Evangelicals and Far Right Catholics to Release New Anti-Gay Manifesto

While we continue to see the evil of fundamentalist religious belief in the form of ISIS in the Middle East, here at home in America our own home grown religious extremists are planning to release a new anti-gay screed manifesto next month.  Those who have seen the batshitery report that it “reads like a declaration of war,” and claims that anyone accepting gay marriage is no longer fully Christian much in the way ISIS condemns Sunni Muslims for reject its  more extreme tenants.  Among the signers of the screed are Rick Warren; Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University; Mark Galli, editor of the evangelical magazine Christianity Today; Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and psychologically disturbed former unwed mother Maggie Gallagher. No doubt their affiliated hate groups will make another money beg concurrent with the release of the "manifesto."  

Meanwhile, the biggest irony is that while Republicans condemn ISIS and call for military action against it, they continue to embrace equally sick and insane Christofascists here in America.  Religion News Service has details.  Here are highlights:

A high-profile alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelical Protestants is set to issue a sweeping manifesto against gay marriage that calls same-sex unions “a graver threat” than divorce or cohabitation, one that will lead to a moral dystopia in America and the persecution of traditional believers.

“If the truth about marriage can be displaced by social and political pressure operating through the law, other truths can be set aside as well,” say the nearly 50 signers of the statement, which is to be published in the March edition of the conservative journal First Things.

The declaration adds that some people “are already being censured and others have lost their jobs because of their public commitment to marriage as the union of a man and a woman.”

Social conservatives have rallied around a number of cases that they say herald a gloomy future, including the recent dismissal of the fire chief in Atlanta, who had given employees a copy of his book in which he detailed his beliefs, based on his Christian faith, that homosexuality was “vile.”

This latest statement, “The Two Shall Become One Flesh: Reclaiming Marriage,” comes from the group Evangelicals and Catholics Together, a coalition formed in 1994 under the aegis of former Nixon aide Charles Colson, an evangelical, and the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, a Catholic priest.

The document declares, however, that a “faithful Christian witness cannot accommodate itself to same-sex marriage,” and it suggests that believers who accept gay marriage are no longer fully Christian.

Uganda Court Annuls anti-Homosexuality Law

In addition to losing nearly two dozen law suits in America seeking to uphold anti-gay marriage bans, the Christofascists have now also suffered a defeat in Uganda where that nation's constitutional court has invalidated the "kill the gays" law that was inspired by and advocated for by American Christofascists exporting homophobia (and its attendant lies and propaganda) to the ignorant and uneducated Ugandan populace.   I suspect that hate merchants like Scott Lively, Tony Perkins, and fat tub of lard Rick Warren are weeping and ranting at this 100% correct ruling.  Here are highlights from the BBC on this most welcome development.

Uganda's Constitutional Court has annulled tough anti-gay legislation signed into law in February.

It ruled that the bill was passed by MPs in December without the requisite quorum and was therefore illegal.

Homosexual acts were already illegal, but the new law allowed for life imprisonment for "aggravated homosexuality" and banned the "promotion of homosexuality".

Several donors have cut aid to Uganda since the law was adopted.

Ugandan government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said the government was still waiting the attorney general's advice about whether to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.  He added that the ruling showed to Western donors that Uganda's democracy was functioning very well and that they should reinstate any aid they had cut.

The Ugandan authorities have defended the law in the past, saying President Yoweri Museveni wanted "to demonstrate Uganda's independence in the face of Western pressure and provocation".

The challenge to the law was brought by 10 petitioners, including academics, journalists, both ruling and opposition MPs, human rights activists and rights groups.

"The retrogressive anti-homosexuality act of Uganda has been struck down by the constitutional court - it's now dead as a door nail," the AFP news agency quotes prominent journalist Andrew Mwenda, one of the petitioners, as saying.

Sadly, Uganda was better ruled as a British colony than it is under the corrupt, incompetent and down right ignorant  regime currently in charge.  Not surprisingly, given the lack of an educated populace and the general ignorance of much of the population, evangelical Christianity and Roman Catholicism are currently flourishing in Uganda.  Perhaps Michelle McQuigg should consider emigrating to Uganda - she'd likely fit right in.

American 'Ex-Gay' Movement Exports Global Hate and Harm

Just as Catholicism and religion in general is slowly dying in the developed western world, so too is the marketability of the fraudulent ex-gay industry.  So what does one do in this line of snake oil marketing?  Focus on ignorant undeveloped nations where selling lies and and "faux science" to an ignorant populace is ever so much easier.  The problem is that the American Christofascist exporting of hate involves real threats of physical harm a even death to LGBT individuals.  The Advocate looks at this pernicious phenomenon.  Here are article highlights:

Is the “ex-gay” movement over yet? Certainly not at the global level. Though the movement shows signs of weakening in the United States, international organizations like Exodus Global Alliance still pose a serious threat to public health, human dignity, and human rights. It’s time to take a good look beyond our borders at the widespread influence of the “ex-gay” movement and its impact on the lives of LGBTQ people around the world, with the help of a new report from Political Research Associates, which examines the problems caused by Exodus in Latin America.

The American Psychological Association has made clear that homosexuality is not a disorder and warns that trying to “cure” it can lead to “intimacy avoidance, sexual dysfunction, depression, and suicidality.” Exodus International president Alan Chambers recently denounced the idea of a “cure” for homosexuality. But Exodus International is in fact only the U.S. arm of a global network. Exodus Global Alliance, the umbrella group for Exodus affiliates all over the world, continues to push the harmful idea that “change is possible.”..

Political Research Associates, a think tank devoted to exposing movements that undermine human rights, has been tracking the mutating Christian right’s anti-LGBTQ agenda for some time. In 1998, PRA published Calculated Compassion: How the Ex-Gay Movement Serves the Right’s Attack on Democracy, a report looking at the growing use of the “ex-gay” myth as a “kinder, gentler” face to the Christian right’s anti-LGBTQ agenda.

Since the time that report was written, public opinion has continued to evolve and respect for diversity has increased. But the “ex-gay” movement continues to adapt. In some cases it even has gained more mainstream approval, particularly abroad. In October 2010, Cape Town, South Africa, hosted 4,000 global evangelical leaders from 198 countries for the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, the biggest gathering of global evangelical leaders in modern history. Endorsed by major evangelical figures such as Billy Graham and Rick Warren, Lausanne mingled all sorts of evangelicals from around the world for a rare convening. Among them were members of Exodus Global Alliance, a network of “ex-gay” groups. And not only as observers. The alliance was tasked with leading a discussion on “Sexuality, Truth, and Grace.”

No doubt organizers knew the “ex-gay” topic could be controversial. One journalist was told that organizers deliberately left sessions on homosexuality off the schedule “to avoid pre-conference publicity” — yet “each of their daily sessions were full.”

Exodus Global Alliance puts the face of “Christian compassion” on homophobia — and by hiding in “ex-gay” ministries, prevents governments and psychological associations from cracking down on their “religious liberty” to help those suffering from unwanted same-sex attraction. However, the idea that they are offering solicited aid is specious at best.  

