Performing Moral Authority

Abstract The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania ( ELCT ) has repeatedly positioned itself against homosexuality in the past, declaring it to be ‘un-Biblical’ and ‘un-African’. In this paper I investigate how the Church’s relationship to the Tanzanian government has motivated it to politicize the topic of homosexuality. It is the Church’s concern with its own moral authority that emerges as the key factor here. At times, the ELCT has been driven by fear of being identified as infiltrating society with immoral acts, possibly losing political privileges in the process. At other times it has capitalized on the societal resentment of homosexuality to bolster its moral capital vis-à-vis the government. I will show in this paper that the politicization of homosexuality pressures both the Church and the government into repeatedly performing their moral authority . This in turn contributes to the ongoing demonization of homosexuality in the country—a circle of politicized homophobia.