Yesterday I went to bed down.
Just had had some news that depressed me.
On waking up, I have seen this article from the Monitor. At last the Anglicans in Uganda have decided that a good Anglican cannot support the Bahati bill.
Thanks to all people who pulled and pushed for us. Changing Attitude England, Leonardo pushing and pulling and ranting and reving, and all Christians out there. Archbishops of York, Canterbury. Cant forget you guys. You weighed in late, but you did.
You may wonder what it does for the bill? Just remember, the bill is only a symptom of the homophobia in Uganda. It has to be undercut. Uganda must be safe for those of us who will live there. And, never again to Genocide, which this bill is.
Here, at long last, is the absolute about turn from Uganda's Anglicans.
Wonder why I am not thanking Orombi but thanking Anglicans and other Church people from outside Uganda?The country's Anglicans yesterday added their voice against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Like the Catholics before them, the Church of Uganda officially rejected the Bill.
They proposed that instead of the death penalty for gays who seduce boys - as the Bill put forward by Ndorwa West David Bahati demands – the law should be changed to ensure that vulnerable boys are properly protected.
Archbishop Luke Orombi, in his first public comments on the controversial Bill, however said they do not recognise homosexuality as "a human right".
"The Church of Uganda believes that homosexual practice is incompatible with the Scripture," the prelate said in a statement issued yesterday, citing a resolution of the 1998 Lambeth Conference in Britain.
He added: "At the same time, the Church of Uganda is committed at all levels to offer counseling, healing and prayer for people with homosexual disorientation, especially in our schools and other institutions of learning."
And then, second article from the Monitor, Charles Onyango Obbo reminds us of the late Bishop Kauma.
Mr Bahati, who tabled the Bill last year, yesterday insisted in comments to Christians and pastors fellowshipping at Christian Life Church in Bwaise, a city suburb, that he is not giving up.
"As a Member of Parliament, I have a constitutional right to move a Private Member's Bill and will not be shaken by any external forces because I have the support from within my country," he said, adding: "Many Ugandans are behind me and we have to fight this battle jointly."However, the latest foray by Church of Uganda, which until last year played host and spiritual home for breakaway conformist American clerics/Anglicans disenchanted over acceptance of homosexuals in the Episcopal Church, deprives MP Bahati of the second biggest bloc after the Catholic Church here earlier raised objections to capital punishment embedded in the Bill.
3 comments:
Thi is a link to the new official position of the anglican Church of Uganda:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/special/pdf/0209couposition.pdf
It seems to me they support the entire bill except the death penalty and the criminalization of pastoral and medical care. They still aim to strip LGBT of all rights except the right to have a miserable, unhealthy, oppressed, celibate life.
F Young
Thanks for that link, FY. It's almost as disgusting a statement of intent as the proposed Bill. And they call themsleves Christians! They wouldn't know it if they tripped over it on the street (and they probably do, frequently, trailing their ceremonal robes as they go...).
Its absolutely disgusting, and absolutely at odds with the stance of their brothers and sister in the western world, most notably America!! where the Church has been advocating for equality in civil law since 1976!! and they want to do the exact opposite in Uganda its absolutely disgusting! It is time the Archbishop of Canterbury says something loudly and himself instead of quietly threw his press office about how this is the wrong decision and how this is absolutely against the teachings of the Church! It is time that the Church of Uganda be set straight.
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