Hate By Any Other Name

  Due to overwhelming international outrage, a bill that would punish Ugandan gay people with horrendous penalties has been stayed for a scarce few days. Parliament in Kampala is slated to begin reexamining the merits of enacting Biblical death sentences to already-terrified gays in the African nation, with a vote scheduled for Friday.


 The proposed law would make it a crime to not only be gay, but rent to gays. The failure to report the mere presence of a suspected homosexual to police would mandate incarceration. If you are a gay person with HIV or your homosexuality is considered incurable, you would be hanged to death.


 As I reported to you earlier in the year, the law was inspired by speeches by American pastors like Pink Swastika author Scott Lively, a man later discovered to be employing a Level 3 child rapist at his teen drop-in joint. (Don't worry fundies, he just rapes little girls.)


In the video I'm showing you here, the preacher claims that his nation's anti-gay bill is not inspired by white preachers, and that couldn't be further from the truth. Homophobia in Africa is a sign of western Christian colonialism that is still practiced today, instituted by so-called relief groups during the famines of the 1980s. When we saw starving children on television, we were inspired to give.


 And aid did come to a lot of those kids, but with a price. Many of the relief efforts were spearheaded by Evangelicals who made sure that Christianist ideals were forcefully preached in exchange for food and medicine. It was a religious cleansing by force, one where food took the place of guns. The preacher men eradicated the "scourge" of ancestral beliefs with the blessing of much of the Western world. As a direct result of fear doctrine, in every Christian African nation it is now a crime to be gay.





In Christian Tanzania, a gay man can be imprisoned for life. In Zambia, constitutionally declared a Christian nation, lengthy sentences for this "perversion against nature" are the norm for both men and women. Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, and Botswana all use the bible to justify persecution and prosecution of gay people. Ethiopia and Kenya are held up as models for recovery and progress, but are both run by Evangelical Prime Ministers who have enacted laws mandating incarceration for even voicing opposition to their preachers' homophobic speeches. 


Unfortunately, Uganda is yet another nation whose liberties have been destroyed by the wishes of bigoted colonialists who wish for Western theocracies and are simply using nations they view as inferior as test markets for holy terror. While it is my sincere hope that every signature on petitions such as this will put an end to Uganda's unconstitutional laws, there is much work to be done home and abroad. 


Hatred  in the name of god is far from a new concept, which is exactly why people like Thomas Jefferson were petrified of the idea of religion holding a place in the political landscape. Many people today engage in the very same forms of persecution their ancestors went west to escape. Even more sickening is the fact that Evangelicals today openly promote a one-religion planet, the ultimate in colonialism- the very thing thousands of Americans died in the mud to rebel against. 


Pundits constantly warn of the primarily imaginary threat of Islamic rule, but if you ask a gay man in Uganda, the most feared jihadists are those who wear crosses. I may not always be correct but I can assure you of this: the mother of someone murdered by the state doesn't care what book the hangman read.


You May Also Want to Read: In The Name of the Father Pt 2

A Million voices : Avaaz Petition to Ugandan Parliament