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Friday morning.

Overcast, grey. Some wind is shaking the tree branches, and the promise of an afternoon of heat. Must say woke up in great good spirits. And, after some reading and work, find myself very chipper.

So, what of the day, how to plan it, and how not to mess it up?

In casual reading of the news... I kind of hate the naked bias that seems to seep into all articles about my sexuality. The politics of my sexuality. But, cannot dodge it, especially when I gather info from the net. There are two warring sides. Because I am gay, I am necessarily on one. But that will not phase me. There are things that I can do about it. Life is too precious to be spent in needless 'ideological wars' even when they are about my sexuality.

But, this is some very serious news.

There are some who claim that homosexuality cannot be 'physical'. That we are just faking our gayness. Needless to say at this particular point in time, science does have very different views about that particular point of view. No. I am not 'scientist' enough to try and prove that... I will leave it where it is.

But, once it is accepted that we are part of humanity, some people insist that we are sick, and need to be 'cured'. And, what about 'prevention of the sickness of homosexuality? Apparently, there is a study that is ongoing to 'prevent little girls from growing up into lesbians....!

Can homosexuality be prevented in the womb? The first known experiment to do just that is underway and it's stirring controversy.

A group of New York clinicians is gearing this prenatal treatment toward girls and women with a condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia. CAH is a serious hormonal disruption that sometimes results in ambiguous genitalia.

Previous research has shown that females born with CAH have increased rates of tomboyism and lesbianism. A steroid called dexamethasone, or DEX, has shown some success in preventing this. It's why researchers in this study believe it has promise in preventing girls from turning out to be homosexual or bisexual.

What is wrong with this? Surely if a parent doesnt want their kids to be gay, they should have that option?

Warko science. Why is it that homosexuality has always been in human populations? Why is it there? Why has it not been eliminated by 'evolution'? What purpose does it play in a populations? I am gay. I assert it. Of course it is difficult growing up gay. But, am I sick because I am gay? Am I sick because I am different from the rest of my straight brothers and sisters?

I have had a tough fight accepting my sexuality. But, I would not 'prevent' what I am. Was it to be genetic or anything else, it is what I am. Why should I be less?

No. Gut feeling. There is something seriously wrong with doing an experiment to 'prevent' homosexuality in unborn children.

But, horrendous as such a thing is, is it in fact happening? That is what the report says . Matter of fact, it makes me feel sick, that my sexuality is considered a sickness. Here is more analysis

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Here is a good, thoughtful article on the rise of Pentecostalism in Africa. It is a growing force. It is a matter of fact that it is mainly ideologicaly from the Right in America, and many of the things that are espoused are basic Christian right. What is frightening to me is the power, and the lack of thought; the exploitation of our ignorance and under-education. It is happening in Kenya, in Uganda, Burundi, Nigeria. It is happening in many other countries in Africa. Just thoughtfuly read this article in the Economist. Extracts below.

there is no doubt that, as elsewhere, Kenya’s politicians have underestimated the drawing power of a fresh generation of Protestant churches, most of which were set up in the 1980s.

Officially Pentecostals and other “charismatics” count for no more than 5% of the population. In reality, their ministers preach to about a third of the country every week. Their rise reflects an important trend across Africa. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, about 17m Africans described themselves as born-again Christians in 1970. Today the figure has soared to more than 400m, which accounts for over a third of Africa’s population. And as in Nigeria on the other side of the continent, they are now having a noticeable effect on public-policy debates in east Africa. Regardless of the outcome of the vote on the constitution in Kenya, for example, their interventions are likely to make abortion a defining political issue in the country. Similarly, the efforts of new churches in neighbouring Uganda have made political controversies out of homosexuality and the right of Muslims to convert to Christianity.

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However, there is also plenty of hucksterism. You will be blessed with health and wealth by God, congregants are told, especially if you give generously. As in other parts of the world, the new churches in Kenya and Uganda provide a place for the ambitious poor to get ahead. Yet the real competitive advantage of the new churches in east Africa seems to be their willingness to tap, at least subliminally, into traditional beliefs. “They give full play to the enchanted mentality, which holds the world to be inhabited with ghosts and spirits,” explains Paul Gifford, a professor of African Christianity at the University of London. It makes economic sense: getting spells lifted and spirits cast out on a Sunday morning saves money on a visit to the witch doctor during the week.

