Quote of the Week - Cardinal John Njue

In response to President Obama's June 2013 tour of three African nations, the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Kenya, John Njue, said, “Those people who have already ruined their society…let them not become our teachers to tell us where to go.” 

To Obama’s promotion of same-sex relations, Cardinal Njue said, "I think we need to act according to our own traditions and our faiths.”

Let's hope American imperialism does not manage to destroy this "diversity" of opinion and tradition.

Africans not buying what Obama is peddling

Eugene Ohu

Until all African countries planning to sign laws against homosexual unions enact the laws and put paid to speculations, we should not stop writing about it. Even if I wanted to ignore what is becoming a tiring topic, Obama will not let me, as he decided to make it a major thrust of his African visit. In choosing the African countries to visit, he may have opted for the less “controversial” ones, perceived to be more amenable to “reason” (or bully, if you like) and those who may value America’s aids to the point of being cowed to submit. Perhaps he avoided the likes of Nigeria and Kenya for that reason, where he has been told in no clear terms that the matter was not debatable. In Obama’s native Kenya deputy president William Ruto said the country would not lose sleep after the American president’s apparent snub of their country, and referring to Obama’s call for the respect of gay “rights”, Ruto reminded him that Kenya was a God-fearing nation that would not accept “alien mannerisms” in conflict with both Christianity and African traditions. And if Obama then decides to “punish” Kenya by refusing bilateral cooperation, Ruto told him there were other countries willing and ready to partner with them.

The president of Senegal, smaller man that he is compared to Obama, in physical stature and political eminence proved he was a better man of principles. Looking him literally in the eye he told Obama that no sir, you can’t touch this one. “We are not ready to decriminalize homosexuality,” denying that Senegal was “homophobic”. And as if to make it clear that respect for “human rights” was not selective, he reminded Obama about America’s continuous application of the death penalty. All over Senegal, people were full of pride and joy that “David” stood up to “Goliath” and did not flinch doing so. Both in the newspapers and on the streets, Senegalese rallied behind their president who on their behalf seems to have closed the debate on legalizing homosexuality under any guise.

To be fair, it is not as if Obama has come to Africa solely as a champion of gays and lesbians. American people, as liberal as they may consider themselves, would not be paying tax for their president to travel thousands of kilometers on a homosexual campaign. Blame the press too for searching out and finding controversy. They expected a clash and they found it.

It is surprising how Obama has turned out this way: all for love of the White House. I am sadly reminded of Thomas Moore’s question to Richard Rich about the price for which he sold his soul and conscience: “For Wales?” Is this how Obama wants history to remember him, like an Elvis Presley that is an icon mostly for those who lived in the 60s, looking with nostalgia at what was “their time”, but meaning little for those who are living in today's world? Is this how desperate he is to be liked and ensure a continuously high rating by all? Try as I might, I find in him very little in imitable principles– little I can encourage my son to emulate.

Source: Harambee

Related reading: Ancient Moral Codes; Understanding Binary Distinctions; Ethics and Religious Practices of the Afro-Asiatics; Ethics and Archaic Communities

What does US accomplish by Guantanamo force feeding?

Of the 166 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, about 100 are on a hunger strike. About 20 are being force-fed, according to the New York Times. About 40 medical staff have arrived to ensure that the detainees are fed.

The men want their cases heard before a court. Many of them have been at Guantanamo for 12 years without being charged.

What are the medical ethics of force-feeding? It seems to violate the norms of informed consent and refusing burdensome treatment. The American Medical Association sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on April 25. It quoted the 1975 Tokyo Declaration of the World Medical Association which takes an umambiguous stand on the issue: "Where a prisoner refuses nourishment and is considered by the physician as capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgment concerning the consequences of such a voluntary refusal of nourishment, he or she shall not be fed artificially".

It is not clear how many doctors, if any, are involved in the force-feeding.

However, President Obama has ignored the niceties of medical ethics for the hunger strikers. He simply told the media, "I don't want these individuals to die." Politically it is impossible to release the detainees; legally it is hard to try them. So they remain in limbo, frustrated and angry.

The military has not released much information about the force-feeding regimen. But in The Daily Beast, infectious diseases expert Kent Sepkowitz, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, makes it sound excruciating:

"Without question, it is the most painful procedure doctors routinely inflict on conscious patients. The nose--as anyone knows who ever has received a stinger from an errant baseball--has countless pain fibers. Some patients may scream and gasp as the tube is introduced; the tear ducts well up and overflow; the urge to sneeze or cough or vomit is often uncontrollable... The procedure is, in a word, barbaric. And that's when we are trying to be nice."

However, he also is unsure what is to be done.

"In this debate individual doctors are stuck at a crossroads of unusual complexity. Sworn to alleviate pain and prevent death where possible, we also are sworn to respect the wishes of the individual. For us, there is no simple way out. Though sharing some similarities, the situation is distinct from respecting the wishes of a patient dying from an untreatable illness--starvation has a remedy."

From here.

Related reading:  Yemen detainee dead at Guantanamo; Obama signs order to close Guantanamo (What happened with that?); Amid hunger strikes Obama renews effort to close Cuba prison