The claim that gays can and should be “healed” is repeated by such antigay Ugandan pastors as Archbishop Henry Orombi (chair of the Africa Host Committee of the 2010 Lausanne Congress) and Martin Ssempa, and politicians like David Bahati, the sponsor of Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill.

As the Christian right’s anti-LGBTQ agenda continues to spread globally, we must have a unified and vigilant approach to stopping it. Cross-border solidarity among those challenging “ex-gay” ministries is vital and worth additional investment. U.S. advocates can challenge the international “ex-gay” organizations and the companies that benefit from them.

Like fundamentalist religion, the "ex-gay" ministries are a vile and dangerous evil that must be stamped out.  The ugliness and hate that underlie these  fraudulent "ministries" need to be exposed and proponents shown to be the political and self-enriching whores that they are in fact. There is nothing nice about these people and they deserve no respect or deference.  The exult in ignorance, hate and bigotry.

Notorious Homophobes Were Advisers on History Channel's 'Bible' Mini-Series

Is it a mere coincidence that the actor playing Satan (pictured above) in History Channel's mini-series "The Bible" looks uncannily like an older Barack Obama?   Perhaps yes, perhaps no.  What is a certainty is that the panel of advisers recruited by producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey  to ostensibly to ensure the "accuracy" of the story line is a veritable who's who of extreme homophobes.  In a puff piece in TV Guide the panel is described as follows:

"We weren't qualified to teach the Bible, but we knew plenty of people who were," says Burnett, whose interfaith panel included pastors Joel Osteen, Rick Warren and T.D. Jakes, Bishop Michael Sheridan, Focus on the Family president Jim Daly and Rev. Samuel Rodriguez.

Of course, the production is treated as if the story line of the Bible is historic fact and ignores such petty problems as the fact that the human genome project has confirmed that Adam and Eve never existed as historic individuals or that the Great Flood was likely a mythical description of the flooding of the Black Sea basin many millennium ago when the Mediterranean Sea breached the Bosporus rather than any type of divine intervention.  As for the panel of advisers, Towleroad looks at their track record on gays:

That's Osteen, who said "I don't believe homosexuality is God's best for a person's life" and called it "sin" many times, Prop 8 supporter Rick Warren who compared homosexuality to poison and compared acting on gay urges to assaulting someone, TD Jakes who has called homosexuality a "brokenness" despite his son getting arrested in a sex sting, Bishop Michael Sheridan who has called homosexuality "intrinsically evil" and told Catholics who vote for gay marriage that they can't receive communion, and Samuel Rodriguez, who teamed up with NY state senator Ruben Diaz to rally opponents of same-sex marriage, and Jim Daly, the head of virulently anti-gay Focus on the Family.

Frankly, other than including Fred Phelps, it would have been difficult to come up with a more homophobic gathering of hate merchants.  And, of course, then there's Rick Warren who looks to be the personification of the sin of gluttony.

But back to the Obama like appearance of Satan: So far neither History Channel nor Mark Burnett, The Bible series’s creator, has issued any statement on the matter.

Anti-Gay Preacher Bails From Inaugural Line Up

Anti-Gay pastor Louie Giglio who had - in another display of Obama staff incompetence - been slated to give the inaugural benediction has withdrawn from the inaugural event line up ostensible to avoid becoming a distraction from the ceremony.  In the process, Giglio also attempted to down play the viciousness of his past anti-gay statements.    The situation is noteworthy for two reasons.  First, how incompetent are the Obama folks that they did not do a simple Google search on Giglio?  Second, Giglio claims that he's not anti-gay, but the man is a liar based on his past statements - statements that he has never disavowed.  Andrew Sullivan sums up the incompetence of the Obama staffers and Giglio's disingenuousness very well:

So the second Inaugural benediction for Obama turns out to be another clusterfuck. First, they had the fatuous Rick Warren, whose campaign against marriage equality was deemed irrelevant to the cause of uniting the country. Now we have Louie Giglio,  .  .  .  .  who, like most evangelicals, still believes that gay relationships, let alone marriages, are anathema.

[I]t is quite clear that Giglio has never stopped believing that what he calls "the gay lifestyle" is a terrible crime against God. He also calls it one of the most important issues of the time. He proposes the horrifying abuse of "ex-gay therapy." He cites Leviticus, which mandates the death penalty for gays, and says it is the lynchpin of the teaching against homosexuality. In fact, he doesn't just cite Leviticus; he goes on for ever about it. He describes gay people as living a "lie," a term my born-again uncle accused me of doing when he found out I was gay. He calls us engaged in "depraved, lustful behavior" and being haters of God. He calls for his congregation to "firmly respond to the aggressive agenda" of gay equality.

His defense is that "clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past fifteen years." But in that sermon, he described it as possibly the most important moral battle of the time. And get a load of this: "Those who practice such things are worthy of death." And this:

Homosexuality is not an alternate lifestyle. Homosexuality is not just a sexual preference. Homosexuality is not gay. But homosexuality is sin.

[W]hat clueless administration official did not do due diligence on this figure? After the Rick Warren mess, could no one in the White House do the same research as Think Progress? 

There's only way forward on this and that is to choose as his replacement a minister who endorses gay unions and full gay inclusion in the Christian community. Why would Obama object to that? He has "evolved" now, hasn't he?

Why is it every time that Obama builds good feelings within the LGBT community he seems to without thinking do something stupid and cause a great deal of bad feeling? 

Douche Bag Rick Warren: Being Gay Is Like Consuming Arsenic

Many will recall that I - and many other LGBT bloggers - went ballistic when Barack Obama had Christianist snake oil merchant Rick Warren give the invocation at the 2009 inauguration ceremony.  Time and time again Warren has demonstrated that he and his organization deserve a hate group because of the deliberately derogatory and untrue statement Warren disseminates against LGBT citizens.  And that's not even considering his possible role in inciting anti-gay fervor in Africa.  As Think Progress is reporting, the porcine Warren again showed his true colors when he equated being gay with taking poison. As for Warren's "having a feeling doesn't make it right," the same holds true about the tub of lard's "feelings" that he wants to/must cling to the writings of Neolithic goat herders that science is proving false.  Just because Warren is psychologically damaged himself and/or enjoys preying on those who are so he can shake them down for money, doesn't make it right.  Here are highlights from Think Progress:

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren remains as ill-informed on gay identity as ever. Unfazed by the notion that there may be a biological cause for homosexuality, Warren told Piers Morgan on CNN this week that acting on same-sex attractions is no different from “punching a guy in the nose” or consuming arsenic:

WARREN: Here’s what we know about life. I have all kinds of natural feelings in my life and it doesn’t necessarily mean that I should act on every feeling. Sometimes I get angry and I feel like punching a guy in the nose. It doesn’t mean I act on it. Sometimes I feel attracted to women who are not my wife. I don’t act on it. Just because I have a feeling doesn’t make it right. Not everything natural is good for me. Arsenic is natural.

