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January 15, 2010
The Uganda backstory
Posted by: Chris
Behind all the headlines the role American evangelicals played in bringing about proposed legislation in Uganda that would impose the death penalty for gays and imprison anyone not turning in a known homosexual lies this tidbit from the country's history:
In 1886, Ugandan King Mwanga ordered some two dozen male pages to have sex with him, and when they refused because of their Christian faith, he ordered that they be burned to death. Every year on June 3, Ugandans celebrate a national holiday honoring the Christian martyrs and deploring the pedophile king.
The anti-gay bill continues to treat any form of gay sex and rape and/or pedophilia, which at least goes part way toward explaining the draconian punishment it carries. That's not surprise:
"The gay movement is an evil institution," Scott Lively, an American evangelical and president of Defend The Family International, told Uganda's Family Life Network last March. "The goal of the gay movement is to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity.
"Male homosexuality has historically been, not adult to adult; it's been adult to teenager," he said. "It's called pederasty — adults sodomizing teenage boys."
It brings to mind what can happen when disturbed souls here in the U.S. take literally the vicious pro-life rhetoric claiming that abortion is "murder." In both cases, those responsible for such hateful rhetoric deserve the very public black eye they receive, even if they did not foresee the consequences of their campaigns.
Top: According to Ugandan history, St. Charles Lwanga was executed for trying to protect male pages from being forced to have sex with King Mwanga (below).
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Comments
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I'm with Lucrece on this. These "disturbed souls," as you call them, have barely received any negative press at all. Where is the outrage from Dear Leader Obama on this issue? Oh, wait, I forgot...he's attending a prayer breakfast with the Ugandan legislator who sponsored the bill.
This is one of the most barbaric and horrific pieces of legislation I have seen in recent times, and there has barely been even a blip of outrage from our national leaders.
Obama is immensely popular in Africa because of his familial roots and is in a unique position to lead on this issue. He could strongly and roundly condemn the bill and use this as an opportunity to educate. And yet, he remains largely silent.
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Honestly, I'm starting to wonder about how to classify something like this not in religion, but politics. Because these people who call themselves "Christians" have done nothing to earn that moniker.
Let's start approaching them not as the pious and honorable men and women of God that they would profess to be, but the damn dirty sinners that they are (and I am, for that matter). :-)
So what's a good term for Christianity that is only political, bereft of its faith-basis?
Christogoguery!
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I share your optimism Chris, although the recent SCOTUS ruling regarding the broadcast of the trial has kept my enthusiasm in check.
This is gonna be a long slog.
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Or at least let's hope what however he addresses it -- now or later -- he does it with the same clarity and follow-through as President as he,
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Religion is always a big matter to any countries.
The comments to this entry are closed.
Lucrece on Jan 16, 2010 2:30:49 PM:
Black eye? Do they really receive a black eye?
An honorary mention on the Rachel Maddow show hardly brings consequences to these groups. I've yet to hear of any legal actions taken against them or any significant protests/social repercussions.