Tag: martin ssempa

Blog report: Missing Ugandan gay man found dead (Updated – Likely hoax)

UPDATE: 7/7/10 – Gay groups in Uganda have issued a statement on this situation. Go to this new post on this topic. All future updates will be reported there.

UPDATE: 7/7/10 – Box Turtle Bulletin and Changing Attitudes are now reporting that this story is most likely a hoax. Read these blogs for the details.

UPDATE – 6:40pm – Here is an update on the missing priest.

UPDATE: 6:25pm est – This report may not be accurate. There is now some doubt that the dead man was affiliated with Integrity Uganda. He may not have been gay, according to Box Turtle Bulletin. Apparently, however, the gay affirming Anglican priest is still missing. At issue is the orientation of the deceased and the motive for the crime.

…………………………………….

If accurate, this report is what many of us feared:

News from Uganda which surfaced today highlights why change in church teaching and practice towards homosexuality is imperative and urgent.

A search for a missing pro-gay priest, the Rev Henry Kayizzi Nsubuga, who disappeared almost two and half weeks ago after delivering a scathing speech at St. Paul’s Church, Kanyanya supporting homosexuality in Uganda, led the joint search team of Integrity Uganda and Namirembe Diocese to the severed head of another person. The head was found in a pit latrine on the farm of Badru Kiggundu, the Electoral Commission Chairman, in Makindye Sabagabo, Wakiso District.

Judith Nabakooba, a police spokesperson, identified the head as that of Pasikali Kashusbe, one of the workers on Kiggundu’s farm and a member of Integrity Uganda. Pasikali and his partner Abbey are youth workers with Integrity Uganda charged with the responsibility of mobilising young LGBT people in activities which build community capacity to face up to the challenge of homophobia, especially in the area of attitude change and care through drama and sports activities.

According to the police, a mutilated torso which was earlier in the week discovered in Kabuuma Zone, about half a kilometre away from Kiggundu’s farm was probably Pasikali’s The torso was described as belonging to a young man and had no genitals.

Here is a news report on what appears to be the same or a related situation without identifying the personal circumstances or identity of the victim. The names don’t quite match up and I am seeking to confirm the situation.

One of Martin Ssempa’s students said that gays should be killed if they are caught. Watch at about 38 minutes into the Missionaries of Hate and you will hear one say that

You’re caught and you’re homosexual, you’re hanged. We have not caught one as yet. That is the only good thing.

 

Those who marched with Martin Ssempa in February called for the death penalty for gays. The second man speaking on this video appears to be Bishop David Kiganda, who was identified by TheCall Uganda as someone who could respond to my questions about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. David Kiganda is the pastor of the Christianity Focus Center where Martin Ssempa conducted one of his hard core porn shows.

In 2007 and again this year in January, a Tabliq cleric and colleague of Martin Ssempa in the war on gays, Multah Bukenya, announced his readiness to unleash squads of young men to hunt down gays promising “to wipe out all abnormal practices like homosexuality in our society.”

The priest is apparently still missing.

Does anyone need any help in connecting the dots here? No one knows for sure, and we may never know, who was responsible for the death of this man. We do know that members of a Makerere Community Church youth group can sit holding Bibles and a prayer meeting and casually tell an American journalist that homosexuals should be hanged if caught. We know that their pastor receives financial support from a member church of the Willow Creek Association and that church fails to see the problem. Did the Makerere kids catch a gay man? It is a fair question.

UPDATE – 7/6/10: This news report in the Daily Monitor corroborates the identity of the missing man. However, I am hearing from sources in Uganda that there is still some question about the man’s identity.  Thus, I have changed the title of the post to reflect the uncertainty of the situation. There is some possibility that the murder was conducted by witch doctors and was unrelated to anti-gay sentiment in the nation. Nonetheless, I have been following the situation there for months and given the rhetoric I noted above, it is certainly plausible that this was a crime based on hatred of gays.

Salon article: Canyon Ridge, Willow Creek Association and Martin Ssempa

This morning Salon published my article reporting on the evolving relationships between Canyon Ridge Christian Church, the Willow Creek Association and Uganda’s Martin Ssempa.

Canyon Ridge is a member of the Willow Creek Association of churches and continues to see Martin Ssempa as being misrepresented by the media. Willow Creek apparently disagrees to the point that they would not have given him a 2007 award had they known his views. The Willow Creek folks apparently understand the nature of Martin Ssempa’s support of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill but are going to continue partnering with Canyon Ridge for next month’s leadership summit. Furthermore, Willow Creek Association declined to directly condemn the AHB, following Rick Warren’s initial path regarding the bill.

