“G@ys and Lesb!ans are all children of God, let’s show them love”- Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta
Ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister of the Republic of Ghana, has stated his personal position on the contentious anti-gay bill that has been introduced in parliament.
During an interview with ace journalist Paul Adom on Good Evening, which aired on Metro TV, the minister stated that because God created all humans in his image, it is critical that gays be shown much love in order to reflect God’s goal.
The full text of his statement is provided below.
“It’s a very complex issue, and in a way, it’s quite biblical in a sense, because God created us in His own image – whether it’s man or woman, that’s a different issue.”
As a result, God’s image can be found in everyone. As a result, I can’t even begin to pass judgment on the individual. I may not agree with what I consider to be a sin, but as long as God’s image is in that person – and I know that thief or whoever was forgiven in the last minute on the cross – so, for me, I guess I find it difficult on issues of criminalization when I know we are all born in the image of God.”
“My challenge is to evangelize what I believe is the way God wants you to be, not to criminalize,” he explained.
When someone is going to make a law, we can’t work on assumptions… We’ve all been to secondary schools, boarding schools, and we’ve all seen what happens in marketplaces, so this whole escalation is intriguing to me because it begs the question, “Is this the nature with which Ghanaians deal with problems of this nature?” “I don’t think so,” he said.
I believe there is a way for Ghanaians to deal with these issues, and I pause when I remember that everyone bears God’s image, and it is my challenge to bring them up to the levels that I maintain…
I believe it was Bishop Tutu who said that he’ll fight this whole criminalization of gays with the same energy that he used to fight apartheid because you’re creating a certain sense of a human being that he’s not, who has God’s image in him
I also don’t know what people do in their bedrooms, so to pretend that because I’m holding a man’s hand in the street, I can be imprisoned, and when we go I’m not sure.
“I haven’t even read the bill,” he concluded, “but it just strikes me that the discussions are going in the wrong direction; that’s how I feel deeply about the question of love.”
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