Year: 2010

The New York Times has a report from Uganda on The Call Uganda and it does not sound promising.

Though not originally linked to the Ugandan legislation, Mr. Engle has long been a controversial figure in the United States for his views on homosexuality. During California’s referendum on same-sex marriage in 2008, he called homosexuality a “spirit of lawlessness.”

Before arriving here last week, Mr. Engle came out with a statement condemning the harsh penalties proposed in the bill, and said that his ministry could not support it. But when he took the stage late on Sunday afternoon, with Ugandan politicians and pastors looking on, he praised the country’s “courage” and “righteousness” in promoting the bill.

“NGOs, the U.N., Unicef, they are all coming in here and promoting an agenda,” Mr. Engle said, referring to nongovernmental organizations. “Today, America is losing its religious freedom. We are trying to restrain an agenda that is sweeping through the education system. Uganda has become ground zero.”

Lou Engle’s statement last week promised that the meeting in Kampala would not promote the bill:

Therefore TheCall, though continuing to be held in Uganda, will not promote this bill. In fact, we challenge the Church of Uganda to join with Christians around the world, to first examine our own moral failures, confess our own lack of love, and from that heart seek to establish true biblical standards, reflecting compassion for those struggling with same-sex attraction and equal justice for criminal offenses committed by heterosexuals or homosexuals. We believe this also reflects the heart and intent of the Christian leaders of Uganda.

I am aware of several sources who video taped the meeting and footage should be available sometime tomorrow. We will be able to see if the NYT report is accurate.

UPDATE: While I wait to review video of the event, I am going to post reports that come from Uganda about The Call Uganda. Another report, this time from a gay advocacy group, disputes The Call’s promise not to promote the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

UGANDA – 03 May 2010: The commencement of Uganda’s prayer crusade yesterday, Sunday 2 May became a platform for religious leaders to cast out homosexuality once more, as a Western behavior, unAfrican and unbiblical.

Reports state that Pastor Mulinde of Trumpet Church called on other pastors present to come to the floor and pray for the nation of Uganda and in his prayer he condemned ‘evils in society’, committed by both homosexuals and heterosexuals.

He further emphasized that homosexuality is invading schools, families and the entire community and that it should be stopped.

Pastor Oyet Julius pointed out that Uganda is not for sale and that western civilization should not be allowed to take over the country.

“Members of parliament should not waste time by debating the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, they should quickly make it a law”, Oyet reportedly said.

He also called upon the cabinet, media, and business community to take a firm stand against homosexuality, also accusing homosexuals of paying school fees for young children while recruiting them to ‘the act’.

“Uganda cannot be intimidated by the Western World, we cannot put our dignity for sale” He said.

Pastor Lou Engle of The Call Ministries, a movement emphasizing prayer, worship and fasting for Spiritual breakthrough, said Western countries are using Ugandan NGO’s to promote homosexuality.

“We warned the youth against the act, when America allowed homosexuals freedom, it was the end of their Nation”, he said.

Meanwhile minister of Ethics and Intergrity Nsaba Buturo said that Uganda will not listen to the “nonsense” that homosexuality is a human rights issue.

Another report from someone who says he was there. This from Ugandan blogger, wamala dennis mawejje: 

Lou engle on stage

He said he come to know Uganda through Apostle John Mulinde and knew nothing about the anti-homosexuality bill when he was being invited to Uganda hence he had a big debate on whether he should come to Uganda when there was international controversy over his trip.

They were under a lot of pressure and now they understand the kind of pressure Ugandan pastors are under.

He encouraged Ugandan pastors to stand firm because they have been chosen to lead the world in the fight against homosexuality and that they are standing for the truth.

The pastors don’t hate gays or spread hate but NGOs, UN, UNICEF, etc are promoting a homosexual agenda which is against the teachings of the church.

Uganda is a Christian nation and God loves everyone trapped in sin but marriage was established between Man and woman for the wellbeing of children.

The government of Uganda should uphold righteousness in this land.

America has lost the fight against the homosexual agenda and it has got into school. Parents are even losing power over their children as schools are teaching them that homosexuality is okay.

God is using Uganda as ground zero or a starting point for the rest of the world against homosexuality. God chose Uganda.

His son prayed for the sexually broken and then all youths below 30 years were called in front and blessed to be the front runners in the fight for morality in Uganda.

Lou Engel and crew went back to US immediately after his prayer.

Again, if accurate, this is very disturbing and would not match up with the commitment not to promote the bill. Ground zero? Reminds one of Scott Lively’s imagery of a nuclear bomb in Uganda.

Bob Hunter writes to say that 1,300 is a very small turnout for a rally of this nature in Uganda. The area in question will accommodate many times that number of people and this would have to be considered a bust.

Roll the tape and you supply the commentary…

A group in Uganda called the “Forum for Kings and Cultural Leaders in Uganda” urged the government to pass the Anti-Homosexuality Bill yesterday. The news released reportedly said:

…homosexuality breaks the laws of nature, faith, the Constitution and the laws of culture and traditions

Bahati, cheered by the support said:

Mr Bahati, in a phone interview yesterday, welcomed efforts of the traditional leaders, saying “because at the end of the day, homosexuality is a danger to the culture that they are charged with protecting.”

While reading the article, I thought of my article titled, “Eliminating homosexuality: Nazi Germany and modern Uganda.” In it, I point out the attitudes of the National Socialists toward homosexuality. War criminal Josef Meisinger was the head of the Reich office charged with eliminating homosexuality. In a 1937 speech, he had this to say about the political reasons to combat homosexuality.

