This is a simple but perennially recurring African story which must be read by women of all walks of life who have been cheated on or raped by chauvinistic men. It has contemporary relevance even in America.
When you look at Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Edwards, (may she rest in peace), Sandra Bullock, O.J. Simpson's wife (may she rest in peace), Scott Peterson's wife (may she rest in peace), Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou and Elin Woods Nordegren and many others who are not as famous, you will see that cheating, rape, abuse and disrespect still rages in this God's country.
I am always drawn to a woman because she has some compassionate wisdom and tenderness which I first found in my mother and subsequently several other women. My mother is a woman, my sisters are women, my children are girls, and just as I hate my female relatives to be subjected to shame, disrespect, bias, sexual violence, domestic violence and painful divorce, so do I not want any female go through these.
Most men are sexual aggressors. However, to me, the only sexual activity that doesn't come with guilt is the one between the legal union of two people. Sex in the unmarried union, whether in the Western type of dating, or rape comes with guilt and consequences. No wonder there are so many failed marriages and broken homes.
For us human beings, everything we do in truth, honesty, compassion and kindness makes us the genuine Homo sapiens that we should be.
These days we think adultery, fornication, some marriages and war are right. I think that maybe God's commandments (I have no problems with them) are obsolete because there seems to be a New World Order and we should pray to him to bring new ones to refl ect all these follies. As I have always realized, Homo sapiens should actually be called Homo stultus because we appear to be more foolish, wicked, and unforgiving than even animals.
Without women the continuity of humankind will be put to a halt. Women suff er. Mary suffered a lot to see her son crucified by sinful men and that is enough.
This is the tragic story of Agya Sei, a bigamist. It is set in Ghana and involves the eternal themes of power and the corruption of the individual (and a society) enthralled with its attainment. It is a colorful, fluid and ultimately engaging story.
About the Author: Stephen Kwame Mends has a BA from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota and an MA from the Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio. Stephen taught at TI Ahmadiyya Secondary School in Kumasi, Ghana for ten years and also worked at Texas Instruments in Attleboro, Massachusetts for ten years. Stephen has been an adjunct Professor at Rhode Island College for almost twenty years and an L.T.S.P in the Providence School District for seven years. Stephen lives in Pawtucket, RI.
