ETHICAL ISSUES ON GENDER PREFERENCE AMONG CHRISTIAN COUPLES IN LAGOS ISLAND, LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA
Keywords:
Biblical Injunctions, Christian Couple, Exegesis, Gender PreferenceAbstract
The issue of gender preference has continued to be a major ethical and social issue that has influenced family life, the religious practice and gender relations in societies. Despite the availability of such existing studies on gender preference that are based on sociological and cultural approaches, there is little focus on the ethical nature of this approach between Christian couples in Nigeria. This paper will explore the ethical aspects of gender preference in Christian couples on the Lagos Island in terms of their awareness, interpretation of the biblical message and social and moral consequences thereof. Qualitative research design is adopted in the study, which involves a combination of biblical exegesis and in-depth interviews of ten purposely sampled Christian couples. Findings established that the awareness of the gender preference is high with a lot of the same being determined by culture and selective gender interpretation of the scripture. Although the biblical writings uphold the value of equality between men and women, gender bias can still exist because there exist the socio-cultural rules and patriarchal behavior. This paper finds that under cultural and social influence more than clear biblical prohibitions, gender preference in Christian couples is decided by factors affecting their marriages and suggests that contextual theological reflection and transitional preethical orientation in Christian societies.
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