Warren has a long history of opposing marriage equality. Four years ago, he defended his support of California’s Proposition 8 by claiming that same-sex marriage is “equivalent” to incest, pedophilia, and polygamy. He also claimed that gays are “evil” and have “Christ-o-phobia.” Warren tries to offset his anti-gay beliefs by boasting his anti-AIDS work in Africa, but he has ties to conservative anti-gay leaders in Uganda who oppose using condoms to prevent transmission of HIV. The results of his particular efforts are unclear, but studies have shown that abstinence-only efforts have failed to lower HIV rates in Africa, and anti-gay stigma also contributes to the epidemic.

I again have to wonder why responsible and supposedly serious news outlets continue to provide this nasty individual from which he can spew hate and untruths.   The man is disgusting and I surely hope that Obama has severed his ties from this foul douche bag.

Uganda's Anti-Gay Bill Passes Parliamentary Committee

As noted in previous posts, the government of Uganda is one of the most corrupt in the world.  Now, in an attempt to distract the ignorant and largely illiterate population from the real cause of the nation's basket case status - i.e., the legislators themselves - and to  do the bidding of American Christofascists busy exporting anti-gay hate and ignorance to Africa, a committee of the ethically, morally and mentally bankrupt Ugandan Parliament has approved the so called "kill the gays bill" and moved the measure forward towards consideration by the full Parliament.   Towleroad has coverage on this disgusting development. Here are highlights:

[T]he bill passed a Parliamentary committee today, sending it to the next level of votes. Though the call for gay people to be executed has been removed from the hideously hateful measure, there bill still includes a life imprisonment request.

According to Uganda’s NTV network – as tweeted by Frank Mugisha (@frankmugisha), director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) – an unnamed member of the committee confirmed that a penalty of life imprisonment has remained in the bill in place of execution.
While sexual relations between members of the same sex are already illegal in Uganda, if the bill becomes law it will be among the world’s harshest against gay people. NTV reports that the bill should receive floor debate next week.

Religious leaders in Uganda have been putting intense pressure on politicians to pass the long-lingering law there and asked this week for Speaker Rebecca Kadaga to get the bill made into law as a "Christmas gift".

As I have noted many times before, conservative Christianity is one of the most foul influences in the world today (fundamentalist Islam vies for a similar designation) and is a threat to constitutional government and human rights across the globe.  The sooner it is a dead religion, the better off the world will be.

American Religious Right Groups Behind Press for Anti-gay Laws in Africa

This blog has noted before the fact that extreme anti-gay "Christian" organizations have been organizing and funneling money to anti-gay groups in Africa that are backing horrific anti-gay legislation.  The current nightmare for LGBT individuals in Uganda is a case in point.  Now, a new study by Political Research Associates of Boston entitled "Colonizing African Values: How the U.S. Christian Right is Transforming Sexual Politics in Africa" connects the dots and names names.  Among the American Christianists linked to the anti-gay jihad are Rick Warren (pictured at right) and local lunatic and douche bag, Pat Robertson.  Also cited for their involvement are the Catholic Church and the Mormon Church.  Both the Times of London and WHBT-TV 4 are carrying coverage on the study findings.  Here are excerpts from the Times article:

Conservative U.S. Christian groups are setting up fronts in Africa to fight for anti-gay and anti-abortion legislation to promote their convictions, a report by a Boston-based think tank said Tuesday.   It accuses evangelical stars such as Pat Robertson and Rick Warren as well as Catholic and Mormon groups of setting up institutions and campaigns in Africa that are "fanning the flames of the culture wars over homosexuality and abortion by backing prominent African campaigners and political leaders."
The report _ "Colonizing African Values: How the U.S. Christian Right is Transforming Sexual Politics in Africa" _ was presented by the Political Research Associates of Boston, a think tank that describes itself as "progressive" and focusing on what it calls attacks on civil liberties by the political and Christian right.  Some of the Africans cited in the report as heading African organizations set up by the U.S. religious right maintain that they are just using funds from foreign friends who share similar beliefs.

Among them is Joseph Okia, nephew of President Yoweri Museveni in Uganda, where proposed legislation would invoke the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality."   .   .   .   Several Africans and Americans named in the report could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman for Pastor Rick Warren said he was too busy to comment.


The report's main author, the Rev. Kapya Kaoma, said that while such evangelical groups are in the minority in the United States, they are able to punch way above their weight in Africa   .   .   .   .   "Those kind of lies, when presented in Africa, become factual, so we need to worry that they are misleading people with these lies," Kaoma, an Anglican priest from Zambia.

Kaoma's report identifies groups belonging to a loose network of right-wing charismatic Christians. They include Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the Catholic Church's Human Life International (HLI) and the Mormon-led Family Watch International. All have launched or expanded offices in Africa over the past five years.   .   .   .   .   "By hiring locals as office staff, ACLJ and HLI in particular hide an American-based agenda behind African faces, giving the Christian Right room to attack gender justice and (the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people) as a neocolonial enterprise imposed on Africans and obstructing meaningful critique of the U.S. right's activities," the report said.

Amnesty International has reported an increasing intolerance in Africa that has resulted in "harassment, discrimination, persecution, violence and murders" against homosexuals in Africa. The report said the new campaigns also have caused more oppression of women by restricting their reproductive freedoms.

So-called "conservative Christians" have truly made Christianity into something hideous.  Hate, bigotry, fear and ignorance are its chief hallmarks.  I again and again can't help but believe that the world would be a far better place if this foul version of Christianity vanished from the face of the earth tomorrow.

Hate Merchant Rick Warren Wants to Host Obama-Romney Forum

UPDATED:  Thank God!  Politico is reporting that the Obama campaign has said no to Rick Warren's forum proposal.  Here are highlights:

Contrary to reports on Pastor Rick Warren's call yesterday, there will be no joint Mitt Romney-President Obama appearances anywhere before the debates, campaign officials tell POLITICO.

Let's face it, the only reason for the proposed forum is to further inflate Warren's enormous ego and likely harm Obama.


ORIGINAL POST: While Rick Warren goes to great lengths to try to pretend that he's different from his fellow professional Christians whose main stock in trade consists of hate, hypocrisy, greed, the embracing of ignorance and  the denigration of others (I should probably throw in gluttony as well given Warren's obesity), he's actually little more than a more polished version of Tony Perkins and those who preach anti-gay animus.  Sadly, the mainstream media doesn't seem to have the brains to figure out that Warren's pushing the same foul message as his less moderate breather.  Now the porcine Warren wants to hold another candidate form with Barack Obama and Mitt Romney according the a story in the Baptist Press.  Obama is a fool if he agrees to this and will likely undo much of the good will he's rebuilt among the LGBT community and other progressive groups.  Meanwhile, the voters who eat up Warrens false piety and sanctimonious bullshit won't vote for Obama in any event.  It's a lose lose situation for Obama and the only winner is Warren who has his already inflated ego stroked.  Here are highlights from the Baptist Press: 

Pastor Rick Warren says he hopes to host another forum between the major two presidential candidates this year -- similar to what took place in 2008 -- although no formal agreement is in place.

