The Nastiness of the Church of Uganda

Ouch!!!!!

I am given to sharp language. But, real Englishmen (ahem, ahem), have this facility at the language which clothes an insult in robes of crimson and velvet. (and purple...!)

Check this article out. The whole of it.

Me, I just plain say that some Churchmen are hypocrites. And who is to say I am being rude? I am gay, and I am not a Christian. What a load of excuses!

But it is an affirmation that gay people are right to love one another; and that is, I think, the single most important step away from homophobia. When you compare the Synod's vote with the language used by the Church of Uganda on Monday, when it scrupulously avoided condemning the death penalty for gay people, the difference is obvious and very cheering. I cannot imagine the Church of England assenting to anything which takes the loathsome bullying tone of the Ugandan statement: "The Church ofUganda is committed at all levels to offer counselling, healing and prayer for people with homosexual disorientation, especially in our schools and other institutions of learning."

If the writer had asked me, I would have said it very bluntly. But so help me the gods, very, very truthfully. The Church of Uganda believes that gays like me are not human beings. Period. The church of Uganda is that Giddings guy, Bishop of Oxford, multiplied by the number of bishops that the Church of Uganda has.

Now, now, now. Stop calling me out for my straight talking. Why, I may soon start quoting Jesus himself, talking about the Church of Uganda!!!! And, I promise that every word that I say will pass the litmus test, and the truth reader. It will be truth. And nothing by the truth.

I am nasty, arent I?

At a conference for gays which, naturally, has no gays.... Do you want to read more of that?
Me, I am a dirt poor African who knew almost nothing of the 'Cultural wars' about my sexuality. But, then I discovered that I am one of those demonised, or saintly people who cause wars and launch the ships of war. I am gay.

Now, tomorrow is Valentine's Day.

Of course I have planned something special for him. Cleaned out my account, (the 20 Million USD has NOT yet arrived. Did Buturo lie?).
And, now I have to smuggle it into the house, and make him think that I forgot that tomorrow is Valentines...

Hey, we have to have fun, dont we?


gug

PS, the Seventh Day Adventists in Uganda did support the bill. the Bahati bill. But, here is a link of one of their brethren who actually actively opposed them....

Christians are funny, arent they?

No. I am not talking of the Ssempa's of this world. Or that other Bishop from Kenya who is organising crowds to kick out the gay people. Seriously, think of what Jesus would have told that nasty man.

What is that name of shame, that equals and almost surpases Ssempa in the Christian Hall of Infamy? Bishop Lawrence Chai (means tea) of the National Council of Churches of Kenya. Anglican?


gug

Post Valentine

A beautiful day out. Really beautiful.

Maybe it is the fact that I am in a great mood. Beauty is a perception, and sometimes when it is this beautiful, and my mind’s clouds are threatening, I barely notice it.

Sun is out. Past midday, but not so bright. Not very hot. A breeze from the lake, some clouds in the sky, and the fitful stirring of the trees.

I am alive.

Yes, something to celebrate. Being alive in this super mad world of ours.

Woke up early, and felt the pull of the morning. It was so beautiful, the morning, I regretted why I had not come out much earlier.

Got my book on poetry, and wanted to read. Couldn’t read much. Wanted to look at the morning. Wonder why it was so pulling.

Nothing new in it. As usual, but the freshness of the air, the heavy hanging cloud which seemed to be holding in the heat. It gave a false promise of a day of rain. False, because deep in my bones, I felt that the sun would be out.

I live in a valley. Felt pulled, got out of the house, took a walk to the main road nearby. Too early for traffic. A few kids and workers off to work and school.

Calm, cool, quiet. I was at peace.

Felt so calm, I wanted to sit down by the road side and read my poetry, taking in the cool of the morning. Desisted. I am a weirdo, I know, but there are things which would brand me possessed.

Valentine’s day? It was beautiful.

The day was the day. The night, well, we went out. Sat outside Speke hotel. Dinner, but what was most striking was the beauty of the place. Under the trees, the night warm, the sky clear, cloudless, stars out, dimmed by the electric lights.

I sat with my lover at the table and drank in that beauty. I was really happy.

Don’t mind that some may have noticed my hand holding his, or touching him once in the while. It was a beautiful day, it was Valentine, and I was with the man I love.

