Being the Change I Wish to See » Uganda

Ugandan kill-the-gays bill part 15: Archbishop Orombi still supports draconian bill

Sherri Joubert — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:49:10 +0000

This article is part 15 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 14 articles can be accessed at the following links:

Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi released the following: Press Release from Church of Uganda on Feb. 11, 2010

The following is commentary about the evil and godlessness of being gay in Uganda during the 2009 Christmas Mass. What an unchristian way to celebrate the birth of Christ…

The Anglican Church of Uganda is weighing in on that nation’s proposal to punish — including by execution — gay people. The Most Reverend Henry Luke Orombi, the Ugandan archbishop, issued a press release this week asking Ugandan lawmakers to tweak the bill to “protect the vulnerabilities of the boy child,” provide for proportionality in sentencing,” and ensure that “sexual orientation is excluded as a protected human right.” [Emphasis mine].
The Anglican Church of Uganda refers to gayness as “homosexual disorientation.” Archbishop Orombi writes that he wants the state to “prohibit and penalize homosexual behavior and related practices in Uganda as they constitute a threat to the traditional family.” As Box Turtle Bulletin notes, Orombi leaves unclear whether the Anglican Church of Uganda supports capital punishment for gay people.
American Episcopalians who oppose gay rights have broken away to form the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Their closest ties are now to the Church of Nigeria and the Church of Uganda. Archbishop Orombi has traveled to the U.S. and preached to their members. (Full disclosure: [Laura Conaway is] an American Episcopalian and in a same-sex marriage.) Box Turtle Bulletin (BTB) writes:
I doubt that these American churches endorse the abolition of the freedom of speech in America and I suspect that if cornered many would refuse to publicly endorse re-criminalization of homosexuality. Yet, to date, neither the ACNA nor a single member church has spoken against the efforts of the Church of Uganda. None has expressed even the slightest discomfort about being publicly aligned with those who endorse human rights abuses.

It disgusts me that Americans who joined the ACNA seem to have no problem with excluding homosexuality as a protected human right. Gays and lesbians are human beings and deserve to be protected from persecution just like any other minority group. Supporting denial of human rights to gays and lesbians around the world is plain wrong no matter what the argument might be.

Being gay is a human variation, just like preferring vegetables to meat. It is not and should not be a crime anywhere, but it is still a crime in many places in the world.

Archbishop Orombi’s rhetoric may still be inflaming his congregation and keeping anti-gay sentiments socially alive, but fortunately, governments tend to make decisions, legislation and treaties that benefit their countries as a whole.

Uganda can’t afford to be without the aid of the U.S. and Europe. It is doubtful that no matter how much some Ugandan clergy dislike gays (as many American clergy dislike gays), they don’t have the leverage to successfully push such horrific and unconscionable legislation through Parliament and get President Museveni to sign it.

Quotes from: MaddowBlog.msnbc.com posted by Laura Conaway on Feb. 11, 2010.

Technorati Tags: American Episcopalian Church, Anglican Church of North America, Anglican Church of Uganda, Archbishop Orombi, Human Rights, kill-the-gays bill, 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 murders, 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).

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 12: Family leader Bob Hunter interview

Sherri Joubert — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:38:59 +0000

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:

If a video won’t play, please reload the page and try again.

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