Christian Leaders Object to Kenyan Polygamy Bill
- Carrie Dedrick
- Updated Mar 28, 2014
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Kenyan legislators passed a bill last week which would legalize polygamy but Christian leaders in the nation are voicing their opposition. The Christian are appealing to President Uhuru Kenyatta to stop from signing the bill into law.
According to Religion News Service, the piece of legislation caused a heated debate in Parliament; the women left the meeting.
Passage of the law would allow Kenyan men to marry as many women as desired.
Leaders from the National Council of Churches of Kenya, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya are voicing objections to the bill. The groups support biblical marriages between one man and one woman and equality of spouses in marriage.
Rev. Peter Karanja of the National Council of Churches of Kenya said that the bill is demeaning to women. “We urge the president not to sign it until the offensive clauses are removed,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
In addition to going against religious morals, the Evangelical Alliance believes that legalizing polygamy would destroy marriages and spread sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.
Bishop David Oginde, a member of Evangelical Alliance said, “We cannot ensure fidelity with such a law...The Bible is clear that an idea marriage is between one man and one woman.”