Talk of being charmed.

News from Saudi Arabia. A woman who is going to be killed because she is a witch. Life is odd. You know, that is one of the worst accusations that can happen in the Ugandan country side. There is a law on the books against witchcraft in Uganda. So help me a god I do not know, but that law is there.

But few are prosecuted.

Worse. If there is such an accusation, the people take it into their hands. Out in the countryside. They kill the person. Mob justice.

(Yet the people go to some witchdoctors who are recognised. Don’t know why some are bad, and others are revered!)

In Saudi Arabia, it seems they are more sophisticated. The law is not there, the crime is non-existent, but an illiterate woman can be forced to sign a confession, and … It is a sick world, in more ways than one!

Talking of matters of faith, the Church of Uganda, Anglican, has confirmed that they will not attend Lambeth. I love Ugandans.

We are usually the ones in the lead. So, we Africans, (me exclusive), are breaking the Anglican communion over the homosexuality issues.

Don’t know what to feel about that.

Once upon a time, I was in the Church of Uganda. That is before I realised that I cannot inherit a faith with my genes. It has been a long journey. From there, through sometimes stronger belief, confusion, despair, and letting go.

Now, I no longer believe. Don’t know how I really feel about the Church of Uganda’s action. These guys (and they are guys, with only a smattering of girls) really believe that we are the worst kind of people. They do not talk to us. We are very inhuman beings, us kuchus. According to them!

Well, good luck to the Anglican Communion. It is a historical thing to happen. Last time such a thing happened was when? I know of the reformation, Martin Luther etc. So, is this a new split in the church?

Err, the land wars. Are they going to be cold or hot? They continue.

Ever heard of the words An Imperial Presidency? France comes to mind, Nixon’s days in America? Museveni in Uganda? I am no business major, but I do realise that the gentleman is giving a very good practical lesson in how centralisation of authority can cripple a country’s decision making. Taking the rubbish off the streets of the capital has to be signed off at the Presidential Palace!

Now, I have really digressed.

It is a beautiful day. Enjoy it.

GayUganda

A Day of Degrees

It is a day of degrees. Sun is out, but clouds hide it. Grey, yet light enough for me to appreciate that it is a beautiful day. It feels deceptively cold, bet the temperatures are in the mid twenties. It is the grey of the day and the lack of sun which seems to be cold. And when the wind stirs, fitfully as it is doing, it brings a whisper, a remembrance of coolness to the skin. For a second or so, then it goes. I think it is more humid than usual.

Ambient weather. An ambient temperature. Bet I could walk around naked very comfortably. Not too hot, not too cold, just fittingly, pleasantly, ambient temperature.

Valentine’s day today.

Unromantic me, I thought a good workout in the morning would do. You know, skin to skin, breathing him in, holding him like he is a part of me. It was appreciated.

But my more romantic half wants the day marked in a more special way. So, I will have to think about it!

My bones expect that the sun will be out in the afternoon, and that it will be a very beautiful sunny day.

No more rioting in Kiseka market. That was controlled, by the military police. Ugandans out there, ever thought that the country is militarising by degrees? Truth to tell, I was more comfortable with the un-inspiring khaki police and their AK-47s, than the guys in red and blue berets and camouflage uniform.

But they did control the riot. For now. Lets wait for the next one.

The MPs, parliament this time, are happy that they are big men. And women. So they are going ahead to claim privileges.

Power to them, I say! Till they are dressed down, of course.

The President says he is going nowhere. Life presidency? Will have to amend the constitution when he tops 75, if I remember well. A referendum in the future I think.

The ‘cold’ land wars are continuing. Depends on which papers opinion you take.

Same old, same old, same old things, huh.

But not to appreciate that it is a new day, a beautiful new day, is positively criminal. The sun is now out, like a shy girl’s smile golden, turning the green of the leaves to a green gold. And I am a alive, and appreciating life as is.

So many are the times that we forget the beauty of the day as is, because we are too involved in trying to make it better. Trying to make it in our sense of a heaven on earth. That is why love is so beautiful. One finds all the beauty of the world in the love of one human being.

Be in love, enjoy the world.

Happy Valentine’s Day

GayUganda