Lynchings in the name of Christianity (yes, it's true)

Supported by U.S. Christian missionaries

(photo of lynching in U.S.)

This past February, CNN reported that the the African country of Uganda published, through a tabloid newspaper,  a list of the top “200 Homos.” This was a list of some of the country’s most prominent gay citizens. There were several photos that accompanied the article. The Headline read: “EXPOSED! UGANDANS 200 TOP HOMOS NAMED.” The penalty for the people in the list was life imprisonment. In 2010 a similar list was issued naming the ”top 100 homos.” The penalty attributed to these people was death by hanging... 

(photo of U.S. lynching) 

 ... and public citizens were asked to act as their own lynch mobs. Intimate details of their lives and addresses were provided. Two of these people were present at a recent Christian gay affirmation project in Washingtn D.C. Please see pictures at end.

        Evil comes in many forms. Christianity can be a dangerous weapon if left in the hands of ignorant and mostly uneducated people. Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni spoke with CNN. 

Museveni said of the gays in his society, “They're disgusting. What sort of people are they?" he told CNN's Zain Verjee afterward. "I never knew what they were doing. I've been told recently that what they do is terrible. Disgusting. But I was ready to ignore that if there was proof that that's how he is born, abnormal. But now the proof is not there." 

The proof that Museveni was talking about was proof that it is a stamped orientation at birth. Given the zero per cent success rate with reparative therapy, there is no evidence whatsoever that it is a choice. If Museveni was fair minded, he would have inquired and supported his claim that heterosexuality is a choice as well But the cloistered mindset of evil never likes to see it both ways.

        Museveni  has broad support from the Christian influenced  people of Uganda  (over 90 %). Herein lies the problem  of giving a body of people to much religion too soon. Mistakes are made when people are force fed religion with virtually no education.  Museveni had commissioned a group of Ugandan government scientists to study whether homosexuality is "learned," concluding that it is a matter of choice. I was regarding it as an inborn problem," he said. "Genetic distortion… that was my argument. But now our scientists have knocked this one out."

       Details, biases, or threats made to these unnamed scientists were not disclosed. The nation's Parliament passed the bill in December, replacing the death penalty provision with a proposal of life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality." This includes acts in which one person is infected with HIV. No questions asked. .One has to ask, does Christianity in Uganda hold significant high ground to Islamic fundamentalists in the Middle East?

        The evil spreads even further. Ugandan gay rights activist Pepe Julian Onziema told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that some gay people in Uganda would rather kill themselves than live under the new law.

"Prior to the bill becoming law today, people attempted suicide because they are like, 'I'm not going to live to see this country kill me -- so I would rather take my life.” 

(Note: I met the mother of this teen)

Thirty-eight African countries have made homosexuality illegal. Most sodomy laws there were introduced during colonialism and the evil Christian influence that prevailed. Even before Museveni signed the bill into law, homosexual acts were punishable by 14 years to life in prison. Olatune Ogunyemi, a professor at Grambling State University in Louisiana, has said that some African constitutions are based on Christian religion, making it possible to justify criminalizing homosexuality, This is so despite the Bible never addressing homosexuality as an orientation. It was only recognized as an orientation in the late 1800’s.  A post-apartheid constitution bans discrimination against gays in South Africa, the first African nation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

(Except when it is taken out of context and used to hate and hurt others)

        The evil continues. If you attempt to help a “homo” you may face jail time. The bill also proposed prison terms for anyone who counsels or reaches out to gays and lesbians, a provision that could ensnare rights groups and others providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The new law also includes punishment -- up to seven years in prison -- for people and institutions who perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, language that was not in the 2009 version. The White House issued a statement saying  "Instead of standing on the side of freedom, justice, and equal rights for its people, today, regrettably, Ugandan President Museveni took Uganda a step backward by signing into law legislation criminalizing homosexuality."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/25/world/africa/uganda-anti-gay-law/

(the American behind the hate in Uganda and Russia)

        Perhaps what is most disturbing is that these draconian laws including imprisonment and hangings are being influenced by American Christian hate mongers. In what appears to be the first “blowback,” A federal appeals court has rejected a petition by anti-gay activist Scott Lively to dismiss a complaint that alleges he violated U.S. law by influencing the laws of a foreign country. The suit also alleges Lively encouraged government-backed acts of violence against gays in Uganda as a result of his anti-gay rhetoric, specifically remarks he made when addressing members of the nation’s parliament in 2009.

Lively is also alleged to have been active in countries like Russia where a law criminalizing gay rights advocacy was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin. Those that have heard sermons by Scott Lively report that they thought they were listening to the ghost of Fred Phelps (Westboro Baptist Church). It is truly embarrassing that any American Christian would engage in intentional harm to innocent people. It is the first known case to cite the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) seeking accountability for persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The statute is a federal law first adopted in 1789 that gives the federal courts jurisdiction to hear lawsuits filed by non-U.S. citizens for torts committed in violation of international law. Since 1980, the ATS has been used successfully in cases involving torture, state-sponsored sexual violence, extrajudicial killing, crimes against humanity, war crimes and arbitrary detention.

        I had the good pleasure recently to meet two of the heroes from Uganda at a Christian LGBT conference in Washington DC . They are in asylum in the United States as they face possible hangings if they return to Uganda. As you can see in the attached photo,  RT. Reverend Christopher Senyon Jo  won the Clinton Global citizen award. He and the other gentleman (different photo) were on the “Top 100 Homo” list in Uganda.