When you act wrongly against the will of a deity or God it becomes a sinful act. What is sinful, depends on the dogmatic principles that one adhere to in his religion. A Christian will count prostitution as a sin, however, the reason the Christian sees prostitution as sin is that the fellow is a Christianand lives by the Christian principles.
What will prostitution be for one who is not guided by any Christian or other religious principles?
The fact that you practice a certain faith does not mean you can judge people according to your faith. You are free to practice your faith and persuade others to believe in your faith in your quest of spreading your faithful practice.
If we all practice the good principles of our faith then there should be no evil among men in our society. However, the opposite is what is seen in our society. Faithful religious men and women have been involved in every crime.
The people you enter the churches with on Sundays or the mosques also occupy our public offices. Yet corruption in Ghana travels with the speed of light.
When men of the faith looted funds for AIDS patients, Pensioners, etc., didn't they knew or served a deity. More recently, the deliberate action of a doctor caused a child to lose his life by removing oxygen support because the mother couldn’t afford the health cost. This means our government can owe us, but we cannot as people owe the government.
What kind of relationship is this, if the child was allowed to owe the state and deferred payment for the oxygen support, he would have been alive by now. Indeed, God alone is a Christian.
Let's not have the thinking that sin and crime are the same. Not all sin is a crime but crime is a crime. Sin according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is an offense against the religious or moral law. If one does not practice a certain faith, what is deemed as sin, will be meaningless to such a person.
As a society, is important to view crime as defined by the constitution under the hierarchy of law under Article 11 of the Constitution, 1992 and not religious believes.
It is stated under article 19(11) that, 'no person shall be convicted of a criminal offense unless the offense is defined and the penalty for it is prescribed in a written law'. A quick check satisfies that the state is not ruled by religious beliefs or religious laws.
Society evolves with time, we have come to accept some changes which have led to the abolishment of some custom practices like Female Genital Mutilation, Trokosi system to mention but a few. Gone were the days when families consult to choose a spouse for the male child.
Now, we are at liberty to choose who we want to marry. Some tribes even cancel some of the items on the tall list given to the will be husband. Our society has grown to realize how personal choice is important in our daily activities. We don't need any imposition.
I must admit that certain issues like homosexuality and the right of LGBTI groups are not pressing issues with our society. Several socio-economic andother pressing issues are leading to the detriment of the people.
However, it also important that certain stereotypical mindsets are dissolved when it comes to the matters of the right of these individuals. I have a problem when people are ready to throw stones at homosexuals. They are humans with rights and they don't deserve mob justice.
You have a right to choose but your choice is guided by your religious principles. Homosexuals like humans have the same choice to make. As to what moral values guide their choice, it is between them and their God or astronomical black hole.
If the choice of LGBTI groups does not favour your religious principles does not mean, you have the right to murder LGBTI group members because of their choice. When you kill someone for sinning against your God, it is MURDER and not the sanctification of death. Let's understand that it is not all instances that make sin a crime.
Ghana's criminal offenses Act of 1960 prescribes punishments for crimes to include the death penalty, imprisonment, or fine. However, in my stay in Ghana, I am yet to see someone be imprisoned, fined, or received the death penalty for fornicating although to fornicate is a sin in Christianity.
In the book of Galatians 5:19-21, a list of the sinful acts which include drunkenness, jealousy, sorcery, hatred, adultery to mention but few are made known. My question is how many have been jailed for involving in such sinful acts. Sin is to religion as crime is to the state. I do not recall that the state is a religious body.
One is recognized to make a rational decision about his own life after his eighteenth birthday. Amazingly, the choice this fellow makes is not binding on others but his own life. In a free world, one is responsible for choices made and the consequences or benefits that come with it. It becomes problematic only when force or fraud is applied. For instance, when one is robbed, the armed robber had a choice to take someone else's property but had to use force to take such a property.
This cannot be described as a free choice, hence making it a crime. When someone chooses to become part of anLGBTI group, it does mean everyone should become part of the group or the choice is compelling everyone to become LGBTI member. Accepting someone's choice doesn't change your personal free choice too.
Be free to do what you want and let your own religious or moral values guide you as far as you do not infringe on the rights of another.
I prefer that suasion is used to inculcating moral values in others rather than forcing others to buy into our religious or moral principles. What is moral varies and very relative from one person to another.
The fact that most Ghanaians are religiously inclined doesn't mean everyone is mandated to conform solely to some form of religious principles.
If there exist, 0.1 percent group of nonereligiously inclined group, the majority should be able to respect their right and the choices they make.
Nathaniel Dwamena
He is a free-market enthusiast the Research & Development Manager at Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation
