Being the Change I Wish to See » Jeff Sharlet

Ugandan kill-the-gays bill part 16: Rachel Maddow interviews David Bahati

Sherri Joubert — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 07:53:08 +0000

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 in early 2011.

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

This interview with David Bahati, 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.

American history: foundational myths about being gay:

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“Gays can’t reproduce so they must recruit”, Anita Bryant. What a crock. Gays and lesbians are born that way, primarily to straight parents. We don’t know exactly why, but there are a few strongly-supported scientific theories being rigorously studied that may explain what we see in nature.

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

The only differences between gay and straight people are gay people are attracted to and choose love partners from our own sex, and sex between us cannot result in procreation. We are exactly like everyone else otherwise. That is not to say gays and lesbians cannot procreate. Some have children from previous heterosexual marriages. We can also procreate with the assistance of modern reproductive technology.

Gays and lesbians can and do reproduce and/or parent adopted children just as well as straight parents. Children of gay and lesbian parents (biological or adopted) are generally straight.

Egg and sperm donors, and surrogate mothers allow gay and lesbian couples to have children biologically related to one or both partners. New technology allows a lesbian partner to provide sperm using her own stem cells, so it is now possible for a lesbian couple to both be biological parents of their children. It will become possible for gay male couples to both be biological parents of their children when stem cells can be used to produce ova, although they will require a surrogate mother and in vitro fertilization to carry and give birth to the children.

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 Ugandan children. There are still 7 clauses in the bill that call for the death penalty. 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. They are supposedly enticed by bribes of money ($15 million U.S. in total).

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

Before we get to God’s Law, I want to make clear in my opinion that nothing in the Bible applies to sex in our modern world, or the relationships we form between consenting adults. I don’t believe the Bible or any other sacred text is the word of God. These texts may have been God-influenced, but they were written by humans.

In the times homosexual sex was brought up in the Bible, men had multiple wives and could also procreate with their wives’ servants or slaves. I don’t believe it is right to take any of these stories or laws out of context, or pick and choose which ones to obey and which to ignore. We ignore most of the laws in Leviticus today.

In the Bible, we first encounter possible homosexual sex starting in Genesis 9:18 in the story of Ham and his father, Noah. He was found drunk and naked by his son Ham, who tells his brothers their father’s condition. The other two brothers take a cloak and walk backward into Noah’s house and cover him without ever looking at him. Noah curses Ham for seeing him naked, which seems silly until you understand what the phrase “to uncover nakedness” really means. It’s a euphemism for sex. Thus, Ham must have had gay sex with his own father.

We 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. The problem with the story of Sodom was not gay sex. The town’s men wanted the angels sent out from Lot’s house so they could be gang raped.

Leviticus has hundreds of laws we violate every day, like eating shrimp, and we don’t sell our daughters to their husbands, or stone adulterers to death. All are abominations. It’s also an abomination to work on the Sabbath, punishable by death, and Jesus violated that commandment all the time.

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 to prohibit the Children of Israel from imitating a variety of acts practiced by other tribes and nations surrounding them. (See Deuteronomy 18:9). The other local pagan religions worshiped their gods with every sex act you can imagine. The Israelites believed that sex was strictly for procreation. Sex that didn’t have a chance of causing procreation was forbidden.

There is the 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). David got away with a lot of bad behavior 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. His Apostle, Paul, did (see Rom. 1:26-27). 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 or unnatural in any way.

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. They didn’t marry for love or even have a choice of spouses. Their marriages were arranged by their families. Love never came into it. Their experience of gay sex was limited to the sexual religious practices of the Canaanites and other local tribes that would have been 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 having sex that did not result in procreation and 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 we want to talk about rampant sins, adultery is a very big problem in African cultures today as well as most of the rest of the world. We no longer punish adulterers with stoning, scarlet letters or banishment. That is seen as ridiculous. Since homosexuality and adultery are discussed in the Bible in the same chapters on laws about sex, adultery laws in the Bible should also be seen today in the same light as homosexuality. Since the modern world has dropped most all the ancient Hebrew laws, including those for adultery, the law against homosexuality should also be dropped.

