Fears Grow That US Evangelists Ignite Anti-Gay Hatred in Africa
Mon, January 4, 2010 In March 2009 three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited according to the New York Times, arrived in Uganda’s capital to attack “the gay agenda — that whole hidden and dark agenda” — and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family.
The three American men who promoted this anti-gay event in Uganda are:
Scott Lively
1) Scott Lively, a missionary who has written several books against homosexuality, including “7 Steps to Recruit-Proof Your child”. Lively is president of Defend the Family International, a ministry with the stated objective to ‘promote and defend the Biblical view of marriage and family’.
In Lively’s 1995 book called “The Pink Swastika”, the esteemed Southern Poverty Law Center writes that Scott Lively claims that gay men in Hitler’s inner circle helped to mastermind the Holocaust.
“While we cannot say that homosexuals caused the Holocaust, we must not ignore their central role in Nazism,” write Lively and co-author Kevin Abrams. “To the myth of the ‘pink triangle’ — the notion that all homosexuals in Nazi Germany were persecuted — we must respond with the reality of the ‘pink swastika.’”
Many anti-gay crusaders have used the “gay Nazi” myth as proof that gay people are immoral and destructive, even though historians have disproved these allegations. Read SPLCenter.org: Making Myths
Caleb Lee Brundidge
2) Caleb Lee Brundidge, a self-described former gay man who leads “healing seminars”. Very little comes up about Brundidge on the Internet. His pages at the International Healing Foundation aren’t loading on three attempts.
Don Schmierer
3) Don Schmierer, a board member of Exodus International, whose mission is “mobilizing the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality”
More than 30 years after the American Psychiatric Association deleted homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders, religious-right “ex gay” ministries continue to promote the idea that homosexuality is a curable disease.
“There is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of ‘reparative conversion therapy’ as a treatment to change one’s sexual orientation,” the American Psychiatric Association has officially stated.
In fact, the two founders of Exodus International, Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper, who helped to start Exodus in 1976 fell in love and left Exodus in 1979.
“The desires never go away,” Bussee said. “After dealing with hundreds of people, I have not met one who went from gay to straight. Even if you manage to alter someone’s sexual behavior, you cannot change their true sexual orientation.” via Curious Cures, SPLC.org
The three men are now trying to distance themselves from the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 (read online), introduced by Ugandan MP David Bahati after their Ugandan anti-homosexuality, three-day preach-in. The onerous bill carries a penalty of death for homosexuals and up to seven years in prison for family members who don’t “rat” on friends and family members, turning them in.
Members of religious groups protesting in Aug. 2007. Photo via Global PostAmerica and other western countries have intervened, calling the proposed law a violation of human rights (Secy Clinton spoke out early) and it appears that the bill will back down in its death penalty requirement, substituting life in prison instead for some homosexuals.
According to Reuters, the Ugandan minister for ethics and integrity James Nsaba Buturo said: “There have been a lot of discussions in government … regarding the proposed law, but we now think a life sentence could be better because it gives room for offenders to be rehabilitated. Killing them might not be helpful.”
Political Research Associates
In an interesting Gay City News publishes a thoughtful piece written by Duncan Osborne US Right-Wing Charities Silent on Uganda Bill. Massachusetts Think Tank Political Research Associates originally set out to document the influence of African conservatives in the US, but uncovered instead the extensive reach of American conservatives on that continent.
The report “Globalizing the Culture Wars: US Conservatives, African Churches, and Homophobia” (available for download) found that US conservatives are using peers in Africa to attack progressive churches in the US.
The Rev. Kapya Kaoma, project director at Political Research Associates posted this story on Huffington Post on Dec. 10, 2009 The U.S. Christian Right and the Attack on Gays in Africa.
Not only is Anne of Carversville deeply concerned about this draconian Ugandan law on gays and members of their family, friends, clergy, doctors and others connected with them. Mid-summer the women of Uganda had their clothes ripped off them by roaming ‘morality men’ in the streets.
Do Schmierer, Brundidge, and Lively support those activities as well? We had best understand the full range of their beliefs on promoting the traditional Biblical family.
The very words ‘traditional family’ generally mean ZERO rights for women all over Africa. This is EXACTLY why former President Jimmy Carter, speaking for The Elders, said recently that religion oppresses women and is fundamentally opposed to liberating them.
To what extent are Conservative American ‘clergy’ working against women’s rights in Uganda, as well as gay rights? Are Conservative Americans working against women’s rights and gay rights around the world? I don’t know the answer.
Our earlier post confirmed Rick Warren’s video position against the bill. Pope Benedict has also spoken against the pending legislation. Anne
The World Wakes Up to Evangelical Support for Uganda’s Draconian Law Against Homosexuals
More Reading:
Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill spearks hot debate Global News
Uganda government softens proposed anti-gay law Reuters
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