The Family » Being the Change I Wish to See

Apr 13

Ugandan kill-the-gays bill part 14: Obama speaks of Ugandan bill at U.S. Family National Prayer Breakfast

This article is part 14 in a multi-part series about the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009, better known as the Ugandan kill-the-gays bill. The Rachel Maddow Show named this series Uganda Be Kidding Me, and they won a GLAAD award this year for it. The first 13 articles can be accessed at the following links:

Thu Feb 4, 2010
President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the Family’s U.S. National Prayer Breakfast. The President spoke about Uganda and gay marriage amongst other topics. Sec. Clinton openly denounced the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009.

Bishop Eugene Robinson held an alternative American Prayer Hour. A gay Ugandan addresses the ecumenical American Prayer Hour with a bag over his head because of fear he might be extradited back to Uganda for trial.

Posted by Laura Conaway on Feb. 4, 2010
MaddowBlog.msnbc.com

MaddowBlog writer Laura Conaway has some interesting analysis of some of the President’s remarks:

Whew. Let’s roll forward just a bit, with this from President Obama’s as-prepared remarks:
We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are — whether it’s here in the United States or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.
Wait, did you catch that? The president of the United States just said “gay marriage” — like it was a thing. And he suggested, maybe, that this thing called “gay marriage” might be something “we disagree on.” Obama has been on the record as opposing gay marriage since he got famous, though he seems to have supported it back when no one much knew who he was.
And what’s he saying now, to an audience that leans toward being socially conservative and fundamentalist Christian? That crowd has opposed marriage equality, as has Obama. So what disagreement is Obama talking about?
Reverse Obama’s formulation, and you get: We can all agree the Uganda kill-the-gays bill is wrong, even if we disagree about gay marriage.
That disagreement could be on Obama’s move to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act — which would grant full equality at the federal level to married gay couples in states like Massachusetts, and is thus inherently pro-equality. Or the disagreement could be about whether same-sex couples should be allowed to have civil unions. In which case, President Obama just substituted the words “gay marriage” for the civil unions he has been willing to favor since running for president.
It may be that Obama really does oppose gay civil marriage and support civil unions, in each case because of his Christian beliefs. Certainly, he has argued from that position in recent years. But heard another way, his remarks at the Prayer Breakfast suggest that he finds himself on one side of the question of marriage equality, and the social conservatives he’s addressing on the other. If you’re for marriage equality, that’s worth something. — by Laura Conaway

I can’t say it any better than that. Maybe the president does consider gay marriage a thing, that it is something worth debating, and maybe he’s less against it than he’s professed since the campaign. I hope he is just waiting to repeal DOMA until his second term and help grant equal marriage rights to same-sex couples then. Hey, I can dream, right?

Part 15 can be found at this link.

Technorati Tags: 2010, American Prayer Hour, Bishop Eugene Robinson, Rachel Maddow, The Family, The Rachel Maddow Show, U.S. National Prayer Breakfast

written by Sherri Joubert \\ tags: 2010, American Prayer Hour, Bishop Eugene Robinson, Rachel Maddow, The Family, The Rachel Maddow Show, U.S. National Prayer Breakfast

Mar 29

Ugandan kill-the-gays bill part 12: Family leader Bob Hunter interview

Human Rights 2 Comments »

This article is part 12 in a multi-part series about the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill of 2009, better known as the Ugandan kill-the-gays bill. The first 11 articles can be accessed at the following links:

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Rachel Maddow’s recap of the The Family, how it permeates governments and interview with a high-ranking Family member

Here is Rachel’s interview with Bob Hunter, long-time member and leader of The Family (also known as The Fellowship) who worked extensively in Uganda to help build that nation (13 min.):

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Doug Coe was one of the leaders of The Family. The short segment of one of his speeches to members in the video clip above is, I think, disturbing. To tie Christ Jesus and Christianity to the Soviet Red Guard and Hitler’s Nazis turns my stomach. I’m not particularly religious and I don’t go to church much, but I have read the Bible cover-to-cover a few times. What Jesus preached and what Doug Coe preached are diametrically opposed. To me, he got the wrong message about Jesus’ teachings entirely.

The founders of The Family did require that members put the group before their families, their jobs and themselves. There is probably more to The Family than we know.

I’m not convinced The Family is that benign. From reporting on The Rachel Maddow Show and Jeff Sharlet, The Family has a lot of influence in politics and in a lot of areas all over the world. I also don’t buy it because of the amount of money they control, and their ability to get Senators and Congressmen to go to other countries on their behalf.

Bob Hunter says The Family is too secretive and is addressing being more open. He denies there is any real membership in The Family and claims it is a loosely associated group of around 10,000 groups throughout the world and in many professions, including journalism.

So, all these groups form The Fellowship and they, obviously—even though they‘re linked together, they‘re atomistic and they‘re out there and there‘s no—they—there‘s no one position. Nor does The Fellowship deal with politics in anyway, because we‘re trying to attract people from diverse political perspectives. – Bob Hunter from interview with Rachel Maddow

Again, I smell a rat. The Family has control of a huge amount of money and sends powerful politicians around the world on their behalf.

Part 2 of the Bob Hunter interview (7 min.).

No one in The Family in America is thought to be in favor of the kill-the-gays bill in Uganda.

Ugandan members of The Family, with false information from Evangelicals and cure-the-gays industry members, are the people who introduced the bill against the push-back from American members. High level American Family members, like Bob Hunter, are working behind the scenes to stop the bill. The U.S. State Department is working with their Ugandan counterparts to stop this legislation.

President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have spoken out publicly against this bill. President Obama attended this year’s U.S. National Prayer Breakfast, as many presidents have since President Eisenhower was in office, and spoke out to the attendees against the Ugandan bill.

It is beginning to look like progress is being made to stop this legislation.

Part 13 is located here.

Technorati Tags: Bob Hunter, kill-the-gays bill, Rachel Maddow, The Family, The Rachel Maddow Show, Uganda

written by Sherri Joubert \\ tags: Bob Hunter, kill-the-gays bill, Rachel Maddow, The Family, The Rachel Maddow Show, Uganda