Catholic Archbishop of Johannesburg, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, organises gay pride march?

The poster was mostly red. It spoke of a national men's rally, but it seemed a rally which was not designed by a man. Almost a sort of rally which treats rape, spreading HIV and 'homophobia' as the natural state of men. Perhaps this is why the Catholic Church so easily chases away its male believers? It certainly was not a flattering poster.

'No homophobia in my name' , 'No woman infected', 'No woman raped', 'No Woman killed'?

Odd poster signs for a national men's rally?

If I were to hold a men's rally I am not saying the posters would have Castle and James Bond on them, but they certainly would focus on issues which men aspire to. In fact, the poster is defamatory of men. It says these acts are committed so often by men as to attach to the name man. It seems an odd rally.

Other posters by this group call for men to take responsibility for their actions, they clearly think men in general are bad news.

Called the 'Brothers for Life', the group promoted that is? Yet, nothing against abortion, nothing promoting marriage or fidelity. A pretty strange type of thing to promote at a Catholic Church?

I asked the nearest priest about the matter. He said he was not permitted to touch the poster, never mind do anything about it. There were strict orders from the Chancery, the posters were to be put up.

What is a Chancery?

'That branch of administration which handles all written documents used in the official government of a diocese. It is in the diocesan chancery that, under the direction of the bishop or his representative, all documents which concern the diocese are drawn up, copied, forwarded, and a record kept of all official writings expedited or received. The official charged with the execution of these duties is known as the diocesan chancellor. In many dioceses the chancellor exercises some of the faculties which in other dioceses are exclusively reserved to the vicar-general.' - The Catholic Encyclopedia on what a Chancery is. This is quoted from the well known New Advent website of America's Knights of Columbus.

In other words, these documents were especially placed there on the authority of Archbishop of Johannesburg, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale.

What is Homophobia?

'an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people.' - Oxford Dictionary.
'unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals and homosexuality.' - Dictionary.com

What do both definitions have in common? Not reference to crimes against the human rights of homosexuals, which indeed are wrong because they violate human rights and not instead of that because of the behaviour of the victim. The victim has nothing to do with the crime, except being hurt by it. The crime itself is the wrong.

No, this is not what tends to be referred to as 'homophobia', both definitions have in common the condemnation of aversion to homosexual lifestyle as irrational or unreasoning. The word homophobia first emerged in its present form in the mouth of a gay special interests campaigner who declared it to be the fear of Christians specifically that acceptance of homosexual behaviour would undermine Christian views on traditional marriage.

So how does the man shaming gay pride march with the backing of the local bishop differ from the Catholic view on homosexuality?

The Catholic view tends to emphasize both respect for the person its doctrine sees as sinful and also that their behaviour is inconsistent with its formula for salvation. The Catholic view also separates tendencies away from acts and lifestyles.

'Chastity and homosexuality

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.' - Catechism of the Catholic Church.

What does no woman infected mean?

Well according to a basic reading, it seems that the Brothers for Life are promoting the use of condoms. There is not a single mention of chastity or preserving marriage or not cheating. The problem is this: the use of a condom is condemned as intrinsically evil by the Vatican. In other words, according to Catholic doctrine, these posters put in churches by the authority of Archbishop Buti Tlhagal, no doubt lead Catholic parishioners towards the Catholic conception of hell. Something objectively evil can never be mitigated as not a mortal sin. Looking at this non-Catholic group's website, they do say they promote 'addressing' (Fixing? Mitigating?) the health risks of having multiple concurrent partners, or sleeping around largely. Hardly corresponding with the Catholic view on the matter: where sex should be constrained to only a marriage open to life.

'No Woman Raped?' 'No Woman Killed'? In the name of men?

Women will be raped and killed, just as men will be. Such is the nature of mankind. But is this referring to rape and killing, or to a very specific form of rape and killing, is this not contextually referring to the corrective rape of lesbians, to the killing of lesbians? After all, the other posters, like these could have been snatched from a gay pride parade. And is this not, whether on that or not, a campaign to shame men as though men in general are by nature rapists, and murderers of women?