New churches are good at exploiting gaps in the market and profiting from them. A Ugandan Pentecostal preacher, Martin Ssempa, for instance, has mined a rich seam of homophobia in Uganda to help build up his standing. He and other Pentecostals pushed for the tabling of an anti-homosexuality bill in the Ugandan parliament, which advocates spying on gays and proscribes imprisonment for sodomy. Earlier versions of the law called for the death penalty in some instances. Mr Ssempa has in the past had ties with a prominent American evangelical, Rick Warren (who has condemned the anti-gay law), and with Uganda’s born-again first lady, Janet Museveni. “In Africa sodomy is an abomination,” he says. Some of his actions, such as screening gay pornography to his congregants, look clownish and self-publicising, but Mr Ssempa has been astute in targeting students at Makere, Uganda’s best university. Other Pentecostals have also had success in Uganda with missions to convert Muslims to Christianity.

Duh!

Now, that article has disturbed my digestion. If you doubt the power of 'religion' in Africa, just read this article by the Honourable Nsaba-Buturo, one of those new pentecostal Christians. He believes. And, his faith is quite wrapped up in his politics. And, he is a noted politician.

The fact that the President very openly and callously uses his faith for political gain is besides the point. For Buturo, the line between faith, morals and politics got blurred so badly that he believes they are one and the same thing. For him it may get to the point when belonging to his political party may be the right faith.

In any case, have a good day.

gug

Another Homosexual Pastor?

UPDATE:

This was disturbing me. Couldnt lay a finger on what exactly it was that is not healthy. Got it now. They are perfoming a withch hunt. And the scare word is 'homosexual'

Father Musaala is (or is not) homosexual… Seems the jury is out on that.

But a comedy is ongoing amongst the Pentecostal pastors in Uganda.

I think it was Thursday that I heard the rumour about an accusation leveled against Pastor Kayanja, another of the mega church pastors. I dismissed it. Was kind of too bizarre. Too way out there. For some reason, every enemy Pentecostal pastor is supposed to be homosexual. Don’t, or cant figure out the logic of that. Actually, I think it is the fact that they (the Pentecostals) have built up homosexuality to be the ultimate sin that one can commit. And, with the infighting between these churches, accusing one another of being homosexual is the ultimate. Especially if it sticks.

Oh, we real homosexuals are just collateral damage.

Anyway, Thursday I heard the bizarre story that Kayanja was accused. Monday it is in the New Vision. Front page.

Take time to read and laugh. But these things are pretty serious.

And, before I forget, the Red rug headlines a story from George Oundo that we homosexuals want to kill the poor lad. Apparently, we are not happy at him ripping apart our closets. Don’t really understand what Oundo is about. I suspect that the guy is just plain crazy. Or just loves the attention!

Here is the Pastor Politics story.

CID probes kidnap of Kayanja’s aide     

Row deepens among city’s top Pentecostal pastors

By Anthony Bugembe and Dorah Naamala 

The Police are investigating the alleged kidnap and torture of Chris Muwonge, the personal aide of Pastor Robert Kayanja of Rubaga Miracle Centre, in what seems a deepening row between rival Pentecostal (Born Again) churches.

Muwonge testified before the press yesterday that he had been abducted by armed men on the morning of April 18, while returning from overnight prayers, and held for five days.

“As I was picking a boda boda to go home, someone called me by name and said I had dropped my money. When I looked back, the man told me to enter a parked car. If I did not, he warned, the man in the car would shoot me,” the 27-year-old told journalists at the Miracle Centre church.

He said a gun was pointed at him as he entered the car; he was blindfolded and driven away. When the blindfold was removed, Muwonge noted, he was in a bathroom with a TV camera before him.

 

“My captors beat me while ordering me to look into the camera and testify that Pastor Kayanja had been sodomising boys. I refused. They promised me $100,000 (sh200m) and pocket money amounting to $20,000 (sh40m). They said they could fly me to any country of my choice.”

Muwonge said he was eventually dumped outside Kayanja’s residence in Kawuku-Gaba on Thursday. His head was covered in a plastic bag and his hands were trussed behind his back.