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 or Fellowship and out are exporting the fight against homosexuality to Uganda through David Bahati. When and if he wins the war there, he will bring the lessons of the victory back to the U.S. to restart the conservative war against homosexuality in America, and the religious right will try again to win it.

I believe that gays and lesbians will have full and equal civil rights sooner rather than later. I believe the religious right will suffer a major backlash because of their extreme positions on social issues. They’ve gone too far, and that leaves a lot of room for progressives to move forward rapidly.

But, LGBT rights are not moving forward as quickly as they should be. Many laws passed during the 20th century ended African American segregation, provided suffrage for minorities and women, and people of different races have the right to marry. The right to marry interracially came in 1967. It’s 2011.

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has already been repealed. Vice President Joe Biden sees a path clearing for legalizing same-sex marriage all over the country, and President Obama is beginning to see same-sex marriage as the institution that will be instated rather than civil unions. I think it will happen during his second term. We can’t afford for him to lose the 2012 presidential race to the GOP.

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 Mr. President!

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

Part 17 is available here.

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

Ugandan kill-the-gays bill part 13: Now it’s the imprison-the-gays-for-life bill

Sherri Joubert — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:50:53 +0000

This article is part 13 in a multi-part series about the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009, better known as the Ugandan kill-the-gays bill. The first 12 articles can be accessed at the following links:

There has been a change of opinion on the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009. 1) Ethics minister, James Buturo, said to the media that ‘homosexuals can forget about human rights’, and 2) President Museveni has decided that the death penalty parts of the bill will be removed before passage.

There has also been a very troubling clarification from Bob Hunter of The Family concerning who decides when and where United States Senators and Congressmen travel on The Family’s business. Senator James Inhofe has bragged to his colleagues that when he goes to Uganda or anywhere in Africa, he can open doors because of his American political position. This is quite a revelation about the separation of church and state in this country. Who do our Congresspersons and Senators really work for when they are members of The Family? Who do they represent?

Please watch the video (7 min). Much of the discussion is based on its content.

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Here is the link to Box Turtle Bulletin with a lot more of Scott Lively’s videos. Lively equates gays to sociopaths, Nazis, mass murderers, serial killers, and the cause of the Rwandan genocide. He claims to know more about homosexuality than anyone else in the world? Really? Is Lively secretly gay and telling the truth? Has he participated in murder and genocide? I don’t think so. Watch the videos if you can stomach the lies and hate. After this false input into a society in a “sexual knowledge and education” vacuum, it’s no wonder Ugandans hate gays even more than they did before. (Again, Scott Lively is not associated with or a member of The Family).

I find it strange that Doug Coe uses the comparison to Nazis in a positive way about The Family and how its members are expected to behave, and Scott Lively uses a comparison to Nazis in a very negative way in that gays commit all sorts of atrocities because they are gay. Neither Doug nor Scott got their comparisons right. They must be from an alternate universe or something.

Here is the link to Jeff Sharlet’s response to the Bob Hunter interview. Jeff says he doesn’t know why Hunter said he denied his own reporting. He clearly doesn’t. It would benefit The Family considerably if the most persistent investigative reporter about them said he was wrong. It would let them all off the hook about everything Jeff has written about them. The whole article is an important read, but the most important quote from it is posted below the link. What the Family isn’t saying about the kill-the-gays bill in Uganda

Working with two documents Hunter prepared for government and Family leaders, “Re: organizing the invisible” and “A Trip to East Africa—Fall 1986,” and Family leader Doug Coe’s account of Hunter’s trip, I argued that Hunter traveled at the behest of the U.S. government. Hunter’s correction? He didn’t go at the government’s behest; American politicians went to Uganda at his behest. He didn’t work for them; they worked for him. Emphasis mine.

