Peddlers of Homophobia, falsehoods and Evil

‘Men, and Women of God’. Unimpeachable sources of all knowledge on earth. The go-to experts in all things, in the realms of heaven and earth. The literal power of religious leaders in our environment is immense, unquestioned, unquestionable.
Imagine, in Kenya, a pastor, evangelical convinced 250 plus men and women, with their children, to starve to death, in order to go meet their god. 350 human remains exhumed. Parents with their children. And, of the 60 ‘rescued’, they are refusing to eat. If they eat, they will fail to meet their god. Just imagine how long that has been going on. 250 dead. The pastor is in good health.

In Uganda to the east, another pastor convinced his faithful to sell all they had, and trek to Ethiopia, where they were found, starving
And, we had the Kibwetere cult in western Uganda. Over 70 immolated, apparently on their leaders orders. Burnt themselves to cinders. In a god’s name.

Religious leaders in Africa are ridiculously powerful.
Listening to ‘balokole’ radio (Pentecostal), one hears inanities like lurid confessions of anything and everything, interpretation of dreams and other counselling live on radio, and tv. Tales of being chased by naked chickens in dreams, of exorcisms, and infestations of spirits, holy and unholy.
This is staple, religion in Africa, and in Uganda. And it is served by very powerful people. Men, and Women of God.

Unimpeachable sources, unquestioned. Unquestionable. They speak the Truth. Period.

So, when Pastor Martin Ssempa started showing gay porn in church, and at rallies and conferences, he was not questioned. His aim was to show how ‘bad’ the homosexual is.
Ssempa in his glory got no pushback, in Uganda. It was only when he became an international story that Ugandan media broke that story. He was a pastor.., how could he do any wrong? And of course he was smearing homosexuals. The big, bad, ugly homosexuals.

Ssempa says he is not homosexual. I don’t know how he sourced gay porn, in a country where all porn is illegal. I am sure I have never had the pleasure of doing some of the acts that he showed in public in Uganda.., he showed them, and described them for those who were too far from him to see the screen. And, Ugandans barely blinked. A ‘man of god.’ I am gay.., and I would never be believed over him as a source as to what I do, during sex!

But, their temporal power has been demonstrated, not very covertly, by the Rt. Rev Stephen Kaziimba, Archbishop and Primate of the Church of Uganda, Anglican.

In my estimation, he has been a prime mover for the Anti-Homosexual Act 2023. With the Catholic Church in convenient silence, the Primate of the Anglicans in Uganda met with other leaders in the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, and they determined that there would be a law. Inspite of the estimation that the President was not supportive. The meeting was in February 2023. By March, the bill was written, tabled, and rushed through Parliament. The President hesitated, signing it. And the Archbishop unleashed his cries…, the bill must become law. That was the song, over Easter. And the bill was law.

Powerful, powerful man.

Eloquent, he revealed his reasoning in public. And, yes, it is a blast. Literally.
This is a very powerful man, in actual terms. And these are his considered beliefs. He is a well read person, if a PhD means anything. And, he is unashamedly ignorant, and homophobic.

Examine this, for a moment. It was part of his sermon on Easter, 2023, he reminds us helpfully.

“Homosexuality is currently a challenge in Uganda because it is being forced on us by outside, foreign actors against our will, against our culture, and against our religious beliefs. They disguise themselves as “human rights activists,” but are corrupting real human rights by adding LGBTQ to their agenda.”

The Kuchu (LGBTQ+) activists that I know are as Ugandan as Stephen Kaziimba. Yes. We are Ugandan, and it is insulting for our ancestry as Ugandan and African to be questioned. But, we are kuchus. He is a ‘Man of God’.

No, of course he didn’t mention his political fight with the Primate of the Church of England. That would have tarnished his moment. And, to actually be challenged and proved wrong in his ‘truths’. And of course they must be true. He said so, not so?

Another truth that he keeps harping on, this saintly and educated ‘Man of God’ is that we don’t reproduce.

“LGBTQ relationships (which cannot procreate)”

“”

Now, that is embarrassing. Would he understand if I told him that the B in LGBTQ means Bisexual? He is an educated person…, but not about sexuality, gods forbid. And, I am one of the evil homosexuals, a kuchu. Hardly a believable source about my own biology and sex and sexuality, am I?
Telling him that our ovaries and testes are intact in fact…, and that we do have children…, well. We cannot, because he says we dont.

And, this is what Dr Stephen Kaziimba, the Rt Rev Archbishop of the Church of Uganda says of our lack of procreation. A seemingly logical extension of what he believes.

““Those countries that legalized homosexuality a long time ago have seen a long-time decline in their population growth. In fact, many of those countries are now faced with the problem of negative population growth. Negative population growth leads to the collapse of countries, cultures, civilizations, and economies.””

All because we kuchus (LGBTQ+ individuals) don’t procreate.
We are a minority. A persecuted, blamed-for-everything minority. Kaziimba is one of the most important propagators of the myth that we ‘recruit children’, and that we somehow make people gay. Homosexuals. The dreaded kuchus. Apparently we the minority will recruit others and become a majority, hindering Uganda’s population growth.

It is very, very sad.
Our peoples are poor, uneducated, and not up to critical thinking. They believe in their religious leaders, to an extent that is ridiculous. It is those same religious leaders, with the advantage of knowledge and education, who propagate ridiculous untruths, unquestioned, unquestionable because they are our religious leaders. And, the sheep believe it all.

It is very sad. Sadder because it is truth.

 

gug