He was discovered by area residents who at first thought he was dead. They alerted Pastor Kayanja’s housekeeper, who notified her boss. Kayanja called the Police who rushed him to International Hospital Kampala for treatment.

The Police spokesperson, Judith Nabakooba, said they were investigating the incident. “We are taking this very seriously given that it may have security implications. We need to get to the bottom of the matter,” she told The New Vision.

more of the story deals with the Pastor politics...

The American Connection

[Its Sunday, so, I am into Christian bashing.

Ok, not true. But here is an interesting article into the Christian religion in Uganda. No wonder we want to, as Archbishop Orombi says, throw off the colonial roots of Christianity! It is an interesting read. How the hell did it get into the New Vision? I dont know, but it is interesting.

]

Ugandan pastors’ love for America

The recent arrest of Christian Life Church’s Pastor Jackson Senyonga is no doubt a thorn in the flesh of the Pentecostal churches in Uganda, which have been battling tantalising stories about wayward pastors.

Pastor Senyonga may well be innocent of the charges that he behaved lasciviously with a minor while on a flight from Denver to Oakland in the US. Senyonga has explained that he was only inching away from a snoring man, which caused him to lean more toward the girl on the other side. Ugandan pastors have expressed confidence in his moral character, even those who have disagreed with him in the past over different issues. Senyonga is simply being maligned by the oversensitive American culture where many men, even of the cloth, have been found guilty of immoral acts.

But there is an element to this case that Pentecostal Christians rarely get a chance to dissect. Among the Pentecostal pastors fraternity there is a tendency to make America their frequent base, if not home.

For instance, it is amazing that Pastor Senyonga has been away preaching since February and will only return in November, according to his church aide. His wife Eva is also currently in the US. Senyonga’s website lists a US ministry as one of his ministry activities, and he “travels to nations and cities to address key churches and events to stimulate spiritual transformation through prayer, personal transformation and evangelism for church growth”.

Over the last 20 years, it has been a trend for Ugandan preachers to cast their visions overseas, with the pressure to label their ministries ‘international’ following almost every Pentecostal preacher. A visit to ‘outside countries’ is the desired springboard for most pastors. Many pastors spend more time at airports and in planes, and have become pastors of the air, as one top Kampala pastor once quipped.

Some of the powerful churches in Kampala are actually run by assistant pastors, as the heads are busy with ministry in America and other countries. Congregations go for months on end without seeing the man of God and only receiving greetings from their pastor through phone calls relayed by the associate pastor. There are many doors that are opened with a visit to the US. Education opportunities, financial partners and opportunities to widen the preaching circuit abound.

Pastor Simeon Kayiwa has been moonlighting as a professor at the Latin University in California and is to start a university here. Pastors can build networks with willing donors and other pastors, which benefit the orphans and the poor. Others, including Senyonga, have invited volunteer teams on medical missions or to help build schools. There is also a movement that sees Uganda as a missionary base and the fact that there are American congregations eager to listen to them is a positive sign.

All this would be well, if there were not a number of issues arising out of this trend.

Behind the drive to flock America is the lure of the image-is-everything prosperity kind of gospel. There is competition to have the most beautiful church structure, the best dressed choir, a televised programme, website, the most modern musical and public address equipment, sometimes a media house and other expansions. On a personal level, pastors must have a modern car, suits, a mansion and a contingent of bodyguards. All these things cost a lot of money and there are only so many ways a pastor can get money out of an average congregation.

Many pastors have to become resourceful in attracting donors to sponsor their plans. Usually, it starts with a visit to the United States of America, where many rich people are touched by the stories of AIDS orphans and poverty. Unfortunately, some pastors take advantage of this situation to hoard a lot of money, only a fraction of which ends up in a hastily set up orphanage. Sometimes, the physical structures are put up after news that the donors will be visiting to tour the projects. Almost every church has an orphanage or school attached to it. Although many of them are genuinely meeting the needs of the community, some are mere conduits for collecting money. A number of pastors have got into scraps with the Police and parents over orphanages or study-for-free schools that are run on crooked principles.

Many American Christians have been led to believe that President Yoweri Museveni is a born-again convert, when the President himself has said he long abandoned the faith.

