Uganda anti-gay bill supported by US Congressmen and Evangelists
General Debacle
Examiner~y2009m11d29-US-Congressmen-support-Uganda-
AntiHomosexuality-Death-Penalty-Law-in-the-name-of-Jesus
Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) has taken at least 20 "missionary"
trips overseas since he's been in office, allegedly paid for by
U.S. taxpayers, using military transport. He is especially fond
of Uganda, boasting that he has "adopted" the East African
nation. In fact, he is so fond of Uganda, he has invited its
leaders to become members of the not-so secret, secret society
known as the Family in D.C., according to Jeff Sharlet, whose
new book, "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of
American Power" exposes just that.
You may have heard of the Family because of the book, which is
currently a bestseller. Or you may have heard of the Family
because of recent sex scandals involving members Sen. John
Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who is facing
37 ethics charges for abandoning his job to visit his mistress
in Argentina.
But the Family is much more than sex scandals - it is large and
powerful, with tentacles that reach every corner of the world.
It's members include several high-ranking Congressmen such as
Republicans Inhofe, Sen. Sam Brownback (KS), Sen. Jim DeMint
(SC), Sen. Chuck Grassley (IA), Sen. John Thune (SD), Sen. Joe
Pitts (PA), and several others. It is a bipartisan organization
- Democratic members include Sen. Bill Nelson (FL), Sen. Mark
Pryor (AR), Rep. Bart Stupak (MI), co-author of the Stupak-Pitts
Amendment, which would ban federal funding for abortion, except
in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother.
Since 1953, the group has led the National Prayer Breakfast at
the White House, which is attended by the President and his
Cabinet, along with dignitaries from across the globe. The
Family coined the term "prayer cell", which is an "invisible
believing group" who get together and talk with world leaders
about what God wants them to do in their leadership capacity.
According to Sharlet, Inhofe took David Bahati under his wing,
making him a core member of the Family. Bahati is the author of
Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The Bill creates a new crime
called "aggravated homosexuality" in Uganda and imposes
automatic life imprisonment or the death penalty for its
offense. "Aggravated homosexuality" is defined by the Bill as
sex with a disabled person, having HIV/AIDS, use of drugs or
alcohol that leads to gay sex, knowing a gay person and not
reporting it, or speaking positively about same-sex marriage.
Bahati is head of the Family-sponsored Africa Leadership Forum,.
It's likely the "Bahati Bill", as it is commonly known in
Uganda, will become law, because of the Family's financial
support, power, and influence in country. Sharlet says the
Family has poured millions of dollars into the Ugandan Anti-
Homosexuality campaign, and considers Uganda's President Yoweri
Museveni as the "key man" for the Family in Uganda. Sharlet
says Museveni can go to Brownback or any other Family member if
he wants money for arms or anything else, and stays at the
Family-owned Cedars House when he's in D.C.
Sharlet, who lived with the Family in its C-Street House near
Capitol Hill and became part of current leader Doug Coe's inner
circle, told NPR the Family believes in "Elite Fundamentalism" -
that is, that Jesus had one true message for a core group of the
elite and powerful, another for those in a somewhat "outer
circle," and the most common one known to the masses, who
"couldn't handle the truth."
Sharlet says the group's founder, Abraham Vereide, claims God
appeared to him one night in April 1935 and told him
Christianity was focused on the wrong people - the poor, the
suffering, the down and out - and told Vereide to be a
missionary to and for the elite and powerful; thus, the Family
is dedicated to the cultivation of "King Men" who are chosen by
God to use his "tools", using King David as a model.
The Family's main tenet is, "Jesus didn't come to take sides, he
came to take over." Sharlet says the core rhetoric of the Family
is that Christ's message wasn't about love, mercy, or forgivness
as most of us believe. It was about power. Coe was quoted as
saying Hitler, Stalin, and Chairman Mao understood this message.
He was quick to admit these were evil men, but he said they
understood power. Coe was labeled a fascist sympathizer after
his remarks.