For much much more and video of Ssempa marchers calling for the death penalty, go on over to Salon. If you are so inclined, leave them a comment as well.

Las Vegas paper covers Canyon Ridge controversy

In today’s edition, Las Vegas City Life’s Jason Whited covered the controversy surrounding Canyon Ridge Christian Church and their support for Martin Ssempa.

A local megachurch that offers free HIV/AIDS tests also supports Africa’s most notorious anti-gay evangelical pastor, which has gay activists calling out the seeming hypocrisy.

Canyon Ridge Christian Church, one of the largest houses of worship in Southern Nevada, drew the ire of activists here and across the country last week when it hosted free testing — conducted by Southern Nevada Health District staffers — June 27 as part of National HIV Testing Day.

Activists said they’re not against people getting tested for the virus that causes AIDS. They just don’t think the church should be considered a pillar of tolerance when it supports Martin Ssempa, the controversial Ugandan pastor whose anti-gay rants and support of legislation that would imprison homosexuals in his country have made headlines worldwide.

“You don’t want to stop anyone from getting tested, but you also don’t want this guy to benefit from the support this church gives him,” said Derek Washington, chair of the Stonewall Democrats of Southern Nevada, perhaps the most active gay rights group in the valley. “The church is saying, ‘Give us your tithes, and we’ll do good things with it ’cause we’ll send it overseas.’ But I don’t think most people at that church know about this, and that’s the problem. Members of the church should know who they’re supporting.”

As I have noted here, the church leaders are preferring to believe the best about Ssempa.

But Ssempa has widespread support among American evangelicals, including those who run Canyon Ridge. Ssempa is listed as a ministry partner of the church.

Church leaders said they support Ssempa financially, but they refused to say how much they give to his ministry. Mitch Harrison, an executive pastor at Canyon Ridge, said activists have it all wrong. He said Ssempa actually opposes the more disturbing aspects of the Ugandan legislation that demands the death penalty for homosexuals who molest children or rape the handicapped.

“This year, we’ve had discussions with Martin about [the legislation], and I can tell you what’s being reported about him in the American media is wrong,” Harrison said. “He’s repeatedly said he wants the death penalty [provision] removed and that he’s not in favor of death for [homosexuals].”

I wrote Ssempa to ask him when he changed his mind about the death penalty; he has not replied. When the bill was first tabled in October, 2009, Ssempa told me

I am in total support of the bill and would be most grateful if it did pass.

For months, Ssempa claimed that the AHB only sought to criminalize child abuse and rape and that the bill was needed to protect the “boy child.” Anyone reading the bill knew that was not accurate and Ssempa continued to portray the bill in that fashion. He was expressing this same view at the demonstration he organized in Jinja, Uganda on February 15, 2010. On Ssempa’s Facebook page, you see him speak about pedophiles in the context of a demonstration against homosexuality and then listen to one person dismiss concern over the death penalty and another defend it with Leviticus. The video is also embedded below:

Unfortunately, the City Life article confuses matters by referring to official documents as evidence that Ssempa is being misrepresented.

Despite the hysteria among some left-leaning talking heads, official documents back up Harrison’s claim. In letters to his supporters and in official policy statements, Ssempa — who heads up a Ugandan AIDS eradication effort funded by both the U.S. government and popular evangelicals such as Rick Warren — walked back some of his earlier support for the Ugandan bill.

“As ministers, we believe it is our role to preach the message of salvation and grace to all, including homosexuals,” wrote Ssempa in a March letter to fellow evangelicals. “We actually have in our church individuals who have come out of the homosexual lifestyle …”

Ssempa indeed has of late backed away from the death penalty in his published statements but he has not backed away from imprisonment. Watch the February Jinja video and ask yourself what message is being portrayed.

The death penalty is the attention getter in the bill but what about life in prison for homosexual touching or “intent” to commit a homosexual act? Harrison says they don’t believe in that:

Harrison said no one at Canyon Ridge supports either death or imprisonment for homosexuals. He said his church’s multi-year partnership with health district officials to provide free HIV/AIDS testing is indicative of “the heart” his church has for the community.

“We feel a charge from Jesus to love all people and to be active and serve the needs of our community. That’s why we’ve agreed to be a site for this annual HIV/AIDS testing,” Harrison said.

Forget the death penalty for a minute, the Ugandan bill still calls for life in prison for non-HIV positive gays. I cannot find any place where Ssempa or the supporters of the bill have backed away from that.