The pastor of Saddleback Church in California told reporters during a conference call Monday (July 16) that he has reached out to the campaigns of President Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, FoxNews.com reported.

Bob Felton at Civil Commotion has a strong but accurate statement as to why Obama ought to tell Warren to get lost:

Shall we count the reasons?

1. America is explicitly, designedly, a secular country; religion, however cherished, is not a licit basis for a vote decision.
2. Accepting Rick Warren’s invitation has the de facto effect of elevating a particular set of religious beliefs above others; in the instant case, the beliefs of the intellectually crude and backward-looking evangelical right that has played so large a role in frustrating national progress.
3. Rick Warren is a rotten human being, with sewage for values.  You think I overstate? Watch this urging that believers be as implacably devoted to obeying Jesus as Nazis were to following Hitler, or Mao’s peasants on The Long March.

Warren should be a universal figure of ridicule and contempt, and American presidential candidates disgrace themselves when they toady to him.

Mitt Romney will be hard put to refuse, of course; indeed, sucking-up to the sort of people who think Rick Warren is a great man is indispensable to his ambitions. He should refuse anyway, as a matter of decency, dignity and, yes, patriotism.

Obama Continues to Pander to Christian Hate Organizations

This blog and many others - as well as numerous media outlets - have focused in the past on the insidious Christianist organization known as "The Family," elements of which have had heavy involvement in spreading anti-gay hatred in Africa. Nonetheless, Barack Obama attended the annual gathering of these Christo-fascists at the so-called "National Prayer Breakfast" which by its very design gives special prominence to the virulent form of Christianity backed by "The Family." Personally, I find Obama obsequiousness to such a foul organization disgusting but sadly it is par for the course with Obama who just doesn't seem to grasp that no matter what he does, this element will always hate him and do all in its power to destroy him. Along with destroying freedom of religion for other Americans. What's next for Obama - attending a KKK rally? It's no secret that I see religion as predominantly an evil influence the moment it cease to be a private, personal matter and "The Family" takes this form of evil to a very high level. Here are highlights from CNN on the displeasure of many in the LGBT community over Obama's decision to kiss the ring if you will of this evil organization:
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As President Barack Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday, demonstrators outside reignited a simmering debate over the role the breakfast's organizers in an attempt to pass anti-gay legislation in Uganda. Gay rights activists urged President Obama not to attend this year’s National Prayer Breakfast accusing the Fellowship Foundation - which hosts the annual event - of promoting anti-gay legislation in Uganda.
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“We would love for the President to come out and join us at the “Breakfast without Bigotry,” said Michael Dixon, an organizer with GetEqualDC who organized Thursday's prayer breakfast demonstrations.
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Demonstrators in Washington said that the Fellowship Foundation, the Christian organizers behind the National Prayer Breakfast, have supported that legislation. David Bahati, the Ugandan parliamentary member who introduced the anti-gay bill, is associated with the Christian group.
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The Fellowship Foundation is also known as the Family, after a book by that name that was published about the group several years ago. “The values the Family is actually espousing could not be further from what Jesus would actually support,” Dixon told CNN. “We feel that persecuting people because of the way that they were born, trying to have them imprisoned for life, trying to execute them, is not Christian and it’s not a family value in any sense of the word.”
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Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the Episcopal church's first openly gay bishop, is critical of the Fellowshiop. “What I and others are calling for is for The Family organization to do far more than it’s done recently. There’s been a… mediocre and fairly listless attempt to distance itself from this law,” he said. "If you start a wildfire and it gets out of control and burns a bunch of homes, you know, it does no good to say, ‘Oh gosh, I never really meant to have it end up this way.”

Ugandan LGBT Advocate Murdered

The American Christianists who have inspired and supported the anti-gay jihad in Uganda have more blood on their hands as reports confirm that Ugandan LGBT advocate David Kato Kisulle was murdered in his home in Kampala. Kato had been one of the Ugandan gays targeted in a September issue of the Ugandan rag Rolling Stone (no affiliation with the USA Rolling Stone) which sought to incite violence against LGBT individuals in Uganda. Kato's photo was prominently featured on the front page of the publication. Scott Lively, Barack Obama's BFF Rick Warren, and other American Christo-fascists have donated time and large amounts of money to help fuel the growing anti-gay up swell in East Africa and these individuals, in my view, are nothing more than the equivalent of terrorists who are advocating genocide. The U. S. government needs to stop this export of hatred and bigotry to less developed nations where ignorance and lack of education makes the populace an easy target for these typically self-promoting hate merchants. Here are highlights from Box Turtle Bulletin's coverage on the murder:
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We have learned that Ugandan LGBT advocate David Kato Kisulle was murdered today at his home in Kampala. Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) has confirmed *that the David’s body was identified at a hospital.
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Witnesses told police that a man entered Kato’s home in Mukono at around 1 p.m. on January 26, 2011, hit him twice in the head and departed in a vehicle. Kato died on his way to Kawolo hospital. Police told Kato’s lawyer that they had the registration number of the vehicle and were looking for it.
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David Kato was a spokesperson for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and one of the plaintiffs (or applicants) in the successful lawsuit seeking a permanent injunction against the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication of the same name). Kato was one of three applicants who had been named by the tabloid under a headline tagged “Hang Them!” His photo appeared on the tabloid’s front cover.
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This horrendous murder adds to the fears that LGBT Ugandans regularly face over their safety. Brenda Namigadde, a lesbian asylum seeker in the U.K. has been threatened with deportation back to Uganda. Just yesterday, she received an ominous message from M.P. David Bahati, the author of the infamous Anti-Homosexuality Bill, in which he said that Brenda must “repent or reform” when she returns home: Brenda is welcome in Uganda if she will abandon or repent her behaviour. Here in Uganda, homosexuality is not a human right. It is behaviour that is learned and it can be unlearned. We wouldn’t want Brenda to be painting a wrong picture of Uganda, that we are harassing homosexuals. M.P. Bahati may be technically correct. They are simply killing homosexuals, not harassing them.
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Mourners are posting message on David’s facebook wall.

The Case for Not Voting on November 2nd

I first cast a vote in an election over 38 years ago and since that time I have, never ever failed to vote in any city, state or federal election. That track record may change on November 2, 2010, as I seriously consider not voting. Yes, that's right, I may not vote in the coming election. From conversations with others I am not the only one who is leaning toward staying home from the polls. The common statement I hear is that voting will "make no difference." Typically, the speakers making these remarks then launch into the debacle of the Democrats, who were given a mandate and commanding margin in both houses of Congress and control of the White House only to see it all pissed away. Obama blames the Congress; the House blames the Senate; and the Senate blames the White House and everyone else. No one takes responsibility either individually or on the part of the national Democrats as a whole.

