What happens when Christian leaders do want to stone you?

Uganda

Remember that country? Remember the "Kill the Gays" bill?

No? Damn your lousy memory! Here!

To be far, I think even most people who bothered to be concerned with the treatment of gay folks around the world, have moved on to other shiny things. But the question of law deciding the fate of gay people still exists.

And it gained a new proponent in one Archbishop Orombi. His full title is archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala. So not a minor figure. He's also the chair of the Uganda Joint Christian Council, which brings together Catholic and other denominations. So, again, not a minor figure.

Among other statements, on taxes, education, and presidential power (...Would love to get into that...), he made a point of pushing to have the anti-gay bill finally passed and enacted in Uganda. (...but, you notice how much his platform nicely parallels the GOP's?) He says he's concerned with protecting marriage and the moral fabric of the country. (...It's like he was separated at birth from Rick Santorum...)


Well, if you want to know the connections this has to the US and GOP, or need a refresher, just look back to Jeff Sharlet's work on it:

Jeff Sharlet on Uganda
Jeff Sharlet Explores the American 'Straight Man's Burden' in Uganda
Finding The Roots Of Anti-Gay Sentiment In Uganda






At the end of the article about the archbishop, you'll notice a name, Bahati. This is a leading advocate of this bill in the Ugandan parliament. In the NPR piece above, he said the following to Sharlet:

... 

"Bahati said: 'If you come here, you'll see homosexuals from Europe and America are luring our children into homosexuality by distributing cell phones and iPods and things like this,' " Sharlet recounts. "And he said, 'And I can explain to you what I really want to do.' " 

Sharlet accompanied Bahati to a restaurant and later to his home, where Bahati told Sharlet that he wanted "to kill every last gay person." 

...

And here he is with Rachel Maddow:




That is the thinking being dealt with here. And it now has the openly public backing of the most powerful religious voice in the country. That's what the gays of Uganda face today.

Many of us may have forgotten about Uganda. But those trying to get these laws enacted have not.