A Kampala lawyer told this reporter of a ‘pastor’ who ingratiated himself with an American couple and told them of an orphan he had reportedly rescued from Rwanda during the genocide. The couple used to send money, clothes and other types of assistance to ensure that the child was well taken care of. He also convinced them to donate money to a church over a number of years. When they decided to adopt the child the pastor went into some dubious methods to try and smuggle the child out of the country, but those attempts failed. 10 years later, the couple came to Uganda and was so heartbroken to discover that the ‘pastor’ had been feeding them on a pack of lies. The girl’s mother was not dead, although she was mentally unstable and had abandoned the child. The child’s grandmother laughed at the fantastic Rwanda genocide story and the church they had been sending money to was non-existent.

It turns out that the man used to be a preacher, but had become a businessman in Kampala and America, and as time proved, a terrible liar and extortionist.

There are pressures in the US that many Ugandan pastors are not able to resist. Many try to imitate the swashbuckling lifestyle lived by American preachers and transport it to their home churches. Those who travel without their wives have been lured into intimate relationships with women who don’t mind the fact that the pastor is already married. Some preachers leave the country on a ministry mission only to get married to American citizens in order to become official residents.

According to Pastor Solomon Male of Arising for Christ, there are many such pastors who leave the country purportedly to preach, only to end up on kyeyo, doing odd jobs to make money.

“The church is just a business venture for some of them. They go and deceive that they have orphans and poor people they are looking after, then they come back and live lavish lives. They don’t implement what they solicited the money for.”

Male says a pastor like Stephen Ssozi was really running the church as a personal business and that is why he sold it to Pastor Frank Lutaaya. However, the bulk of the congregation moved out and placed themselves under the care of a more trusted pastor.

Sometimes, money is raised from different churches in multiple fundraising drives for equipment or buildings when only one project is being undertaken. Still, church members will be made to contribute towards the same when they arrive in Uganda or at least be asked to pay for equipment to be cleared at the airport.

There are pastors who double as importers, mixing donated items with their business stock and making quite a handsome profit, both from the donated stuff and from not being taxed.

When Sunday Vision spoke to Pastor Male, he reeled off a number of bizarre cases, some believable and some extreme. He is confident about his sources of information and says he has followed up some cases and found them to be true.

Male also alleges that some have ended up being trapped in homosexual tendencies after getting funds from gay donors indiscriminately. Many so-called pastors have sold their souls to a number of dubious causes, all in an attempt to raise money.

The principal of Kampala Evangelical School of Theology, Rev. Dr. Solomon Nkesiga, says there is nothing wrong with pastors spending a long time outside the country if they have congregations there.

and it goes on and on. Read it. It is enlightening.

For the sceptical, no, I did not write that article. Once upon a time, maybe I would have gone into the research. My ire at the Christian church has plunged, to the point where I do find this mildly amusing.

Why is the gay debate so explosive in Uganda?

Sasha, from Kenya, asked a question that has been troubling me. Why is the debate on homosexuality so explosive in Uganda? Why not in Kenya? Why is it that in Uganda it has continued for so long, and so hot?

After a little thought, I just could not take the credit. It is not because of us Kuchus in Uganda that the debate has been so hot. And it has not always been us. See, only one person of note actually came out at the press conference. She then went ahead on a blitzkrieg of the fm stations. Others of us applauded from the sidelines. We were happy, but too cautious.

The anti-homosexual lobby. It is these guys who reacted like they had seen a huge poisonous snake. And they have been working on hitting it on the head, with whatever means possible. And they are powerful people.

Pastor Martin Ssempa is the vocal leader. He has been leading a crusade against homosexuality for years in Uganda. Even when no Ugandan kuchu was out. Before he was battling a faceless enemy. It is understandable he was ecstatic when the enemy got a face. Matter of fact, he is not a very clever person, but he postures, and shouts, and cries. He puts his foot many times into his own mouth. Why? That is a question I am burning with curiosity about. Why is he so rabid in his opposition? I don’t know, but some reasons I can guess.

My partner says he sets off his gaydar. And there have been persistent rumours that he is, or was gay. I have no substance to that, except that my gaydar is not that sensitive, but it gets a blip when I see him. Never met him personally. Wonder why a gay man would hurt other gay people? Ask Senators Craig and McCarthy. Internalised homophobia and self hate is one of the crosses we have to bear.