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Candidly, I share the above sentiments of these individuals to some extent myself. My larger reason for staying home, however, if that is what I choose to do, is that I refuse to once again be played for a fool and a cretin by the Democrats. Yes, most say all the right words while campaigning but then deliver nothing once in office. As a community, LGBT Americans are rewarding the Democrats for their lies and betrayal if we yet again and again give them what they want - our money and votes - with no accountability demanded or consequences being inflicted for betrayal and broken promises. The message to the Democrats from the LGBT community is clear: you can lie with impunity, don't need to keep any of your campaign promises, and you don't need to deliver on anything because the idiot LGBT voters will still come out and vote for them no matter what. With this constant message being sent by the LGBT community to Democrats of all stripes, why on earth should the Democrats ever change? They are getting exactly what they want and do not need to do anything to get it. Indeed, at times I believe the Democrat goal is to keep LGBT citizens inferior indefinitely so that each campaign cycle the bogey man in the form of the GOP can be trotted yet again. Yes, the GOP may be worse, but then Democrats haven't done anything of substance for LGBT Americans either.

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My second reason for not voting relates to the recent wave of gay teen suicides. It's true that the Christian Right, Mormons and Roman Catholic Church bear the great responsibility for the unrelenting anti-gay message that forces youth to see suicide as their best solution - a point I reached myself twice in the past. But by failing to act to repeal DADT, enact ENDA and repeal DOMA the Democrats also bear responsibility. First and foremost among the Democrats sending out a message of hopelessness to LGBT youth is Barack Obama. Oh yes, he says nice things in pretty speeches, but if one follows his actions, it becomes clear that the pretty words mean NOTHING to him. Just as, in my opinion, LGBT lives and the careers of LGBT servicemembers mean NOTHING to Obama. And I suspect our gay youth are savvy enough to figure out that we are all being played. They realize that there is no guarantee that "it gets better." Their proof: the continuation of DADT and DOMA and the fact that ENDA has gone nowhere even in the Democrat controlled House of Representatives.

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As for my open disgust with Obama, I believe that it is justified. Moreover, in my view, he IS part of the problem no matter what his apologists in Gay, Inc., may say. Let's look at his actions versus his disingenuous rhetoric - which I experienced first hand when he spoke in Virginia Beach in February 2008 - aimed at securing votes and money. First, during the campaign, who does Obama select for appearances at campaign functions? Anti-gay, ex-gay supporter Donnie McClurkin. And when confronted with McClurkin's anti-gay positions and slimy ex-gay past, what does he do? Obama keeps McClurkin on the program. Then lets move to the inauguration. Who does Obama select to deliver the invocation? Rick Warren, homophobe extraordinaire whose finger prints are all over anti-gay agendas in Africa and whose church website had anti-gay rhetoric all over it. Then, of course, we have the on going DOMA and DADT litigation. What do we see from Obama? A vigorous defense of the anti-gay policies and, based on the latest reports, and appeal of the DADT ruling and worldwide injunction against DADT discharges.

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Even as I write this post, Obama is promising that DADT "will end on my watch" yet he has ZERO ability to make that happen if he proceeds with an appeal of Judge Phillips rulings. There is ZERO guarantee that the Senate will ever repeal DADT. Likewise, given the Christian extremists among the conservative block on the Supreme Court, there is ZERO guarantee that DADT will not be upheld if the case makes it to the Supreme Court. Ditto for DOMA.

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The sad truth is that the LGBT community is being played again. Obama believes that we are simpletons and fools and wants us out voting on November 2, 2010. My message to Obama and ALL Democrats: you want my vote, then ALL Democrats as a whole need to start delivering. I want to hold them jointly and severally responsible. I am over being played and cynically lied to.

Gay Marriages Resume in California - It's Decision Time for Obama

Judge Walker has ruled that he will not stay his decision in Perry v. Schwarzenegger and, therefore, same sex marriages will resume in California starting on August 19, 2010. Walker's decision to allow marriages to resume is due largely to his view that the non-governmental Prop 8 supporters cannot appeal unless the State of California in the form of the governor or the attorney general files an appeal. It comes down tot he "standing" issue I've previously discussed on this blog and in related posts at The Bilerico Project. Needless to say, the Christo-fascists are none too happy (see the photo above) and claim that Judge Walker mocks God. Meanwhile, of course, they totally mock the U.S. Constitution and forget that this nation is governed by the civil secular laws, not their twisted and hate based version of Christianity. The Virginian Pilot has this on Judge Walker's latest ruling:
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The federal judge who overturned California's same-sex marriage ban has more bad news for the measure's sponsors: he not only is unwilling to keep gay couples from marrying beyond next Wednesday, he doubts the ban's backers have the right to challenge his ruling.
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Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker on Thursday rejected a request to delay his decision striking down Proposition 8 from taking effect until high courts can take up an appeal lodged by its supporters. One of the reasons, the judge said, is he's not sure the proponents have the authority to appeal since they would not be affected by or responsible for implementing his ruling.
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Walker gave opponents of same-sex marriage until Aug. 18 at 5 p.m. to get a ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on whether gay marriages should start before the court considers their broader appeal. Their lawyers filed an request asking the 9th Circuit to intervene and block the weddings on an emergency basis late Thursday.
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San Francisco Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart, who during the trial helped argue that Proposition 8 should be overturned, said that while it will not be up to Walker to decide the eligibility issue, "it's very realistic" that the 9th Circuit could reach the same conclusion.
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As previously discussed here, the Ninth Circuit would seem to have the case law precedent to readily refuse review of Judge Walker's ruling. Such a refusal could set the stage for a similar rejection of the Prop 8 supporter's efforts by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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With this setting, the time has come for Barack Obama to declare once and for all whether he is friend or foe of the LGBT community and LGBT Americans. The days of his parsing words and trying to be only half pregnant if you will are over. Having alienated so much of the activist base of his own party, Obama's continued defense of bans on gay marriage are a "deal breaker" for me and I am moving more and more towards hoping Obama has a primary challenge in the run up to the 2012 presidential election. Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly has a good analysis as to why Obama has come to a crossroads where he must put up or shut up and poses four questions that Obama must now answer. Here are highlights from Chris' article:
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The caution bred by seeing gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, who has preached about ''curing'' homosexuality, on the campaign trail and Pastor Rick Warren, who endorsed Proposition 8, at the inauguration turned into suspicion or even distrust. This was seen many times, most clearly in the lackluster LGBT response to the Obama administration's action on hospital visitation and the animosity in some corners to the certification language in the ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' compromise amendment.
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Over the course of the next two or three months, however, marriage – whether Obama wants to deal with it or not – is very much going to be an issue for the Obama administration. What's more, Obama did not hold and, from Axelrod's comments, continues not to hold the view that most LGBT Americans and liberal activists wish he held.
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The way in which Obama handles the appeals of these [DOMA]cases is likely to have a long-lasting, if not permanent, effect on his relationship with the LGBT community. As was clear at the LGBT media meeting with Barnes, communication – or the lack thereof – will be key. But, substance must underlie that communication if it is to be effective.
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In addressing these cases, four substantive questions to be answered by the administration are:
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Will the Justice Department appeal the decisions in Gill and Massachusetts, thus continuing to defend the validity of Section 3 of DOMA in the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals?
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Will Obama take an individual position on the constitutionality of DOMA, and what is it?
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Will Obama take an individual position on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, and what is it?
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Will the Obama administration address its views on Proposition 8 to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals through the filing of an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief in any appeal of Perry?
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Regardless of whether Obama or Axelrod believe or want it to be so, two judges in three lawsuits have put same-sex marriage front and center on the national stage. Pretending it not to be so is no answer, and failing to communicate more effectively and substantively about the administration's actions and Obama's positions regarding same-sex marriage could be disastrous.
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Although Obama may say he no longer favors legalizing same-sex marriages, he has opposed restrictions on those marriages as discriminatory and promised to work toward equality for same-sex couples.
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I and many, many others in the LGBT community are watching and waiting. If Obama continues to throw us under the bus again, he's likely lost my support permanently - he lost my trust long before now. It's up to him to prove that he's not just another cynical, lying politician who has played the LGBT community for a bunch of suckers.

