Features
Of sexuality, same sex couples – a student’s perspective
The argument on the LGBTQI rights has witnessed two opposing sides: those in favour and those against its endorsement. What informs each argument?
Unlike the Western world, whose stand on gay rights is informed directly by their values — a mostly atheistic society that believes there is no God, and, therefore, humans, being masters of themselves, must be allowed to live, act and do things as they feel – the Ghanaian community, on the other hand, is mostly theistic society. Our society has a culture that’s largely informed by its belief in the existence of God. However, there is a minority in the Ghanaian society that has registered their support for gay rights. What informs their support for gay rights? With the exception of those who argue from a legal perspective, it has been a matter of logic and empathy! I have followed the arguments closely and one line of argument is common with supporters of gay rights: the idea that gay people are humans and must be allowed to exercise their sexual preference.
There are those who also do not see the differences in what gay people are seeking to do and what their critics are already doing. For example, how is it that people who are living in sexual sin – fornication and adultery have openly castigated homosexuals for their sexual preferences? It may interest you to know that supporters of gay rights have interpreted this as hypocritical – that this group of people also lives in sin yet they point fingers at them. But the truth is that what they are seeking to pursue is not only sinful, but defies our very identity as image-bearers of God, so that a person who did not create himself believes he has the right to assume an identity that he desires.
Having said that, homosexuals lament the fact that they were born with such feelings and since they did not decide to feel the way they do, why then can they not be allowed to indulge their feelings. This is perhaps the part that gets many to empathise with them.
This brings me to a more crucial concern: If at all we have taken time to listen to homosexuals, how have we responded? For a person who believes he was created in a certain way and with certain feelings he did not particularly choose, is it enough to tell him it is not right to express his feelings? Maybe Perhaps, the manner in which the anti-gay community has registered their stand against the movement is what makes it look more like an act of hate rather than a condemnation. I wish to share two practical events I witnessed a couple of weeks ago: I listened to a religious leader on television who was asked to share his opinion on the subject of LGBTQI rights in Ghana.
Clearly, given his religious values it was not surprising that he took a stand against it. But I was surprised and disappointed at the tone with which he registered his displeasure. While he quoted some good texts that obviously vilified the act, his tone and choice of words were rather not “scriptural”. I believe that the way in which a message is delivered is as important as the message itself.
When Christ talked about rebuking a brother when he was wrong, He stated that we should do that in love because He knows admonishing the person is not the goal. The goal is to cause a change or redirect the person’s path and it is only love that has the power to do that. This is precisely my perspective: I believe we need to rethink the manner and tone with which we address this issue. If we are against it because God is, then we must do it God’s way. The way to
change a person’s heart has always been through love and that is God’s way. Finding God does not mean the feelings towards same-sex or any type of sin would not haunt you. It definitely will. But what becomes different is that this time, you recognise that God is greater than your feelings and you trust Him to help you overcome sin.
Indeed, we are in an era where the world believes everything can be redefined; A world that believes there are no “absolutes”; A world that has learned to justify everything; a world that believes there is no such thing as “evil”. This, however, is not the case. Ghana is a secular country made up of Christians, Muslims and traditional believers.
None of these sects accept lesbianism and gayism. And as a President once the people you rule abhor these things, equally you cannot accept these cultures on the grounds of human rights. I think that the President should be a strong leader with character and readiness to protect and defend the sanctity of his country.
Irrespective of our challenges, our nation remains paramount against any other foreign aim. Ghanaians must rise up to resist this with all our might. It is time yet again, to see our Civil Society groups, Pastors, Imams, etc to take their microphones to speak against this naturally and logically wicked agenda. Even in the animal kingdom opposite sex feeling is what is embraced.
The author, is a student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism Writer’s email: hakimrichard56 @gmail.com
This week I have a very strong desire to put on my Apostolic Cap and talk about the power available to children of God which we can utilise to generate positive outcomes, in our lives.
There is a phrase in the Bible that if Christians meditate on, can immensely transform their lives. In Matthew 28:6 there is a phrase “… as he said…” according to the King James Version.
Thus phrase forms part of a statement declared by an angel of God to two women who were disciples of Jesus who had gone to his tomb early in the morning on the third day after his death.
According to the Biblical account, the stone covering the entrance of the tomb had been rolled away and an Angel was sitting on it and he made the statement to the effect that the Jesus they are seeking is not there and that he had risen, as he said before his death.
His resurrection affirmed the authenticity and dependability of the word of Jesus and therefore the word of God.
Christianity has to do with faith in the word of God. Pastor Mensa Otabil said if we view Christianity as an inside out view, you would go inside to operate the power that is in you.
