Being the Change I Wish to See

This article is part 16 in a multi-part series about the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009, better known as the Ugandan kill-the-gays bill. It is still alive and on the Ugandan Parliament agenda for debate at the end of 2010 or early in 2011.

This interview with the sponsor of this horrible legislation is enlightening on a very deep level. Being able to discuss Mr. Bahati’s bill directly with him is an extremely rare opportunity, and provides a clear and frightening picture of what he is trying to accomplish in Uganda with the gay population there.

The first 15 articles can be accessed at the following links:

• Part 1: Born in the USA
• Part 2: Horrific Details
• Part 3: American Silence is Deafening
• Part 4: HIV-AIDS Statistics in Uganda
• Part 5: State Dept Must Make US Policy Clear
• Part 6: Richard Cohen and debunking gay cure
• Part 7: Evangelicals were for it before they were against it
• Part 8: Rick Warren forced to oppose Ugandan bill
• Part 9: Condemn the bill to Uganda’s President
• Part 10: The Family finally condemns bill
• Part 11: Not to become law
• Part 12: Family leader Bob Hunter interview
• Part 13: Now it’s the imprison-the-gays-for-life bill
• Part 14: Obama Speaks of Ugandan bill at U.S. Family National Prayer Breakfast
• Part 15: Archbishop Orombi still supports draconian bill

American history: foundational myths about being gay:

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“Gays can’t reproduce so they must recruit”. What a crock. Gays and lesbians are born that way, usually as the product of straight parents. We don’t exactly know why that is, but there a few strongly-supported theories being studied that may explain what we see in nature.

Ten percent (on average) of all mammalian species are homosexual, not just humans, therefore, homosexuality exists consistently in nature and is a normal variant within populations.

Gays and lesbians can reproduce and/or parent adopted children. Egg and sperm donors and surrogate mothers allow couples of both genders to have children biologically related to one or both partners. Children of gay and lesbian parents (biological or adopted) generally turn out straight, not always, but most of the time.

David Bahati Interview (part 1):

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David Bahati says, “I don’t hate gays, I love them”. But he’ll kill every one of them to protect the Ugandan children. According to Mr. Bahati, telling children or teens that a man sleeping with a man is okay is tantamount to recruiting kids into being gay.

He also believes that gays do not deserve human rights protections.

David Bahati Interview (part 2):

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Mr. Bahati doesn’t want to stop at keeping gays away from children. He wants all gay Ugandans punished, no matter where they are in the world. He wants gay Ugandans extradited back to Uganda to stand trial for homosexual behavior whenever it occurs outside of Uganda.

God’s Law and Homosexuality

In the Bible, we first encounter homosexual gang rape in Genesis 18-19 in the story of Lot and the city of Sodom. Gay sex is listed as a sin in Hebrew law (Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13), it is called an abomination, and the penalty is death. It doesn’t say anything about lesbian sex.

In Deuteronomy 22:5, cross-dressing is forbidden. A woman may not put on a man’s clothing, and a man may not put on a woman’s clothing. All of we women who wear pants are definitely in violation of this law.

These laws were specifically designed by God to prohibit the Children of Israel from imitating a variety of acts practiced by other tribes and nations surrounding the Israelites. (See Deuteronomy 18:9).

There is the whole story of David and Jonathan possibly being bisexual lovers. David had many wives. But the story of the relationship between these two men is quite suspicious (See 1 Sam. 20:17), and David got away with a lot of bad stuff and still ended up with a sterling reputation. He could have gotten away with a homosexual relationship, too.

Mr. Bahati gives his own opinion of God’s law as well as saying Jesus preached the same prohibitions against homosexuality. Jesus never preached anything concerning homosexuality specifically, but his Apostle, Paul, did. On the subject of adultery, Jesus stopped the stoning of a woman for adultery, saying “he who is without sin, cast the first stone”. Jesus saved the woman’s life by reminding everyone that no one is without sin, and mercy and forgiveness should be shown over strident application of Hebrew law. Jesus preached love, mercy and forgiveness, and I do not believe he would have considered today’s gay or lesbian couples to be abominations.

People of that time were ignorant of a homosexual nature with which a person is born, a nature involving romantic love of another person of the same sex. Their experience was limited to the sexual religious practices of the Canaanites and other local tribes that would have been pretty appealing to the Israelites. (Imagine orgies instead of church).

Mr. Bahati is correct that the Bible has prohibitions against homosexual sex, but the laws were not meant literally for a modern world. They were meant to keep the Israelites from participating in the practices of worshiping the gods of the other nations surrounding them (including idol worship, cultic prostitution, incest, homosexuality, bestiality, and infant sacrifice).

