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Nigeria: Warning for Christian Polygamists
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Religion; Posted on: 2008-05-15 11:46:55 [ Printer friendly / Instant flyer ]
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Archbishop Akinola has led opposition to the ordination of gay priests
Nigeria's Anglican leader has told the country's many Christian polygamists to give up their extra wives.
In a letter to the faithful, Archbishop Peter Akinola warned the issue could "make a mockery" of the church.
Until now, converts to Christianity have been allowed to keep their polygamous relationships.
Bishop Ali Buba Lamido told the BBC that it was difficult to convert polygamous Muslims to Christianity unless they could keep their wives.
Bishop Ali Buba of the Wusasa diocese in northern Kaduna State, said that as much as 10% of some congregations in the north can be in polygamous marriages.
Nigeria is deeply divided between the mostly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian and animist south.
The archbishop's letter comes ahead of the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops in July.
With 17.5 million members, the Nigerian Anglican Church is the second largest in the communion.
"Those of us who are in the forefront of the prophetic call for a return to Biblical truth, cannot close our eyes to the increasingly blatant disregard for the teaching of the Bible on family life," wrote the archbishop.
"The observation will destroy our witness if not firmly addressed. We cannot claim to be a Bible-believing church and yet be selective in our obedience."
Bishop Lamido told the BBC News website that polygamous converts are prevented from taking leadership positions in the church until they accept monogamy.
Continue...
From a reader: While Akinola's heart is in the right place, his attempt to impose white values on blacks will prove unsuccessful. Polygamy is so deeply ingrained as a black cultural practice and survival strategy that it prevails informally even in the black diaspora, although without the social controls and protections afforded by recognized polygamy in Africa. As a result, nearly three quarters of black children are born out of wedlock in the United States.
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News Source: bbc
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