As a Christian, the spirit of God and therefore the power of God, dwells in you. Anyone who is aware of this truth, does not go around seeking to have a so called powerful person resolve his or her spiritual issues.
Most Christians who move from prophet to prophet, do not believe that the spirit of God which operates in a Pastor or Prophet, is the same spirit that dwells in him or her.
In fact , that Christian may be more ‘powerful’ than the Prophet or Pastor he is going to for prayers because he is living a holy life, which is pleasing to God, for God is no respecter of persons according to Acts 10:34-35.
God does not give out his spirit in different measures to indwell believers. The spirit of God that dwells in a new convert, is the same spirit that dwells in a Bishop or a Prophet or an Evangelist or an Elder or a Deacon.
All you need to do as a child of God is to believe in the word of God and know that it works and that according to 1 John 4:4 we, Christians, that the Spirit of God dwells in us have overcome the world and Jesus in us, is greater than the Devil who is out in the world, wrecking havoc all around.
If we realise that we have overcome the Devil and everything he controls, then we can believe and act in faith and make declarations and just as Christ declared that he will die and on the third day, he will rise from the dead and it manifested as he said, there shall be a manifestation of our declarations also.
The problem of modern day Christians is that, a lot of them, do not study and meditate on the word of God, so they do not witness the manifestation of the power of God, in their lives.
Such an experience over time, give them the impression that the spirit of God dwells in different dimensions in believers. This then leads them to seek solutions to their challenges from so called powerful men of God.
Some Pastors also fall into this misconception of the measure of the spirit of God in believers. When the size of a Pastor’s church for instance, is not increasing the way he had been praying for self-doubt sometimes begin to set in.
Especially, if he begins to compare his church with that of say a colleague from the same Bible School, then he begins to wonder if there is not a spiritual secret he is not aware of.
This is when, if care is not taken, fellow Pastors who appears to be very successful in the ministry but are using occultic powers, could sway them from the narrow path and get them trapped in the Devil’s clutches and eventually and inevitably, destroy their lives. God bless.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
Introduction
You have been there. Twenty tabs open comparing laptops. A blank page for an email you’ve been “thinking about” for three days. A menu with 30 options and you leave hungry.
This is decision paralysis: the state where the volume of information, options, or perceived stakes prevents you from making a decision at all. It’s not laziness. It’s a cognitive overload response.
In a data-rich environment, it’s becoming the default mode for both individuals and organisations.
This article breaks down why it happens, how it shows up, what it costs, and how to break it.
1. What decision paralysis actually is?
Decision paralysis is a failure of the decision-making system to convert information into action. Psychologists call it ‘analysis paralysis’ or ‘choice overload.’
It has three components:
1. Cognitive overload: Working memory can hold between four to seven chunks of information at once. When you try to track 20 variables, the system freezes.
2. Anticipatory regret: You overestimate the pain of making the wrong choice. The brain avoids the emotional cost by avoiding the choice.
3. Ambiguity aversion: Humans prefer known risks over unknown ones. When outcomes are uncertain, we stall.
The result is not neutral. Not deciding is a decision. It costs time, momentum, and opportunity
2. Why it’s getting worse now
2.1 Infinite options
Amazon has 350 million products. Netflix has 6000+ titles. Dating apps have unlimited profiles. The paradox of choice: more options increase initial satisfaction but decrease final satisfaction and increase regret.
2.2 Information abundance without synthesis
You can find 50 studies on sleep. Each one has caveats, conflicting results, and different methodologies. Without a framework to integrate them, more data creates more confusion, not clarity. This connects directly to the “data-rich, wisdom-poor” problem.
2.3 Reversibility anxiety
In the digital age, most decisions feel permanent. A bad post goes viral. A bad hire is public on LinkedIn. A bad career move is visible. The fear of irreversible error makes people delay.
2.4 Algorithmic mirroring
Platforms show you what you already engage with. This creates an illusion that there’s one ‘best’ option you are missing. You keep searching, convinced the optimal choice is one more scroll away.
3. How it shows up
Personal Level
Cannot pick a career path after six months of ‘research’
Spend two hours choosing a movie and watch nothing
Delay sending an email because it ‘isn’t perfect’
3.1 Organisational level
Teams spend 80 per cent of time in meetings gathering data, 20 per cent deciding
Product teams delay launch waiting for “one more data point”
KPIs multiply but no strategic choice is made
3.2 Common cognitive tells:
Endless comparison tables
Asking for one more opinion
Reframing the problem instead of solving it
Feeling drained after thinking but not acting
By Robert Ekow Grimmond-Thompson
