Category: Religion

Now an Anti-Pornography Bill; Uganda’s Plan B

According to this Afrik-News article, the Ugandan government is set to criminalize pornography. Scott Lively would approve. He told his Ugandan audience in March, 2009 that straight porn leads to homosexuality. Hon. Nsaba Buturo agrees:

“Pornography breeds homosexuality. I am happy that finally a bill to curb pornography in Uganda is out to punish the promoters of the vice. The draft bill is already in cabinet for discussion” Nsaba Buturo said.

According to the bill, any person found guilty of dealing in pornographic materials risks paying heavy fines or a 10-year jail sentence or both.

“The days of the homosexuals are over. The bill is good news to all morally upright Ugandans saying that pornography has contributed to moral decay and increased crimes among Ugandans,” he added.

While addressing the press in Kampala on Wednesday, the Minister of Uganda for Ethics and Integrity, Dr. James Nsaba Buturo said that Pornography is the mother of vice and so there is need to stop it immediately.

Buturo may have to do his crusading as a private citizen since he was defeated in his party primary. Again according to the article:

Dr. James Nsaba Buturo attacked homosexuals who celebrated his defeat in primary elections for his ruling political party in his constituency, saying they “sponsored my rivals and even helped in cheating the votes. But I have appealed to the party electoral commission.”

It is funny to think there is a massive gay vote that could topple Buturo in Uganda. Be interesting to see how this plays out. Most of the rest of the article is flawed but I suspect that most of the quotes attributed to Buturo are correct.

If I can find a copy of the draft, I will post it.

The New Yorker almost reports on Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill

The New Yorker published online an article on The Fellowship, titled “Frat House for Jesus: The entity behind C street.”

The article is lengthy and I need to read it more thoroughly before I give an assessment of the completeness of the reporting but I am not encouraged by the author’s treatment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill:

Hunter brought Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the former African rebel who became Uganda’s President, and other key Ugandan leaders into prayer groups. When Uganda’s Parliament took up a bill last year that would have punished some homosexual acts with death, Hunter and his friends in the Fellowship felt they had the standing to urge the proposed measure’s defeat. Museveni appointed a commission that studied the matter and then recommended that the bill be withdrawn.

That’s it. While Peter Boyer’s purpose was to report on the Fellowship – in advance of Jeff Sharlet’s new book on the subject coming out soon – he could have at least mentioned that the bill was not withdrawn and that the mover of the bill is a main figure in the Ugandan prayer breakfast movement (The Fellowship).

This paragraph makes it seems as though the bill is history because of the American opposition from the Fellowship. If anything, the American and Ugandan prayer breakfast groups are still at odds over the proper policy regarding the bill. The bill is still alive in committee with Fellowship associate and Ugandan member of Parliament, David Bahati, still advocating the application of Leviticus in Ugandan law.

Let me hasten to add that the American Fellowship group woke up about the issue after Jeff Sharlet reported that David Bahati was a Ugandan associate. From that time, Fellowship associate and spokesperson Bob Hunter’s opposition has been strong and unwavering. Spiritual leader Doug Coe spoke out against the bill. The February national breakfast committee would not have allowed Bahati to attend. And Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton used their National Prayer Breakfast speeches to blast the Ugandan bill by name.

However, Boyer glossed over this history and current reality (did he talk to anyone in Uganda?) and the reader is left with the impression that the bill has been withdrawn or defeated because the American Fellowship used their “standing.” The American Fellowship group has used their influence but the Ugandan Fellowship group has not responded by withdrawing or urging defeat of the bill. My contacts tell me that the situation is no different than when I was at the National Prayer Breakfast in February and many of the Ugandan delegation were in favor of the bill.

Given this treatment of the Uganda situation in the New Yorker piece, I urge a cautious reading of the rest of the article.

For more on the current status of the AHB, see this post and most recently here.

Voice of America TV2Africa on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Recent report from Voice of America TV2Africa  on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in the context of the African Anglican Bishops’ meeting in Entebbe.

Note the interview with David Bahati, regarding the reason for the bill. He wants to define homosexuality in more specific terms in order to make the penalties clear. Also, you see a brief appearance by Martin Ssempa.

Please leave anti-bullying programs out of the culture war

It is time to go back to school and Focus on the Family is warning that anti-bullying programs may lead to gay promotion.

Gay-rights groups’ push for anti-bullying legislation and school programs is an effort to “promote homosexuality to kids,” according to a conservative Christian activist organization.

The accusation has underscored the conflicting attitudes among some politicians and parents who have lent their support to these policies after a string of deadly bullying episodes across the country.

Focus on the Family has accused gay-rights groups of using tolerance and anti-bullying programs to introduce curricula and books into schools that promote political aims such as same-sex marriage. The same groups, it says, lobby for gays and other minority groups to be specifically mentioned in anti-bullying legislation and try to depict Christians opposed to such treatment as bigots.

Being on a local committee to implement anti-bullying initiatives, I have already heard fallout from articles like this one. Please leave the culture war out of this.

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My concern is that Christians are not leading the way against bullying but rather are putting up barriers to the implementation of methods that work. I am on the local committee to roll out the Olweus program and I can tell you that I have heard fallout from similar articles as this one.

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Locally, the school district is implementing the Olweus program. I am on a committee to assist and I am very pleased to see it rolled out. I can tell you however, that I have encountered fallout from articles like the ABC article linked above, where parents fear the program due to concerns over gay promotion.

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Glenn Beck wants America to turn back to God

Just a brief note. The hot ticket was in DC today where two rallies took place – Glenn Beck’s and Al Sharpton’s. As this article notes, two of the family of Martin Luther King spoke, one at each rally, on the anniversary of King’s “I have a dream” speech.

Reportedly, Beck said:

 “America today begins to turn back to God.”

This resonates with Christians but I have to wonder, which God? Beck’s, who is Latter Day Saint, or Alveda King’s who is conserative Christian? Or Sarah Palin’s who was once blessed by Thomas Muthee, pentecostal advocate of the 7 Mountains Mandate?

This is a relevant question, and one which is raised by the events in DC. In 1963, Martin Luther King gave his speech. In 1963, Martin Luther King, had he worshiped Glenn Beck’s god, could not have been ordained to the LDS priesthood. It was not until 1978 that African-Americans were eligible for that status in the LDS church, important here and more so in the afterlife.

People will leave there fired up but for what? And to do what?