Another reason is the fact that he ponders to the American right. The Republicans who are so into ‘homo-bashing’, and ‘sex is bad thing’. He preaches abstinence. Preaches as in Sex is bad, condoms are burnt, and Virginity pledges and rallies. All in the name of god. I don’t know why Ssempa’s god came to hate me so much.

Anyway, Ssempa has organised the opposition, (funded from out?) been the focal point, generated airtime and many quotes, each more reprehensible than the other. He is a charismatic leader, and powerful in HIV prevention. Oh yes, and he has the ear of the First Lady. (We have only one, officially, and you are Kenyan, you understand!)

James Nsaba Buturo, PhD is the other reason. He is a minister in the current government. A minister for Ethics and Integrity. He is soft on corruption, (Sasha, Kenyan, you understand. So many things similar!), but very hard on homosexuality. He is a ‘born-again’ Christian, or a Pentecostal. But his hate for me and mine seems to be also exceptional. I have been angered by the fact that he belittles us, and thinks we are so bad that he wants us out of the country. For him it is the politics, and a hint of a personal agenda that I don’t get as yet. He believes that for the ‘fight against homosexuality’ it is like the 'war on terror'. Anything and everything is justifiable. Us being outed, losing our jobs, anyone being tainted as gay is risking, and if the police cannot act, why doesnt the populace take it into their hands? A very unchristian Christian, I must say.

But those are only two people. The other major factor is the religious bodies. First there are the Pentecostals. Uganda has had a major ‘revival’ since the end of the troubles in 1986. Churches sprung up everywhere. They were first made of papyrus reed walls. Now they are cathedrals of stone and glass. Where I live, I am surrounded by at least 5 pentecostal churches within a 2 km radius. They are many, and politically strong. The First Lady, is a very good source of that strength. The president is a very politically savy person. When Clinton yielded to G.W Bush, the man saw where the winds were blowing. He jumped onto that ship. And that has meant ridiculous statements like there are no homosexuals in Uganda. The twinning with the American right is just impossible to ignore. And of course it has been impossible to start an HIV prevention programme. I know it is happening in Kenya.

The Church of Uganda has also generated a ground swell. Many Ugandans cared naught about homosexuality. But the Church of Uganda cares, and very much. Together with the Nigerian Anglican Church, they are leading the current schism in the Anglican Church. Yes, they have their own reasons. Simply put, they could not say nothing when the ‘evil’ of homosexuality suddenly acquired a face in Uganda. They are not politically strong, but the Sunday after the press conference, all their churches preached about it.

The others have been mainly opportunistic. The Tabliqs are a fundamentalist moslem religious group that wanted to be seen as saying something. Otherwise, it has been a moot point with the Moslems. The Red rug has simply been opportunistic, and I suspect, a tool in the hands of more powerful forces.

A result of this very powerful, very vocal opposition has been that they have done many things which were seen as ridiculous. At the press conference, people narrated ordeals of being beaten up, abused, arrested. We just asked for one thing. To be left alone. To be left in peace. I was there. I saw the journalists there. They were affected, and I bet you, none of them would have thought that it was going to be such a big deal. But Nsaba Buturo wondered how come the press conference was possible, asked the police about it, and went on rampage. The New Vision is a government paper. They have been confused in their coverage. They just did not seem to know what to say. That has been hilarious. The Monitor was fair. I know 27^th will say that’s not true, but it is. They have tried to present our point of view, as they let the 95% release their hate too. So, I think they have been fair, in a way.

The ‘opposition’ has done some ridiculous things. Gaetano being suspended was one of them. It was ridiculous, so much so that people were shocked. And the media railed. The attack on the Monitor reporter was another. She was being as careful as she could, but not being Ugandan, and not having lived through the Nsaba Buturo era (he was Minister of Information) she did not understand the vehemence of his opposition. And of course was surprised to find herself the object of attack for factual reporting!

Anyway, there we are. Very interesting that I have argued so strenuously for the opposition. But I do like to think without blinders. And it is simply true to say that the opposition has been playing to their own agenda. Which is very interesting. Why has this been so? I would like to understand Nsaba Buturo and Ssempa’s motivation. Interesting.

GayUganda