Alexander the Great to Socrates, from Lord Byron to Edward II, Hadrian and so on who have had terms such as homosexual or bisexual applied to them. This looks to me like a classic example of society lying to itself. Some people have even claimed strong evidences exist today to support the fact that homosexual behaviour has its roots in the human genes. Even though that is not the crux of this article, I have some reasons to want to entertain such thinking. If not, why would someone risk everything to be with ‘someone that he or she loves’ if this behaviour is just something learned and can actually be unlearned? And for those who argue that homosexuality is strange to African culture, there are reasons to believe that, the first record of a possible homosexual couple in history occurred in Africa. In a phenomenon commonly regarded as Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, it was discovered that an ancient Egyptian male couple who lived around 2400 BCE, clearly displayed homosexual behaviour. The pair was portrayed in a nose-kissing position, the most intimate pose in Egyptian art, surrounded by what appeared to be their heirs. Anthropologists Stephen Murray and Will Roscoe reported that women in Lesotho engaged in socially sanctioned "long term, erotic relationships" called motsoalle. E. E Evans-Pritchard also recorded that male Azande Warriors in the northern Congo routinely took on young male lovers between the ages of twelve and twenty, who helped with household tasks and participated in intercrural sex with their older husbands. All over Africa, there are countless homosexual sex rituals and so on. The list is inexhaustible and as such I will not dwell on all that. My focus in this article is religion! Christianity! The Holy Bible! Although mainstream religion and religious men tends to hold a negative view of homosexuality, which is expected by the way, my focus in this article will be, what was Jesus’ view on the subject matter while he was on earth and what would have been his view on the matter today? This is because majority of Nigerians believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ. And I am sure only a few people know that the gospels actually portray Jesus as an eccentric. He didn’t turn prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, men and women that were considered dredge of society away nor did he condemn them. As a matter of fact, he even dined with them. So, did he condemn homosexuals? Now, let me try to gauge Jesus’s viewpoint on the matter with a few passages of the Bible.

From our days in Sunday school, many of us are familiar with the Gospel story where Jesus healed the servant of a Roman centurion. This story is recorded in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10. In Matthew, we are told that the centurion came to Jesus to plead for the healing of his servant. Jesus said he was willing to come to the centurion’s house, but the centurion said there was no need for Jesus to do so. He believed that if Jesus simply spoke the word, his servant would be remotely healed back in the house. Marvelling at the man’s faith, Jesus pronounced the servant healed. Now, like most stories in the gospels, this is not just another miracle story. This is a unique story that deserves careful examination for a good number of reasons. In the original language, the Greek word used in Matthew’s account to refer to the servant of the centurion is ‘pais’. In the language of the time, pais had three possible meanings depending upon the context in which it was used. It could mean “son or boy;” it could mean “servant,” or it could also mean a particular type of servant for example one who was “his master’s male lover.” Often these lovers were younger than their masters, even teenagers. To our modern minds, the idea of buying a teen lover may seem repugnant. But we have to place this in the context of ancient cultural norms. In ancient times, commercial transactions were the predominant means of forming relationships. We can still witness such practice in some nations and even in northern Nigeria today. Under the law then, the wife was viewed as the property of the husband, with a status just a little above that of slave. In fact, in Jesus’ day, a boy or girl was considered of marriageable age upon reaching his or her early teens. It was not uncommon for boys and girls to marry at age 14 or 15. Nor was it uncommon for an older man to marry a young girl. Fortunately civilization has advanced, but these were the norms in the culture of Jesus’ day. In that culture, if you were a homosexual man who wanted a male “spouse,” you can simply achieve this, like your heterosexual counterparts, through a commercial transaction which is to purchase someone to serve that purpose. A servant purchased to serve this purpose was often called a pais or a ‘body slave’, the word ‘boy’ in English offers a rough comparison. Like pais, the word boy can be used to refer to a male child. But in the slave south in the nineteenth century in the United States of America, boy was also often used to refer to male slaves. The term boy –as may also apply to the word girl- can also be used as a term of endearment. For example, Kolajo’s father often refers to his mother as “his girl.” He doesn’t mean that she is a child, but rather that she is his “special one.” The term boy can be used in the same way, as in “my boy” or “my beau.” In ancient Greek, pais had a similar range of meanings. Thus, when this term was used, the listener had to consider the context of the statement to determine which meaning was intended. Some modern Christians may be tempted to simply declare by fiat that the Gospels could not possibly have used the term pais in the sense of male lover, end of discussion. But that would be yielding to prejudice. We must let the Holy Bible the word of God speak for itself, even if it leads us to an uncomfortable destination or conclusion. Is it possible the pais referred to in Matthew 8 and Luke 7 was the Roman centurion’s male lover? Let’s look at the biblical evidence.

The Bible provides three key pieces of textual and circumstantial evidence. First, in the Luke passage, several additional Greek words are used to describe the one who is sick. Luke says this pais was the centurion’s ‘entimos doulos’. The word doulos is a generic term for slave, and was never used in ancient Greek to describe a son or boy. Thus, Luke’s account rule out the possibility the sick person was the centurion’s son; his use of doulos makes clear this was a slave. However, Luke also takes care to indicate this was no ordinary slave. The word entimos means “honoured.” This was an “honoured slave” (entimos doulos) who was his master’s pais. Taken together, the three Greek words preclude the possibility the sick person was either the centurion’s son or an ordinary slave, leaving only one viable option — he was his master’s male lover.
A second piece of evidence is found in verse 9 of Matthew’s account. In the course of expressing his faith in Jesus’ power to heal by simply speaking, the centurion says, “When I tell my slave to do something, he does it.” By extension, the centurion concludes that Jesus is also able to issue a remote verbal command that must be carried out. When speaking here of his slaves, the centurion uses the word doulos. But when speaking of the one he is asking Jesus to heal, he uses only pais. In other words, when he is quoted in Matthew, the centurion uses pais only when referring to the sick person. He uses a different word, doulos, when speaking of his other slaves, as if to draw a distinction. (In Luke, it is others, not the centurion, who call the sick one an entimos doulos.) Again, the clear implication is that the sick man was no ordinary slave. And when pais was used to describe a servant who was not an ordinary slave, it meant only one thing — a slave who was the master’s male lover.

The third piece of evidence is circumstantial. In the Gospels, we have many examples of people seeking healing for themselves or for family members. But this story is the only example of someone seeking healing for a slave. The actions described are made even more remarkable by the fact that this was a proud Roman centurion (the conqueror/oppressor) who was humbling himself and pleading with a Jewish rabbi (the conquered/oppressed) to heal his slave. The extraordinary lengths to which this man went to seek healing for his slave is much more understandable, from a psychological perspective, if the slave was his beloved companion. Thus, all the textual and circumstantial evidence in the Gospels points in one direction. For objective observers, the conclusion is inescapable: In this story Jesus healed a man’s male lover. When understood this way, the story takes on a whole new dimension.

To be continued.....