How to Become a Millionaire - Become a Pastor

I have always been a bit leery of fundamentalist preachers - especially the ones who carry on about tithing and money while showing little Christian charity or humility. Obviously, in this country one need only think of Pat Robertson and other televangelists who have made their preaching into multi-million dollar empires and live like the wealthiest of Pharisees of old. It seems that this less than altruistic trait so popular with the professional Christian set in the USA has been exported now to Africa - along with homophobia and ant-gay obsessions. The Ecomomist looks at this development in East Africa where one can go from poverty to great wealth all by setting up as a pastor and fleecing the uneducated. To me, it's Christianity at its worst and is just as morally bankrupt as the Catholic Church hierarchy that lives the good life while preaching humility and sacrifice to those they live off of like parasites. Indeed, these folks make use car salesmen look ethical and paganism look attractive if this is the future of Christianity. Here are some highlights:
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AT A rally in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park on a Sunday afternoon last month, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, parliamentarian, assistant minister for housing and one of the country’s foremost Pentecostal preachers, was passing around a paper bag for contributions from the crowd.
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Officially Pentecostals and other “charismatics” count for no more than 5% of the population. In reality, their ministers preach to about a third of the country every week. Their rise reflects an important trend across Africa. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, about 17m Africans described themselves as born-again Christians in 1970. Today the figure has soared to more than 400m, which accounts for over a third of Africa’s population.
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Ms Wanjiru has lived the Pentecostal dream. She is from a poor family of casual labourers and eked out a life as a housemaid and toilet cleaner before working her way up to a marketing job. She then experienced a vision from God calling on her to save Africa. These days videos, CDs and other accessories can be bought from her website using credit cards or phone credit. She makes good use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media. She is not afraid to court controversy, last year baptising the boss of the Mungiki organised-crime outfit, Maina Njenga.
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[T]here is also plenty of hucksterism. You will be blessed with health and wealth by God, congregants are told, especially if you give generously. As in other parts of the world, the new churches in Kenya and Uganda provide a place for the ambitious poor to get ahead. Yet the real competitive advantage of the new churches in east Africa seems to be their willingness to tap, at least subliminally, into traditional beliefs.
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However, the new churches may not be able to translate today’s assertiveness into permanent political power. . . . Then there is the question of class. Pentecostalism cannot quite shake off its impecunious roots. The cabal of civil servants, soldiers, and businessmen who dominate the golf and social clubs of Nairobi and Kampala, the capitals of Kenya and Uganda, are mostly Anglican and Roman Catholic and are unlikely to be swayed by any casting out of demons.
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Support for the anti-homosexuality bill in the Ugandan parliament has fallen away after Mr Ssempa and other preachers accused a rival Pentecostal, Robert Kayanja, of sodomy. Mr Kayanja, coincidentally a half-brother of the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has himself been criticised in Uganda for milking the poor to live a luxury life. And the clear anti-Muslim sentiment scares politicians who want to win the sizeable Muslim vote.

Obama Again Throws Gays Under the Bus on Same-Sex Marriage

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Barack Obama has thrown LGBT Americans under the bus in terms of marriage equality. Like members of the Christianist hate machine, Obama apparently cannot separate his religious beliefs from the civil laws. Using Obama's extremely flawed reasoning, those who believe the Bible authorizes slavery have every right to push for the re-enslavement of blacks. It boils down to the same thing in essence: religion trumping civil law equality. Hence, Obama is no better than these these racists - at least if personal religious beliefs are allowed to trump the civil laws. I suspect we now know for certain why LGBT positive legislation is languishing under the Obama administration and why Obama likes to fraternize with anti-gay bigots like Rick Warren. Here are highlights from the Chronicle:
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President Obama says he opposes same-sex marriage for religious reasons. Fourteen years ago, however, while a churchgoing Christian and a state legislative candidate, he endorsed the right of gays and lesbians to marry. Sponsors of Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage, cited Obama's current position in their 2008 campaign and have quoted him in their defense of the measure during a federal court trial in San Francisco.
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What has received much less attention is Obama's reversal of the position he once held backing same-sex marriage - the position still held by the church he attended for most of his adult life. Obama's reference to his religious convictions about marriage also contrasts with the position of the denomination with which he has been most closely associated, the United Church of Christ.
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In 2005, the United Church of Christ's governing General Synod passed a resolution endorsing "equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender." The church, with 1.1 million members, is the largest U.S. denomination to support same-sex marriage.
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At the federal court trial of a lawsuit challenging Prop. 8, lawyers for the measure's sponsors have cited Obama's opposition to same-sex marriage as evidence that people who favor a traditional view of marriage are not necessarily prejudiced against gays and lesbians.
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Legally, the distinction is crucial - if Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who is hearing the case without a jury, decides that discrimination was the main motivation behind Prop. 8, he could overturn the measure without having to decide whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry.
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Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, dismissed the president's shifting stance as "pure politics." "When he was running for office in Chicago and wanted strong support from the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, he made it clear he supported full equality," Kors said. "Since he has continued to seek higher office, he has changed his position for the worse. "It's especially appalling that he is citing his religious beliefs as grounds for his public government position on the civil marriage issue because he knows better," Kors said.
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Personally, I will know better than to trust Obama in the future. I find it most galling that my CIVIL legal rights are subjected to the religious beliefs of others who make a mockery of the United States Constitution. Once again, I have to wonder whether or not a world without religion might not be a better place.

Obama BFF, Rick Warren Asks for Urgent Donations

Between the recession and perhaps some of the sheeple waking up to the fact that they are being fleeced by a bigoted demagogue it seems that Rick Warren's Saddleback Church is running $900,000 in the red. Personally, I surely will not shed any tears for the disingenuous Warren. I still have not forgiven Obama for having the bloated homophobe give the inaugural invocation last January. One can only hope that more people will come to see Warren for what he is - a modern day Pharisee who lives the good life by suckering others. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post:

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Evangelical pastor Rick Warren appealed to parishioners at his Orange County megachurch Wednesday to help fill a $900,000 deficit by the first of the year. Warren made the appeal in a letter posted on the Saddleback Church Web site. It begins "Dear Saddleback Family, THIS IS AN URGENT LETTER."
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Warren said the church managed to stay within its budget, but "the bottom dropped out" when Christmas donations dropped. "On the last weekend of 2009, our total offerings were less than half of what we normally receive - leaving us $900,000 in the red for the year," the letter reads. *
Warren was named the top newsmaker of the year by the Religion Newswriters Association. He gained attention with his invocation at the inauguration of President Barack Obama and comments in the aftermath of California's Proposition 8, which overturned gay marriage.

