Date of Award

3-2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Krish Kandiah

Second Advisor

David McDonald

Third Advisor

Patrick Murunga

Abstract

To fulfill the mission entrusted to believers by God and shown through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the same principle of loving others unconditionally is the Church’s mandate. Unfortunately, Ugandan traditional worldviews, compounded by outside influences, have contributed to bringing this self-proclaimed, Christian nation to a point of worldwide recognition and reprimand because of its destructive anti-gay legislation and oppression of the LGBT community.1 Focusing on the struggle between Ugandan evangelical leaders and their response to those with same-sex orientation, this dissertation seeks to investigate the use of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) as a tool for mitigating the destructive attitudes and behaviors inflicted upon the LGBT community by Ugandan evangelical leaders.

Cultural intelligence, the capacity to function effectively in different cultures or with different people, can be the pathway to increased tolerance, open-mindedness, flexibility and success in many arenas. The hypothesis of this project is that by increasing the CQ of the evangelical community, less dogmatic assumptions, broader worldviews of life and more loving responses toward people unlike one’s self or in this case, toward the gay community, will transpire. Subtle changes in one’s worldview through growth in CQ will produce a church that is more accepting toward the LGBT community, allowing grace to dominate over legalistic and traditional approaches.

Strongly held religious attitudes are difficult to transform through theological argument. Therefore, an approach to modifying Ugandan religious and cultural views will be attempted by identifying and understanding the historical background issues, theological perspectives and basic worldviews under which the majority of Ugandan evangelicals operate and by reflecting upon the medical and psychological advances in regards to sexual orientation. A CQ tool will also be developed which can be used to cultivate common ground, initiate discussions on sexuality and promote a more empathetic comprehension of behaviors and actions. The tool will integrate indigenous stories provided by African evangelicals, biblical inputs, discussion points and survey questions.

The following true story, told to the author by the victim, sets the stage for the subsequent discussion.

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