However, Sharlet is quick to point out, "Doug Coe is not a neo-
Nazi, but he fetishizes strength, looking to build a fellowship
of absolute strength. This happened in Somalia, which is now a
haven for Al Qaeda, terrorism, and piracy, all of which the
Family regards as 'God's plan'."
An article in today's Guardian UK by Xan Rice reveals that "ex-
gay" U.S. Evangelists are the main activists behind Uganda's
"Bahati Bill". Both opponents and supporters agree that the
impetus for the bill came in March during a seminar in Kampala
to "expose the truth behind homosexuality and the homosexual
agenda".
The main speakers were three US evangelists: Scott Lively, Don
Schmierer and Caleb Lee Brundidge. Lively is a noted anti-gay
activist and president of Defend the Family International, a
conservative Christian association, while Schmierer is an author
who works with "homosexual recovery groups". Brundidge is a
"sexual reorientation coach" at the International Healing
Foundation.
The seminar was organized by Stephen Langa, who runs the Family
Life Network (sound familiar?) and has been spreading the
message that gays are targeting schoolchildren. "They give
money to children to recruit schoolmates � once you have two
children, the whole school is gone," Langa said in an interview.
Asked if there had been any court case to prove this was
happening, he replied: "No, that's why this law is needed."
"After the conference Langa arranged for a petition signed by
thousands of concerned parents to be delivered to parliament in
April. Within a few months the bill had been drawn up," reports
Rice.
It's unlikely at this point that anything can be done to stop
Ugandan leaders from passing the Anti-Homosexuality Law.
According to Rice's report, LGBT Ugandans are already making
plans to leave the country.
But the involvement of the U.S.'s elected representatives and
evangelists should not be ignored. Human Rights Watch has
condemend the bill as threatening basic human liberties and
human rights defenders in Uganda, as well as progress on the
eradication of HIV/AIDS in the region.
This is a time for outrage. How could high-ranking U.S. leaders
support such a clearly hate-filled piece of legislation? This
is a scary revelation, and should be a call to action for
American LGBT people against the Family and all it's multiple
affiliates. Remember, our apathy empowers our enemies. What's
happening now in Uganda is an early warning. These people
honestly believe God and Jesus are guiding them in their quest
for world domination, no matter what collateral damage is done
in the process. Something must be done now to stop the cruel and
inhumane practices of the Family.
JohnN
<nobirthcertific...@whitehouse.gov> wrote:
> http://www.examiner.com/x-4107-International-LGBT-Issues-
> Examiner~y2009m11d29-US-Congressmen-support-Uganda-
> AntiHomosexuality-Death-Penalty-Law-in-the-name-of-Jesus
This makes the American Taliban an international terrorist threat.
JohnN
Dänk 1010011010
<nobirthcertific...@whitehouse.gov> wrote:
> This is a time for outrage. How could high-ranking U.S. leaders
> support such a clearly hate-filled piece of legislation? This
> is a scary revelation, and should be a call to action for
> American LGBT people against the Family and all it's multiple
> affiliates. Remember, our apathy empowers our enemies. What's
> happening now in Uganda is an early warning. These people
> honestly believe God and Jesus are guiding them in their quest
> for world domination, no matter what collateral damage is done
> in the process. Something must be done now to stop the cruel and
> inhumane practices of the Family.
What I find most interesting about this new Ugandan law is how the
American left does not seem to be protesting it directly, but rather
protesting American conservatives who express support for it.
Since Uganda is a black African nation, it is ideologically
inconvenient for white liberals to condemn it, since they might be
accused of ethnocentrism or even racism. But it is perfectly
acceptable to condemn white conservatives and white religious leaders,
so the trick is to make it seem like they are the ones responsible for
imposing this unjust law on innocent Ugandans.
A quick search reveals that Uganda is a multiparty democracy, so this
law would seem to reflect the will of the Ugandan people. But this
implies that 'democratic' elections might have unprogressive outcomes,
and it implies that blacks might make incorrect political decisions.
So the left blames racist homophobic white Christian imperialists for
the law, conveniently absolving black Ugandans in the process.