I suspect the documents that the reporter referred to are a letter from Ssempa to supporting churches and the recommendations from the Uganda Joint Christian Council to the Parliament about the bill. You can read for yourself what you think of those changes and whether those changes make the partnership appropriate. The Joint Christian Council recommends that the death penalty be reduced to 20 years in a rehabilitation facility and that the focus be on victimization of children and the handicapped. However, there is nothing in these recommendations about non-aggravated homosexuality. The reductions for related offences are minor (e.g., 7 years to 5 years) but I see nothing in here which reduces the life sentence for homosexual conduct. Section 2 is skipped over:

2. The offence of homosexuality.

(1) A person commits the offence of homosexuality if-

(a) he penetrates the anus or mouth of another person of the same sex with his penis or any other sexual contraption;

(b) he or she uses any object or sexual contraption to penetrate or

stimulate sexual organ of a person of the same sex;

(c) he or she touches another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality;

(2) A person who commits an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.

I take Rev. Harrison at his word that he does not believe in criminalization, however, nothing in these recommendations indicates that Martin Ssempa has changed his belief in it.

Southern Nevada Health District to evaluate partnership with Canyon Ridge Christian Church

Michael Bussee wrote to the Southern Nevada Health District to ask about planned to partnership with Canyon Ridge Christian Church to conduct HIV testing on the National HIV Testing Day. He received this reply from Stephanie Bethel of the SNHD.

“Dear Mr. Bussee:

Thank you for bringing this matter to the attention of the Southern Nevada Health District. We were completely unaware of Canyon Ridge Christian Church’s partnership with Pastor Martin Ssempa or his stance on criminalizing homosexuality. The health district is absolutely opposed to the stated efforts of Pastor Ssempa and plans to evaluate and strongly consider any future partnership with Canyon Ridge based on this new information.

However, due to the timing of the testing event, and the outreach efforts that have already occurred related to this testing site, we do not feel we can cancel this venue for next week’s event. We do not condone the church’s continued partnership with Pastor Ssempa; however, we feel the immediate risk of canceling this venue just days before the scheduled event takes precedent at this time. If just one person shows up at a canceled event and decides to delay getting tested, that will be one person too many.

We share your concerns regarding this issue and remain committed to promoting testing in an environment that is comfortable for our clients. Thank you again for your input and for bringing this important issue to our attention.

Stephanie Bethel

Southern Nevada Health District

Yesterday, I spoke with Rick Reich, Director of the AIDS program at SNHD and he said the agency leans toward providing prevention, testing and counseling services in as many locations as possible. However, their message of reducing stigma and prevention is constant across locations.

Canyon Ridge Christian Church in conversation with Martin Ssempa

In response to the Current TV documentary, Missionaries of Hate, Canyon Ridge Christian Church (Las Vegas, NV) today issued this statement to me regarding their mission partner, Martin Ssempa.

The mission partners of Canyon Ridge Christian Church are more than just names on a bulletin board or a web site, they are our dearly loved friends and family. Because of this, we take seriously our commitment to them.   When accusations or ill reports come to us about one of our partners and their ministry activities, we’re committed to do what the Bible instructs us to do; we go to our partners (when possible, going to see them face to face) and work through the issues with them personally. We don’t make public statements about our partners until we have worked through issues with them personally and brought those issues to resolution. We have been and are currently in conversation with Martin Ssempa and others regarding the controversy in Uganda and his activities in addressing it.

Martin Ssempa was featured prominently in Missionaries of Hate showing deviant porn to a stunned audience. He is shown praying with Islamic clerics for David Bahati, the author of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. This statement seems to move slightly away from their earlier position which was:

Canyon Ridge Christian Church partners with missionaries and ministry leaders around the world, including Martin Ssempa, for the purpose of reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ and providing humanitarian aid where possible.

 

With the oversight of our elders and missions team, we constantly evaluate our ministry partners and their activities. We will only support those who engage in and promote activities consistent with the redemptive and grace-filled purposes of Jesus Christ in the world.

 

Canyon Ridge Christian Church does not wish to enter into the debate over the legislation in Uganda. We do encourage those involved to seek God’s leadership in humility and grace and to follow Jesus command to love one another as they wrestle with this difficult issue. Our prayers are for the good of the people Uganda.

It seems to me that Canyon Ridge has entered the debate through their mission partner. He has become one of the public faces of the bill around the world and has recently partnered with Islamic clerics on a renewed effort to promote the bill.