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Hmm - could it be that God's not happy with Warren's message of division and intolerance?

Christianist and Catholic Poison in Africa

Susan Jacoby has a piece in the Washigton Post that takes a good look at the homophobia and backward medical thinking that has been exported to Africa by both American Christianists and the Vatican. She also looks at the deafening silence of Obama's BFF, Rick Warren in regard to proposals to execute gays in Uganda. In sum, it makes a stunning record of religion as evil. I do try to not be resoundingly anti-religion, but it is difficult at times not to be. Sadly, the rational and "good Christians" if you will are all too silent too much of the time and allow the principal message of Christianity to be one of hate and exclusion. Indeed, as Frank Schaeffer said in his blog post that I quoted yesterday, it seems the field is most often yielded to the modern day Pharisees who the media lacks the guts to expose for the nasty individuals they are in reality. Here are some highlights:

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The bill was introduced in the Uganda legislature in October after a visit by U.S. Christian conservatives who promote therapy to “convert” gays to heterosexuality. Since then, many more liberal Catholic, evangelical, and other Protestant leaders have denounced the bill—including Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Ronald Siders, president of Evangelicals for Social Action. Pastor Rick Warren, however—yes, the Rick Warren who spoke at President Obama’s inauguration—declined to comment when offered the opportunity by Newsweek’s Lisa Miller and NBC’s David Gregory on “Meet the Press.” . . . What can and should be done, by political leaders as well as private groups, to marginalize so-called religious figures who stay silent on such matters?
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The Uganda legislation is important not only because of its particular harshness and moral lunacy (imagine equating living with HIV and same-sex rape!) but because the spread of AIDS in Africa is one of the most serious public health threats in the world. Other countries, such as Nigeria and Rwanda, are also considering new anti-gay laws. There is a particular irony in Rwanda’s consideration of such a law, given that Rwanda is one of the countries whose own women have been victims of mass rape by soldiers and whose soldiers have participated in mass rapes in Congo. How about a law promoting life imprisonment for all men, heterosexual or homosexual, committing rape against either women or men?
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It should be said that the role played by the Vatican and Protestant Christian conservatives in light of the AIDS crisis in Africa has been destructive, in that the religious conservatives’ attacks on condom use—and moral condemnation of homosexuality itself—have provided reinforcement for the most retrograde African attitudes toward gays. Scott Lively, a California-based evangelical preacher and author of the charmingly titled book “The Pink Swastika,” told The Huffington Post that the Ugandan bill went too far but added, “I agree with the general goal.”
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One can only hope that President Obama will have the sense never to invite Rick Warren to appear at any government function again.

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One can also hope that the spineless MSM will cease giving Warren opportunities to pontificate. Warren is a bloated, pompous, hateful ass who needs to be shunned by the media and Obama.

Stunning Silence By Some on Uganda's Anti-Gay Law

The silence of some on Uganda's proposed legislation that would authorize the execution of gays and/or life imprisonment for others is deafening. Among those who have failed to condemn the measure are President Obama - who has his nose far up BFF Rick Warren's very wide ass all too often - the Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Benedict XVI - the list goes on and on and helps to underscore that religious extremists of all denominations are the greatest enemies of LGBT civil rights and lives. Obama speaks in flowery words about being a "fierce advocate" but is missing in action when it comes to anything more than pretty talk. It makes me physically sick and wonder whether a world without religion would not be a far better place. A piece in the Washington Post looks at those who are turning a blind eye to the potential for legal murder of gays. Yes, some are speaking out, but far too many are not. Here are some highlights:

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As Episcopalians in America were electing their second gay bishop, their Anglican cousins in Uganda were embroiled in controversial legislation that would put those bishops in prison for life, or condemn them to death.

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The legislation being considered by the Parliament of Uganda, which outlaws "any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex," punishable by life in prison or death, threatens to further divide Episcopalians, some of whom have left the U.S. church and aligned with the Anglican Church of Uganda and other anti-homosexual African communions. It's also putting other U.S. religious leaders, from Jim Wallis to Rick Warren, in the unusual position of commenting on political matters in other nations.
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Homosexuality already is illegal in Uganda: The Penal Code bans "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature," with a possible penalty of life imprisonment, but prosecutions are rare because the standard of proof requires that offenders be caught in the act. According to Foreign Policy magazine, the proposed legislation would make it easier to catch and prosecute offenders:

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"In addition to outlawing 'any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex' with penalties up to life imprisonment, the proposed bill criminalizes attempted homosexuality, the aiding and abetting of homosexuality, and promotion of homosexuality -- each carrying a possible prison sentence of seven years. Failure to disclose an offense is also punishable by a fine and three years in prison. And anyone with knowledge of crimes committed is obligated to report them to the authorities within 24 hours. The legislation also creates a new category of offense, 'aggravated homosexuality,' which is punishable with death. The latter crime would include having homosexual sex with a minor or someone with a disability or having homosexual sex while HIV positive (the bill makes no distinction about whether offenders must be knowingly infected to qualify.)
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U.S. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori issued a statement of concern about the Ugandan legislation: "The Episcopal Church joins many other Christians and people of faith in urging the safeguarding of human rights everywhere. We do so in the understanding that 'efforts to criminalize homosexual behavior are incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ,'" Schori wrote.
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[M]egachurch pastor Rick Warren, who church has extensive AIDS ministries in Uganda and other African nations, declined to condemn the legislation.

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People need to take a good look at what's happening in Uganda. It is the natural extension of the intertwining of toxic religion with the civil laws. What's happening in Uganda is what many U.S. Christianist would like to achieve in the USA and elsewhere. Their message is one of hate and intolerance and NOT Christ's Gospel message.