American politicians go on trips at Bob Hunter’s behest. That means The Family and it’s church(es) control a part of the U.S. government. It decides which members will go where, when, and on our tax dollars. So much for separation of church and state. This is the exact kind of problem the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was meant to prevent.

I (charitably) don’t think Bob Hunter fully understands the conflict with the First Amendment that he is creating when our legislators travel at his behest. It doesn’t matter if the trips are for good works or not. It conflicts with the solemn oath sworn by legislators to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. That includes leaving religion out of trips abroad and sticking to U.S. policy. I’m not sure why Senators and Congresspersons are permitted to travel out of the country representing the U.S. without the State Department’s knowledge and blessing.

Here is Bob Hunters reply to Jeff Sharlet’s written response on the TRMS website.

Bob Hunter’s article is a bit rambling, but it is definitely worth reading. He concludes his thoughts as follows:

While Jeff and I still argue vigorously about important (to us) details, we do agree on the only critical thing: the Uganda Anti-homosexual[ity] Bill must be stopped. I commit to continue working on that with Jeff and others who seek that important outcome, including friends in high position in Uganda. This discussion demonstrates the essence of how the Fellowship works; learning to love one another while not giving up our individual positions, even on issues we feel deeply about.

NEWS FLASH

After preparing this post, I learned that President Museveni appears to be moving in the right direction. I am sure that Jeff is as pleased as I am to hear the good news!

Perhaps the kill-the-gays bill will be dropped after all. However, it’s not over yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Part 14 may be accessed here.

Technorati Tags: anti-gay religious movement, Bob Hunter, Box Turtle Bulletin, Evangelicals in Uganda, James Buturo, Jeff Sharlet, kill-the-gays bill, Museveni, Rachel Maddow, Scott Lively, separation of church and state, The Rachel Maddow Show, Uganda

Ugandan kill-the-gays bill part 10: “The Family” finally condemns the bill

Sherri Joubert — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:00:36 +0000

This article is part 10 in a multi-part series about the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009, better known as the Ugandan kill-the-gays bill. The first 9 articles can be accessed at the following links:

Jeff Sharlet recently interviewed Family leader Bob Hunter, a primary contact with The Family in Uganda. Here’s what he had to say.

The Fellowship, AKA the Family, opposes the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

Bob Hunter has been working quietly behind the scenes speaking out against the bill to his Family counterparts in Uganda. Mr. Hunter has also encouraged influential Family members to speak out against the bill.

Short update video (2 min).

Jeff Sharlet describes Uganda as The Family’s outpost in Africa. David Bahati, who introduced the anti-homosexuality bill in the Ugandan Parliament, is a member of The Family. Ugandan President Museveni is also a member of The Family.

Many U.S. Senators and Representatives who are members of The Family have spoken out condemning the bill, except for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. He says he still doesn’t know the details and can’t comment.

Sen. Brownback is perhaps too lazy to educate himself about this pending legislation. He may feel sufficiently distanced from the Ugandan bill to ignore it. He may even agree with the legislation and not really wish to condemn it, although supporting it in the U.S. and within The Family would have negative political consequences for him.

Regardless, Sen. Brownback is still playing dumb about this issue and it isn’t acceptable. He’s a Republican Senator and what has he had to do all year since all the GOP does is block Senate business and sit on their butts? If you’re not going to do any real work for the country, Senator, how about at least learning about the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill and taking a position on it? Sam Brownback has the same access to the State Department as Chuck Grassley, who stepped up and did his homework. Get off your duff, Sen. Brownback.

Part 11 of the series may be accessed at this link.

Technorati Tags: Bart Stupak, Bob Hunter, Chuck Grassley, James Inhofe, Jeff Sharlet, Joe Pitts, John Ensign, kill-the-gays bill, Rachel Maddow, Sam Brownback, The Family, The Rachel Maddow Show, Uganda