If one wants to talk about rampant sins, adultery is a very big problem in African cultures as well as most of the rest of the world. We no longer punish adulterers with stoning or scarlet letters or banishment. That is seen as ridiculous. Since homosexuality and adultery are discussed in the Bible in the same passages on laws about sex, homosexuality laws in the Bible should also be seen today in the same light as adultery.

To date, Mr. Bahati has sent nothing to The Rachel Maddow Show showing any facts supporting his allegation that gays recruit children into homosexuality.

David Bahati Interview (part 3):

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Mr. Bahati does not understand that there is such a thing as international law and punishment for human rights atrocities, and imprisoning and executing gays for being gay would certainly be an atrocity.

Jeff Sharlet Reports

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Conservative American supporters inside The Family and out, are exporting the fight against homosexuality to Uganda and David Bahati. When/if he wins the war there he will bring the lessons of the victory back to America to restart the conservative war against homosexuality in America and try again to win it.

Fortunately, I believe, and so do many others, that gays and lesbians will have full and equal civil rights as all other Americans by the time Uganda gets done with their bill.

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has already been repealed. Joe Biden sees a path clearing for legalizing same-sex marriage all over the country, and even President Obama is beginning to see same-sex marriage as the institution that will be instated rather than civil unions.

Over the past 21 months of working closely with gays and lesbians on DADT, it seems President Obama has come to see their lives and relationships as much more similar to straight relationships than they are different from them. I say bravo for the President.

You can watch the full, unedited interview here on MaddowBlog.

Technorati Tags: C Street, David Bahati, Jeff Sharlet, kill-the-gays bill, Rachel Maddow, The Family, The Fellowship, Uganda

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This article is part 7 in a multi-part series about the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009, better known as the Ugandan kill-the-gays bill. The first 6 articles can be accessed at the following links:

• Part 1: Born in the USA
• Part 2: Horrific Details
• Part 3: American Silence is Deafening
• Part 4: HIV-AIDS Statistics in Uganda
• Part 5: State Dept Must Make US Policy Clear
• Part 6: Richard Cohen and debunking gay cure

Uganda is severely homophobic. They see homosexuality and the “International Gay Agenda” as a major cause of disrupting traditional family values and life in their country. Americans of authority have been visiting Uganda for over 2 decades, some of them fundamentalist Christians, and have subtly or not-so-subtly fed into Ugandan homophobia.

In the past decade, anti-gay Evangelicals Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life) and Scott Lively have been going to Uganda often telling them how evil, horrible, and sick gays are (listen to some of Scott Lively’s quotes in the next video).

Cure-the-gays quacks like Richard Cohen and Don Schmierer, who are presenting themselves as scientific authorities on curing gay people, have spoken about their “cures” to Ugandan Parliament members and citizens. (The quote from Richard Cohen’s book in the following video is completely untrue. Homosexuals are far less likely to molest anyone than heterosexuals).

American anti-gay Evangelical activists and cure-the-gays quacks have given homophobic Ugandan Parliament member David Bahati and Ethics Minister James Buturo, both members of the Ugandan branch of The Family, all the ammunition they need to justify a Draconian anti-homosexuality bill.

Anglican Priest Rev. Kaoma attended the March 2009 Kampala conference where Scott Lively spoke of zero tolerance for homosexuality and recorded Mr. Lively saying so. Steven Langa, Caleb Brundidge and Don Schmierer also gave lectures about gay “cures” at that conference, where multiple copies of Richard Cohen’s book were distributed. This conference and these speakers are directly connected to the anti-homosexuality bill.

These Americans claim after they misled Ugandans that they didn’t intend for gays to be killed or imprisoned for life and are against the bill. What the hell did they think was going to happen?

Americans are neck-deep in this human rights violation disaster (videos 8 min. each):

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Jeff Sharlet interview:

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American Family members were solidly against this bill when David Bahati proposed it as early as October 2008, then again at the Kampala conference in March 2009.

All claim to be against this bill and are speaking out in America about it, but aren’t telling Ugandans. The Family in America, people like Bob Hunter, are using their leverage behind the scenes to stop the bill. Influential Evangelicals, Senators and Congressmen need to use their influence to make sure this bill is stopped, but all they have done is distance themselves from the legislation.

The American branch of The Family has the power to stop this bill but hasn’t publicly put their foot down. They have great influence and access in the Ugandan government. They need to use it for accountability as well. The Family’s American Prayer Breakfast, coming up in February, should not include David Bahati or James Buturo. Both were planning to attend, but they may be uninvited because of this bill.

Part 8 is located at this link.

Technorati Tags: Caleb Brundidge, David Bahati, Don Schmierer, Human Rights, James Buturo, Jeff Sharlet, kill-the-gays bill, Rachel Maddow, Rick Warren, Scott Lively, The Family, Uganda

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