As readers know, I am the father of three children - two daughter and a son. I prize them beyond anything in the world and even in my darkest moments consider them the most important accomplishment of my life. In my view, one ought to be willing to lay down their life for their child. Thus, I am always dumbstruck by parents who disown their own children because the child turns out to be gay. Indeed, I know several individuals who have been written off in this manner and I have seen the scars it leaves. Even worse, however, are the parents who proudly boast that they would kill their gay child -typically they are the very same people who wear their religion on their sleeve and view themselves in a self-congratulatory manner. One such deeply disturbed and un-Christian individual is Ugandan MP, Otto Odonga (pictured above left). This nutcase declared that he'd kill his son if he were to learn that his son was gay. That mindset is not only sick, but evil. And behind that evil - as is too often the case - is religious belief. Here are some highlights from Xtra.ca:*
At a human rights forum held Friday morning in Kampala, a Ugandan Member of Parliament said he would kill his son if he discovered he was gay. The MP, Otto Odonga, was immediately denounced by the forum's keynote speaker, Makau Mutua.
*
"I am baffled by the kind of hatred you spew against gay people," Mutua said, "including your desire to be a hangman. Would you apply to be a hangman if the person to be hanged were your son?" When Odonga nodded yes, Mutua said, "There is something deeply wrong with you."
*
The forum, titled Human Rights and Sexual Orientation, made it clear that many Ugandans do not yet believe that homos are entitled to human rights. The country's MPs are getting set to debate a law that would impose the death penalty on people who engage in gay sex more than once.
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"Human rights are not sacrosanct," Odonga said. "Private parts do not belong in the anus. We will not accept this kind of deviant behaviour in our society." Another MP, Christopher Kibanzanga, angrily spoke out against the "vice" of homosexuality. He asked, "Who are bisexuals? What do they do? Has it just been imported into Africa?"
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Mutua, the chair of Kenya's Human Rights Commission, tore into the MPs as if he was a judge passing sentence onto criminals. "It's important that we all try to expose ourselves to knowledge, to keep on growing," Mutua said. "People who express extremist views are, in my view, always the ones who have read the least."
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The Harvard-educated lawyer went on to liken the MPs' arguments against human rights to comments made by slave owners in the American Civil War. "The kind of speech you made against gay people was the kind of speech that white segregationists were making all over America. Those arguments are classic. They have been reproduced in every era by every segment of society. You didn't invent them."
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Mutua went on to say he believes that countries like Canada would be justified in holding back on foreign aid if MPs pass the anti-gay bill. "There are consequences to being a member of the international community," he said.
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As I have stated before, in my view, far right and fundamentalist Christianity requires ignorance and bigotry to thrive. Hence why the Catholic Church and other anti-gay denominations are expanding in Africa while wither in the educated areas of the world.
At a human rights forum held Friday morning in Kampala, a Ugandan Member of Parliament said he would kill his son if he discovered he was gay. The MP, Otto Odonga, was immediately denounced by the forum's keynote speaker, Makau Mutua.
*
"I am baffled by the kind of hatred you spew against gay people," Mutua said, "including your desire to be a hangman. Would you apply to be a hangman if the person to be hanged were your son?" When Odonga nodded yes, Mutua said, "There is something deeply wrong with you."
*
The forum, titled Human Rights and Sexual Orientation, made it clear that many Ugandans do not yet believe that homos are entitled to human rights. The country's MPs are getting set to debate a law that would impose the death penalty on people who engage in gay sex more than once.
*
"Human rights are not sacrosanct," Odonga said. "Private parts do not belong in the anus. We will not accept this kind of deviant behaviour in our society." Another MP, Christopher Kibanzanga, angrily spoke out against the "vice" of homosexuality. He asked, "Who are bisexuals? What do they do? Has it just been imported into Africa?"
*
Mutua, the chair of Kenya's Human Rights Commission, tore into the MPs as if he was a judge passing sentence onto criminals. "It's important that we all try to expose ourselves to knowledge, to keep on growing," Mutua said. "People who express extremist views are, in my view, always the ones who have read the least."
*
The Harvard-educated lawyer went on to liken the MPs' arguments against human rights to comments made by slave owners in the American Civil War. "The kind of speech you made against gay people was the kind of speech that white segregationists were making all over America. Those arguments are classic. They have been reproduced in every era by every segment of society. You didn't invent them."
*
Mutua went on to say he believes that countries like Canada would be justified in holding back on foreign aid if MPs pass the anti-gay bill. "There are consequences to being a member of the international community," he said.
*
As I have stated before, in my view, far right and fundamentalist Christianity requires ignorance and bigotry to thrive. Hence why the Catholic Church and other anti-gay denominations are expanding in Africa while wither in the educated areas of the world.
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