If one is really to appreciate the hidden danger of homosexuality, it is no longer enough to consider it as before from a narrowly criminal viewpoint. Because it is now so enormously widespread, it has actually developed into a phenomenon of the most far-reaching consequence for the survival of the nation and state. For this reason, however, homosexuality can no longer be regarded simply from the viewpoint of criminal investigation; it has become a problem with political importance. This being so, it cannot be the task of the police to investigate homosexuality scientifically. At the most it can take account of scientific conclusions in its work. Their task is to ascertain homosexual trends and their damaging effects, so as to avert the danger that this phenomenon represents for nation and state. No one says to the police: you shouldn’t arrest this thief because he might have acquired kleptomania. Similarly, once we have recognized that a homosexual is an enemy of the state, we shan’t ask the police-and much less the Political Police-whether he has acquired his vice or whether he was born with it. I should mention here that experience has shown beyond doubt that only a vanishingly small number of homosexuals have a truly homosexual inclination, that most of them by far have been quite normally active at one time or another and then turned to this area simply because they were sated with life’s pleasures or for various other reasons such as fear of venereal diseases. I should also say that, with firm education and order, and regulated labor, a great number of homosexuals who have come to the attention of the authorities have been taught to become useful members of the national community.

Note that the “danger” of homosexuality is framed in nationalistic terms, much as it is currently in Uganda. When one considers this nationalism along with the fervor that some religious leaders are inciting, and it should be clear why the situation must seem very precarious for homosexuals there.  

You had to see this coming.

Parents and Friends of Ex-gays issued a press release today touting a certificate of appreciation given to Regina Griggs by the Mayor of the District of Columbia for her work as PFOX director. The certification lauded Griggs’:

dedication, commitment, and outstanding contributions as Executive Director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays.

Call me a prophet. When I saw that news, I immediately figured that the Mayor’s office would issue a clarification or denial before the end of the day. And lo, and behold, as has been reported elsewhere, Mayor Fenty’s office released a statement apologizing for the certificate, saying in full:

A staff level error was made when the request for the certificate in question was fulfilled. We apologize for the error as it runs contrary to the Mayor’s vision of a more open and inclusive city. 

The Mayor is proud of his ardent support of the LGBT community as illustrated in his championing of the Marriage Equality legislation which he signed into law on December 18, 2009.

This full statement, courtesy of Mayor Fenty’s Director of Communications, Mafara Hobson, blames a staffer for the error and indicates he did not know what he was signing.

Some of the confusion could be the inclusion of “gays” in their title. The certificate mentions PFOX as being the Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays. However, their 2008 990 form confirms that the legal name of the organization does not include the gay part.

Another interesting point on the 990 is that PFOX reports to the IRS that it is a “Christian Support Ministry.” However, on the Path coalition website, they portray themselves as a non-religious group.

Dog bites man. OneNewsNow distorts sexual orientation research.

In a great example of why I hope Janet Porter’s prayer to take over the media is never realized, OneNewsNow distorts the import of Elan Karten’s doctoral dissertation research reported recently in Journal of Men’s Studies.

Here is the OneNewsNow title:

‘Orientation’ change efforts effective.

Here is a statement from Karten and Wade (p. 86):

The purpose of the study was not to replicate findings from prior research or establish the efficacy of this treatment.

Now the way NARTH discusses the study, one might think replication of prior change research was the intent, but it was not a study that was designed to “establish the efficacy” of sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE). Rather, the authors surveyed 117 men who were trying to change and asked them what seemed to be working in their quest. It was not an outcome study and there were no follow up interviews with any of the subjects.

OneNewsNow says this:

Researchers at Fordham University have released a study showing that homosexual men can change their “orientation” by developing healthy, non-sexual relationships with other men.

As noted by the article, the study did not demonstrate change via any mechanism nor was the stated intent of the study to establish this finding. The study was not designed in such a way that change could be verified. Karten recruited participants from Journey Into Manhood participants and from therapists who conducted change therapy. The subjects were only required to have some same-sex attraction, meaning that we do not know how many, if any, exclusively homosexual men were in the study. There was only one measurement of sexual attraction via the survey with no follow up measures. Thus, change was not really measured, in that there was no pre-treatment or post-treatment assessments. Participants were asked to rate how helpful various interventions had been and various characteristics relating to masculinity.  Nothing causative can be inferred from any of the reported correlations.

There are several problems with the study which make any interpretations of findings speculative but I will return to that in a future post. For now, it is clear that the Karten article contradicts the reporting of OneNewsNow.

This is not the first time OneNewsNow has skewed facts regarding sexual orientation research. For instance, when the APA sexual orientation task force reported findings in August, 2009, OneNewsNow reported uncritically the incorrect view that the APA recommended that evangelical gays should change churches to join affirming groups. In my blog at US News and World Report, I pointed out that OneNewsNow refused a request to correct the record. In fact, when I called to point it out, the reporter hung up on me.

So when Janet Porter prays that Christians take over the media and that CBS should be the Christian Broadcasting System, I cringe. OneNewsNow is owned by the American Family Association, one of the sponsoring organizations for the May Day 2010 taking place this Saturday. In the program for that event, this prayer is offered for the media:

Media

-Repent for how the media has turned its backs on God and the truth.

-Repent for how they have become activists for evil.

-Invite God back into the media to guide and direct reporting in a truthful way. 

As noted in this video and the above prayer, Mrs. Porter proposes that truth will be served if Christians reclaim media. Well, I am all for truthful reporting. However, this OneNewsNow report demonstrates how beliefs about the truth can lead to inaccurate and biased reporting. To me, doing media Christianly at least involves getting all the facts and reporting them accurately, whatever the story might be.