I have no trouble objecting to the heinous acts of corrective rape and to the human rights abuse of crimes against people whether inclined to homosexuality or not, and to the act of murder that is the unlawful and intentional killing, and I certainly also object to the evil act of rape whether against a straight woman or against a  lesbian. I don't believe in abusing, or allowing the abuse of the intrinsic human rights of anyone whether straight or gay.

Is the Catholic view of men that men rape, murder, are homophobic, cheat, and should use condoms?

With all the above, I can only make the conclusion, that unlike a Catholic men's march, which would promote the family, oppose pornography or abortion etcetera, this is a march for aspects and beliefs which correlate exactly with the interests of the gay special interests lobby. After all, protest rape all you want, and murder, but protesting only that rape and murder which is conducted in the name of masculinity? This is a specific type of rape which this march is treating as worse than all other rape, as with the murder mentioned.

This is all together largely what seems like de facto a march against homophobia, all the other bits are nuanced by that. Given that 19% of homosexuals in America have HIV Aids, and similar statistics exist all over the world, gay special interests groups tend to take the issue of HIV quite seriously, interestingly this issue is also on the placards held by the men on the poster.

A look at the partners of Brothers for life confirms this: Unicef, US Aid, Sonke Gender Justice Network, Population Council, Treatment Action Campaign.

Their website further shows their focus on 'gender violence' (which treats gender theory as true) and HIV, not 'sexual violence', which is the Catholic term.

Quotes: (Emphasis via bolding does not appear on their website, as I copied only the text and bolded where needed, I also commented using square brackets, if you don't want to read the full quotes then it is possible to skip it and to then just read the conclusion below!)

'Join Us - Not in My Name Rally

On 24 August 2013, Brothers For Life with it's civil soceity partners will be holding a Men's Rally on Gender-Based Violence.
Dubbed "Not In My Name" the gathering is aimed at bringing all men in the fight against the scourge of gender-violence in this different forms and shapes...'

'Brothers for Life is a national campaign targeting mainly Men aged 30 and over . The campaign was launched on the 29th of August 2009 in KwaMashu and seeks to address [Notice their wording, to address the risks, not the behaviour] the risks associated with having multiple and concurrent partnerships, sex and alcohol ,Gender based Violence and promotes HIV testing , Male involvement in PMTCT and health seeking behaviours in general.

The campaign is a collaborative effort led by South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), the Department of Health, USAID/PEPFAR, Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa (JHHESA), Sonke Gender Justice, UNICEF , IDMT , the United Nations System in South Africa and more than forty other civil society partners working in the field of HIV prevention and Health. The campaign uses Interpersonal communication , Mass Media and Advocacy to reach its audiences.

The interpersonal communication aspect of the campaign comprises a Men's Wellness Toolkit that will be used to engage with men within communities around a range of topics that continue to undermine the health of men and women.

The campaign will be sustained with a multi-mass media component that includes the use of television and radio commercials. The commercials will draw upon the concept of brotherhood to convey to men the importance of the decisions they make and how these decisions impact upon their future and that of their dependents. The broadcast media will be combined with print and outdoor media that will further serve to reinforce the messages of the campaign.

The campaign uses a wide range of advocacy initiatives to influence and engage the various audiences. These include Media advocacy in print media, Television and radio. Other activities include advocacy initiatives targeting all levels of government, traditional leaders, civil society, faith based and opinion leaders within communities around social constructions of men, male responsibilities.' - From their website.

Concluding

So Brothers for Life is a health initiative, a marketing ploy, with government backing, not a Catholic group. On many issues they either are or communicate views which are: not in accordance with Catholic beliefs and are certainly not compatible with Catholic dogma. Brothers for Life seems to view most men as though they are easily criminals, given their adverts.

And finally, the Chancery of Archbishop Buti Tlhagale has ordered the promotion of this group in Catholic Churches.

Where this or that 'for life', tends to refer to anti-Abortion groups or those which hold the pro-life pro-family views of the Catholic Church. For life here is just an advertising gimmick. The Brotherhood perhaps is promoted as for life, but the campaign does not view marriages and sexual relationships the same way if its purpose is to 'address the risks' of men having multiple sexual partners, but not the behaviour itself.