Rick Warren's Role In the Uganda "Kill Gays" Bill

Candidly, I have always found Rick Warren to be a sleazy, bloated snake oil merchant and modern day Pharisee in the worse sense of the word. That Barrack Obama had the stupidity to allow Warren to give the Inaugural invocation still disgusts me. Now, with the international focus on the extraordinary homophobia in Uganda and the proposed "kill gays" legislation before that nation's lunatic Parliament, further scrutiny is revealing that Warren's foul stench is very much involved in the push for the horrific anti-gay legislation. If Obama continues to have any connections with Warren whatsoever, it will speak volumes about Obama and none of it will be good. Moreover, it will be further corroboration that Obama's campaign cynically manipulated LGBT Americans for their money and their votes while meaning nothing stated about gay equality. Talk2Action has a piece that looks at Rick Warren's connection to what's happening in Uganda and which confirms my initial instincts about Warren. Here are some highlights:

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In 2008 Rick Warren declared that, following Rwanda, Uganda was the world's second official "Purpose Driven" nation. Uganda is currently in the news because of a bill before the Ugandan legislature that would establish the death penalty for homosexual acts and, critics charge, might even require the execution of HIV-positive Ugandan citizens.
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Some observers have wondered if Purpose Driven Life author and mega-evangelist Rick Warren has had a role in the globally controversial bill, especially because of Warren's close association with Ugandan anti-gay activist Martin Ssempa and, more broadly, because Warren has refused to denounce the anti-gay bill. To little notice, a charismatic network overseen by Warren's doctoral dissertation advisor, C. Peter Wagner, has played a major role in politically organizing and inspiring the Ugandan legislators who have spearheaded the anti-gay bill.
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Both Wagner and Warren have designed elaborate infrastructures for blurring the lines between church and state. Wagner describes his movement as the “New Apostolic Reformation” and openly espouses his goals of reorganizing and mobilizing the church to take Christian “dominion” over government and society. Warren’s movement is described as a “second reformation” in the form of his P.E.A.C.E. plan, but his goals of rapid “expansion of the kingdom” in Uganda and elsewhere closely parallel those of Wagner's.
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Both C. Peter Wagner and Rick Warren want to transform the world, and both have proclaimed the advent of a second Reformation. Wagner claims the New Apostolic Reformation began in 2001. Rick Warren's "second reformation" is "purpose driven" and powered by his 2005 launch of a global P.E.A.C.E. Plan. In Uganda both visions for societal transformation appear to include the categorical elimination of homosexuality - by any means. *
the methods portrayed are conceptually medieval, and the agenda is theocratic and Christian supremacist. One Ugandan blogger labels the Transformations ideology as "political Christianity" and an import of the Western world. . . . Beyond its anti-gay animus, C. Peter Wagner's movement is also virulently anti-Catholic.
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Warren has supported the role of Archbishops Orombi, Peter Akinola of Nigeria, and Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda as leaders in the GAFCON/CFA realignment of the Anglican church on the issue of homosexuality. As reported in a March 29, 2008 story from the AllAfrica.com news service, in March 2008 Rick Warren attended a conference of Ugandan Anglican Bishops who were protesting the Church of England's tolerance for homosexuality. AllAfrica, reporting on his appearance, summarized Warren's quotes as "homosexuality is not a natural way of life and thus not a human right," and directly quoted Warren as stating, "We shall not tolerate this aspect at all."
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Is Rick Warren's "second reformation" the same as C. Peter Wagner's New Apostolic Reformation? Wagner is quite open about his goal of merging church and state - it is the core of his ideology. Warren's P.E.A.C.E. plan has been publicly characterized as altruistic public service but what is this "Purpose Driven" world that Warren envisions?
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On April 17, 2005 at California’s Anaheim Stadium, Rick Warren told approximately 30,000 who had gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Saddleback Church, . . "For the past 18 months we have been on a stealth, secret mission - project - around the world. We've been sending members out, actually over 4500 members somewhere overseas, over the period of the the last few years, going out to do what we're gonna call the PEACE plan... Warren continued by asking what his audience could accomplish if they had the absolute dedication of the followers of Hitler, Lenin, and Mao, and told the crowd they must do "whatever it takes" for the "New Reformation" and the global expansion of the kingdom. [See video below]

C. Peter Wagner's former student Rick Warren also has a formula for breaking down the walls of separation of church and state and building a Christian kingdom on earth. Who are the enemies that Richard Duane Warren believes must be eliminated to fulfill his utopian vision? Perhaps "Purpose Driven" Uganda gives us a clue.

Take a good look. This is the man Obama picked to give the Inaugural invocation. It was a travesty then and it's a travesty now that this bigot is not being expsed for the dangerous religious extremist that he is in fact.

Rick Warren's Foul Stench Involved in "Kill Gays" Bill

In my view, Rick Warren, a bloated Narcissus and liar, represents much of what is foul in professional Christians. The fact that Barack Obama is chums with Warren speaks volumes about Obama and none of it is good. Truth be told, Warren worships himself and the lucrative living he makes peddling a hypocritical form of Christianity. He works to put a kinder face on his ultimately poisonous beliefs, but in the final analysis he's just as despicable as the more obvious gay hating Christianists. While Warren has done much to export his brand of Christianism overseas, particularly to Africa, he conveniently ignores the rotten fruits of his efforts, acting as if he has nothing to do with the hatred and bigotry he helps to sow. The current anti-gay jihad in Uganda is a case in point. Fortunately, some attention is now being brought to Warren's failure to disavow the imprisonment or threatened execution of gays. Timothy Kincaid provides an overview at Box Turtle Bulletin. Here are some highlights:

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Warren is not hesitant to interfere in international religious divisions or schisms. Though not Anglican, he has been a major player in providing American support to African Anglicans who are seeking to oust any affiliates from the Anglican Communion that make any accommodation for gay Christians. Warren also likes to rub shoulders with the politically powerful. He is friends with presidents and the powerful around the globe.
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And he’s no stranger to activism on behalf of legislation. Though he was not highly visible in supporting Proposition 8, he did not hesitate to instruct his flock – which does not stop at the walls of his church – to vote to take away the civil rights of their gay neighbors.
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But Warren has now found the one exception to his political involvement. And that exception is the proposed Ugandan “Kill Gays” bill. Unlike virtually anything else that flickers across his attention, this piece of legislation just doesn’t rise to the level of requiring his involvement.
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On Meet the Press this [yesterday] morning he spoke a good game of loving gay people (while fighting against their rights). But though he declared that his “role is to love everybody” (which presumably would include gay Ugandans), this love seems not to stretch quite enough to oppose their execution and life-long incarceration. And Newsweek’s Kate Dailey is noting Warren’s failure to respond to the situation in Uganda:
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But Warren won’t go so far as to condemn the legislation itself. A request for a broader reaction to the proposed Ugandan anti-homosexual laws generated this response: “The fundamental dignity of every person, our right to be free, and the freedom to make moral choices are gifts endowed by God, our creator. However, it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations.”
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When you build the platform, put out the chairs, advertise the event, set up the audio system, introduce the speaker, and hand him the mic, it’s disingenuous to claim that you are not taking sides. Rick Warren was significantly responsible for building Martin Ssempa’s influence in Uganda, and releasing a statement that he had “severed contact with Mr. Ssempa” two years ago is not an adequate reaction to Ssempa’s efforts to incarcerate and kill gay people.
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The truth is that while Rick Warren speaks of loving gay people, he doesn’t care if they are executed in Uganda for being gay. Or, at least, he doesn’t care enough to make the slightest effort to stop it.
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Like most Christianists, Warren is a malignant force who has assisted with the utter perversion of the Gospel message. He may think he is playing it coy on the Uganada situation, but his failure to condemn what's going on makes it clear that his talk of "loving gays" is pure bullshit.