Dear Editor,

The Ugandan church that was once filled with widows and orphans under the brutal mercurial Muslim president of the country Idi Amin now joins in oppressing other minorities, especially the LGBTQ people.

The claim that “the African way” is a “lifelong, heterosexual, monogamous marriage” by Archbishop Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu of Ugandan distorts the truth that in almost all African societies polygamy is an acceptable and valid form of marriage. In fact, monogamy has been associated with people of lower social status.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby reminded Archbishop Kaziimba that “Anglicans around the world have long been united in our opposition to the criminalisation of homosexuality and LGBTQ people”, and most importantly, “supporting such legislation is a fundamental departure from our commitment to uphold the freedom and dignity of all people”. (Jamaica Observer, June 9, 2023)

It is an undeniable truth that the oppressed often become oppressors when given power. It was philosopher Paulo Freire who said, “The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend, themselves, to become oppressors.” Therefore, “Liberation is thus a childbirth, and a painful one.” For this reason, we in Jamaica ought to oppose those who want to tamper with the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in our constitution. As a young nation, upholding freedom and dignity is like painful childbirth, especially among an oppressed people.

For the Anglican Church of Uganda to join forces with an oppressive political administration reveals an unloving community devoid of the liberating grace of God in the risen Christ.

The cultivating of the mind of Christ begins with the capacity to love (agape). This love is a gift of the Holy Spirit given to those who respond to Jesus’s imperative: “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.” (John 13:34) Here, “love”, surprisingly, is from the Greek. The word agape is used to connote any kind of selfless love, whether between human beings or between humans and God.

Freire claims that it is only the oppressed who will be able to liberate both themselves and their oppressors by restoring the humanity of both groups. This is why the Church upholds the doctrine of the incarnation, it offers humanity “union with the eternal”. In this union, when Christ reigns in a person’s life, it is achieved without the individual losing her/his identity.

Let us strive to safeguard the freedom and dignity of all people.

Dudley McLean II

dm15094@gmail.com