WITH lawmakers in Uganda poised to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death, a number of American Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical leaders have spoken out this week against the proposed legislation.
Pardon the hollow laugh, but who was it that inflicted Christianity on Africa in the first place, thereby introducing homophobia to the continent?
African countries were, and still are, regarded as fair game by predatory evangelists of every stripe, who rejoice in the fact that biblical literalism is so easily swallowed by the continent’s poor and gullible – and frankly stupid.
The unlovely Scott Lively
Why, only recently Uganda had a visit from the detestable anti-gay lunatic, Scott Lively, President of Abiding Truth Ministries, who is said to have visited the country with the two aims: to promote the idea that homosexuality can be “cured”, and to encourage the Ugandan government to enact swingeing laws against homosexuality.
But Lively, co-author of a twisted piece of nonsense called The Pink Swastika, which tries to establish links between homosexuality and the Nazi Party – it’s a book that comes highly-recommended on Stephen “Birdshit” Green’s failed Christian Voice blog, where it is being flogged for £11.50 – now appears to be distancing himself from the proposed new laws.
According to this report, the venomous creature, who writes hysterically on “masculine Christianity” here, said:
I agree with the general goal but this law is far too harsh.
However, he could not bring himself to sign the statement condemning the legislation which was issued by Catholics in Alliance and Faith in Public Life.
One of the statement’s signatories, Thomas P Melady, a former US ambassador to Uganda and the Vatican, declared:
This bill is an affront to human dignity and offensive to Christians around the world who take seriously Christ’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves. I’m proud to stand with other people of faith who believe our values compel us to speak out against this profound injustice.
The statement says:
As followers of the teachings of Christ, we must express profound dismay at a bill currently before the Parliament in Uganda. The “Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009″ would enforce lifetime prison sentences and in some cases the death penalty for homosexual behavior, as well as punish citizens for not reporting their gay and lesbian neighbors to the authorities.
It adds:
As Americans, some may wonder why we are raising our voices to oppose a measure proposed in a nation so far away from home. We do so to bear witness to our Christian values, and to express our condemnation of an injustice in which groups and leaders within the American Christian community are being implicated [my emphasis]. We appeal to all Christian leaders in our own country to speak out against this unjust legislation.
It concludes:
In our efforts to imitate the Good Samaritan, we stand in solidarity with those Ugandans beaten and left abandoned by the side of the road because of hatred, bigotry and fear. Especially during this holy season of Advent, when the global Christian community prepares in hope for the light of Christ to break through the darkness, we pray that they are comforted by God’s love.
Regardless of the diverse theological views of our religious traditions regarding the morality of homosexuality, in our churches, communities and families, we seek to embrace our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters as God’s children worthy of respect and love. Yet we are painfully aware that in our country gays and lesbians still face hostility and violence. We recognize that such treatment degrades the human family, threatens the common good and defies the teachings of our Lord – wherever it occurs.
Oooh heck! I’ve just noticed that the needle on the device that detects self-serving, hypocritical bullshit has just gone clear off the scale.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
December 10th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Ah yes the USA christians, are they not the same bunch of bastards who bomb abortion clinics and murder surgeons yet support the death penalty? Well used to hypocrisy then.
December 10th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
“We’re appalled! But, hey, what can you do?” *shrug*
December 10th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Several blogs have posted the segment of Rachel Maddow’s show entitled Uganda Be Kidding Me, which is quite eye-opening. Evidently the American fundies have persuaded the Ugandans to abandon their highly successful programme of preventing AIDS infection through the use of condoms in favour of the much more reliable method of total abstinence (I am NOT making this up!). And who is at the forefront of this modern American invasion of Africa? Step forward one Rick Warren. I have also read on the net (somewhere) that he is now trying to distance himself from this new move in Uganda, but cannot quite bring himself to condemn it! The Maddow video is on YouTube, as are several others of hers which are equally engrossing, but I don’t know how to go about posting them, and any YouTube links that I put up never work anyway!!
December 10th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
The worldwide opposition has evidently forced the Ugandan government to remove references to life imprisonment and death from the bill, but just what will remain I don’t know. This is a very informative site:
http://blog.ctnews.com/evans/2.....-for-gays/
December 10th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Perhaps they should further embrace an embodiment of the Good Samaritan, and cease being Christians; problem solved.
December 10th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
If you look up ‘Rick Warren Uganda Homosexuality Death’ you will have a field day! I’m so sorry to see such a revered man of God in such a pickle!!
December 10th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
They make that statement so they can look like heroes to the US and uninformed others around the world. Meanwhile Scott Lively and Rick Warren are on the red phone to Uganda saying “they don’t really mean it, proceed as planned”.
