Rebel?

Particular insight into who I am?

Maybe. I find myself particularly amused by the poking of holes into an emperor's ego. When it is safe, of course. I will not usually take it beyond the concerns of personal safety.

Anyway, I am enjoying the poking of Rick Warren. They want him to denounce the Ugandan bill. Here too. He is a politician. (No. No churchman that one, and he is twisting and trying to escape the pinning gaze.) Sigh, maybe, like Tiger Woods, he should come out and confess. I dont think Woods will. Too controlled, too private an individual.

But Rick Warren? There is the rub. He is a politician churchman, rubbing shoulders with presidents, having lots and lots of influence. With great influence comes responsibility. Please, dont let him get away with only a slap on the wrist to his friend Ssempa...! Dont let this Churchman get away from his responsibility.

No. he is not adult enough to own up. So, go ahead with the pressure. Actually, Warren has more clout in Uganda than poor gug here. So, keep up the pressure. That guy can bring St Ssempa to heal, off his high crusade... Maybe. Best chance that there is.

There are others on Impunity Watch. Yeah, they should be.

And, there are others who are silent. Loved this sarcastic bit. Which I am depositing here...

Thomas Sutcliffe: No dignity in this pretence of unity

These proposals are the sexual equivalent of the Nuremberg Laws

Tuesday, 1 December 2009

You probably – you poor dupe – have always believed that the Nazis were violently intolerant of homosexuality. But Scott Lively, author of The Pink Swastika, would like to put you right. In his book, Lively argues that far from being anti-gay many of the leaders of the party – including Adolf Hitler – were homosexual and that their sexual preferences directly contributed to Nazi atrocities.

The gays weren't victims of the Nazis, in other words – they were the Nazis and they're still at large. Lively is president of a conservative evangelical group called Defend the Family and earlier this year he was among a group of American evangelical preachers, anti-gay activists and "former homosexuals" (their term) who addressed Ugandan parliamentarians and evangelicals, hoping to stiffen their opposition to the slim prospect of increasing gay rights. To legalise homosexuality, Lively reportedly told them, was akin to legalising "the molestation of children or having sex with animals".

The efforts of these pious haters certainly paid off. The Ugandan parliament is considering a private member's bill which will introduce the death penalty for "serial offenders" and impose a prison sentence of three years on anyone who knows of homosexual activity and does not report it. And whether the bill passes or not the fact that it is being discussed at all is a measure of the intolerance towards gay people in that country. These proposals are the sexual equivalent of the Nuremberg Laws and it isn't hard to imagine what might follow on their heels were they to pass into law.

Whatever its roots in the culture of Ugandan life this hatred has been nourished by missionary religion – and not just the wilder fringes of American evangelism. In a recent address the Bishop of Bristol quoted a remark attributed to Henry Orombi, the Anglican Archbishop of Uganda, to the effect that he was "horrified to learn that homosexuals are trying to convert people to homosexuality in our schools". Another Anglican Bishop, Joseph Abura, has drawn an explicit parallel between gay people and wizards, and this in a country where witch-hunts frequently end in murder.

So far the Church of England has not made any formal condemnation of this pogrom in the making. The official statement from Lambeth was this: "It has been made clear to us ... that attempts to publicly influence either the local church or political opinion in Uganda would be divisive and counter-productive. Our contacts ... with the local church will therefore remain intensive but private." Which is odd really, since there are churches which have decided that tactical silence and behind the scenes persuasion simply won't do any longer.

Last week the United Reform Church condemned the proposed legislation as "morally repugnant". More curious still was an open letter from an evangelical group called Exodus International, addressed to President Yoweri Museveni, which argued that the laws would make it impossible to "extend the love and compassion of Christ to all". Ugandan gays could be forgiven for being a little wary of this particular form of "compassion" because Exodus International is another of those groups whose religious homophobia has resulted in their current plight.

But if even they can directly address the question it's hard to understand why Lambeth hesitates – unless the "division" that the Archbishop is really worried about is not between the citizens of Uganda, but between branches of the established church. The bad news is that that division already exists and Rowan Williams' attempts to keep one foot on either side while pretending it isn't there are increasingly undignified. There will come a point when that pretence becomes shameful, and it isn't far off.

Please, keep up the Pressure.....!