December 11th, 2009 at 2:30 am
It really burns me when religious people say ‘we are doing this because of our christian values’ or ‘…because Jesus asks us to’ or ‘…because God commands it.’ Do it because it is bleeding right! Otherwise they are saying, ‘we would probably do exactly the same thing, but we are christians and our fantasies forbid us’.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:24 am
Why are Uganda’s godphuqt theofascists demanding the death penalty only for homosexuals, when there are so many other people who refuse to grant blind, unquestioning obedience to the theofascists’ 2,000-year-old collection of fairy tales? Why not execute Jews for rejecting Paul’s decree (Phil. 2:20) that, “In the name of Jesus, every knee should bend”? Why not execute nontheists for the same reason? Why not execute Christian Scientists for accusing God of creating doctors and then not allowing their expertise to be utilized? Why not execute scientists for declaring that the bible’s 14 passages stating unambiguously that the earth is flat are false? Why not execute Muslims and Mormons for rejecting pseudo-Paul’s instruction (Tim. 5:23) to consume “a little wine for your stomach’s sake”? Why not execute all property owners for disobeying Jesus’ order (Mark 10:21) to “sell everything you own and give the proceeds to The Paupers.” [Jesus' name for his communist neo-Essene cult]? Why not execute 99.9 percent of the human race for recognizing that the theofascists are dangerously, criminally, certifiably insane? That is what the Inquisition did.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:58 am
BANG! There goes another bloody irony meter!
December 11th, 2009 at 8:07 am
This is also a very interesting and informative page. It was posted somewhere else – I didn’t actually find it myself!
http://www.moderntosh.com/2009.....in-uganda/
December 11th, 2009 at 8:48 am
I would not be surprised if Uganda, under international pressure, is forced to remove this law. Christians will then claim a victory for religious compassion along the same lines as the Wilberforce/Slavery assertion.
December 11th, 2009 at 9:04 am
They have already dropped the life imprisonment and death penalty clauses, @Perspix, as I said last night! I have a feeling, though, that most of the repressive legislation will go through unaltered. We will see.
December 11th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Here’s a good one, with some further eye-opening links!
http://www.peter-ould.net/2009.....lity-bill/
This guy (of whom I have actually never even heard before) seems to think the whole world is hanging on his every word. Get this (and he has it in bold himself, BTW!):
“It is a completely unScriptural idea that being same-sex attracted is immoral in and of itself.”
Well, being a “same-sex attracted” personage myself I’d just HATE to be “unScriptural”!!
December 11th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Christians have moved on from Jews to gays, I suppose. It used to be commonplace to say ‘If only those Jews would let Jesus into their lives, we wouldn’t keep calling them names and smashing their windows – oh, and banning them from this and that’.
Then along came dear old Adolf and took a thousand years of Christian anti-semitism to its Wagnerian conclusion, and a few more thoughtful believers were shocked to see their own impulses made real. ‘I mean, I know we kept CALLING them a race of foul, lustful, cowardly and avaricious Christ-killers, but this is going a bit far, old boy.’
Now Uganda’s nasty little Jebus goon squad is going a bit far, too. But they wouldn’t be able to go so far if they hadn’t already been helped most of the way along the road by more ‘respectable’ bigots, just as the Nazis were taken most of the way along their particular highway to hell by centuries of mainstream Christian thought.
December 11th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Reichsfuhrer Ould is, of course, completely wrong about what is and isn’t “scriptural”.
“Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another.” (Romans 1:27)
“Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28)
If just thinking about it is as bad as the act we might as well get on with it and enjoy ourselves, I’m thinking!
December 11th, 2009 at 10:09 am
They’re like liberal parents who have taught their little darling to “stand up for himself” in the playground, only to find find that they’ve turned him into a psychopathic monster completely beyond control, @valdemar!
December 11th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
See, the version I read had Romans saying that they indulged in their lusts together. I took it that the men left their girlfriends at home and went off to indulge in their lust for drinking beer and watching footy.
December 11th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Why should we suppose that “Scripture” should automatically be considered as an authority about anything? The notion that any holy book was divinely inspired was blown away centuries ago when advancing human knowledge proved these books to be wrong about almost everything. Now Bible believers are reduced to claiming that God communicates mainly through allegories and metaphors, to avoid facing up to the fact that God is either a liar, doesn’t know what the hell he is talking about or doesn’t actually exist at all.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
That’s a good point, Stonyground. These “fundies” are almost apoplectic at US for taking the attitude that we are now too well educated and sophisticated to take seriously a book of iron age fairy stories, yet believe that THEY are free to pick and choose which parts of that book to take literally nowadays, based upon their level of education and sophistication, which is far in advance of those more primitive believers of earlier generations!