The Ugandan Situation: Continued Monitoring Needed in 2010
William Lindsey printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 06:58:04 PM EST
We are delighted to welcome theologian William Lindsey as a guest front pager. This piece is cross posted from his personal blog Bilgrimage. He is a co-founder of the new progressive Catholic group blog, The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody - FC

Though mainstream media news coverage of the situation in Uganda has diminished in recent weeks, what is happening in that nation continues to deserve attention.  The movement to enact laws that may include capital punishment for gays in Uganda remains strong, and as Rev. Rick Warren's disciple in Uganda, Rev. Martin Ssempa, has recently announced, mass demonstrations in favor of the impending legislation are now being planned in Uganda.  Ssempa notes this in a video statement in which he takes Rev. Warren to task for condemning the Ugandan legislation.

Since the situation in Uganda remains volatile (and dangerous), I'd like to offer readers a list of links I've been collecting in recent weeks that discuss the role of the American religious and political right in creating the situation in Uganda.

The best comprehensive (and constantly updated) source I've seen for commentary on the Ugandan situation is Box Turtle Bulletin's "Slouching Towards Kampala."  For anyone seeking ongoing commentary about Uganda and links to abundant research tracking what has been going on there vis-à-vis gay citizens for some time now, I can't recommend this source highly enough.

What follows is a supplementary (and very selective) list of links to recent articles that probe the role of the American religious and political right in Uganda.  I offer these in the hope that they'll be useful to readers wanting to learn more about that aspect of the Ugandan situation.

(And as I offer these links, I'm struck  by the dearth of commentary among--by the total silence of--the American Catholic intellectual elite, re: the Ugandan legislation.  Shameful silence . . . . For an indicator of how desperately sane, open discussion (based in accurate information) of this issue is needed to correct malicious disinformation about queer folks circulating among African Christians, see my exchange with a commentator named Maazi N.C.O. following the recent National Catholic Reporter discussion of Uganda.)

And here's the list:

Frederick Clarkson, "The Africa Connection to the Attack on the Mainline Churches," Talk to Action, 19 Nov. 2009; and "U.S. Religious Right Stirs Up Anti-Gay Politics in Africa," Daily Kos, 23 Nov. 2009.

Frederick Clarkson, "`The Family' Behind Anti-Gay Act in Uganda,"  Talk to Action, 25 Nov. 2009.

Michelle Goldberg, "Uganda's Radical Anti-Gay Measure and the American Religious Right," Religion Dispatches, 30 Nov. 2009.

Father Jake, "Exporting Homophobia," Father Jake Stops the World, 21 Nov. 2009.

Kathryn Joyce, "The Anti-Gay Highway: New Report Details Mutually Beneficial Relationship Between US Evangelicals and African Antigay Clergy," Religion Dispatches, 19 Nov. 2009.

Steven Webster, "Cult of Conservative Christian GOPers Backs Death Penalty for Gays with HIV," Alternet, 30 Nov. 2009.

See also Bruce Wilson's extensive reporting here at Talk to Action, most recently about California Prop 8 activist Lou Engle: "Will Lou Engle take his mega-antigay The Call to Uganda?", 20 Dec. 2009.




Display:
Given the number of Roman Catholic bishops and cardinals that signed the Manhattan Declaration their silence on Uganda is not suprising.

by JerrySloan on Sun Jan 03, 2010 at 05:35:00 PM EST
You're right, Jerry.  I'm not surprised (though I'm also not happy with) the silence of most Catholic church officials re: the Ugandan situation.

What does surprise me--and this is the gist of my statement about the silence of the "intellectual elite" of American Catholicism--is the virtually total silence on the part of Catholic centrist-liberals who usually speak up about issues of human rights.

When gay people and gay issues are the topic, however, it seems many members of the centrist-liberal circles of the intellectual elite in American Catholicism remain strangely silent.
William D. Lindsey
by William Lindsey on Sun Jan 03, 2010 at 09:16:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]




WWW Talk To Action


Satan's Candidates
According to Christian Right leader Lou Engle, evangelical Christians who don't get political are helping elect Satan's candidates. In an interview with Charisma magazine,......
By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
Message to U.S. Airmen: "Accelerate Your Christian Journey"
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) receives a constant stream of photographs from service members and DoD employees around the globe showing overt promotions......
By Chris Rodda (34 comments)
Gay-Bashing Emerging as Core Christian Right Election Strategy
Keep your eyes on the Christian Right’s 2010 Values Voter Summit in two weeks in Washington, DC. http://www.valuesvotersummit.org. The main title for the event......
By Chip Berlet (3 comments)
Beck's Dreck: Fox News Host's Real Target Is Religious Liberty
Now that Glenn Beck's Lincoln Memorial rally is over, it's time to step back and ask the all-important question: What the heck was that......
By Rob Boston (1 comment)
Note to Dems: Run Against the Koch Brothers.
If we want to beat Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and the Astroturf phenomena that is the Tea Party movement, why not go for the......
By Frank Cocozzelli (8 comments)
King & Beck: Tracing the Trajectories
Trace the trajectory of Rev. King from his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (April 16, 1963) to his speech at the Washington Mall (August 28,......
By Chip Berlet (12 comments)
When Politics Means the End of the World (as we know it)
The Christian Right has often sought to stay the hand of God, angry with our failings as a nation, by `standing in the gap'......
By Frederick Clarkson (3 comments)
No, Alveda King, Our Founders Did Not Put "God" On Our Money
Much has been written in recent days about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s niece, Dr. Alveda King, because of her hooking up with Glenn Beck......
By Chris Rodda (2 comments)
Mainstream Media Falls For "Hitler May Have Had Jewish and African Roots" Hoax
Is it the hoax of the year ? Well, time will tell but so far an embarrassing number of mainstream media venues (see list......
By Bruce Wilson (4 comments)
The Jewish Daily Forward and JTA Publish a Discredited Anti-Jewish Conspiracy Theory
An article in today's Jewish Daily Forward ends with the statement, "Hitler's father, Alois, is believed to be the illegitimate child of a maid......
By Rachel Tabachnick (0 comments)
Embryonic Stem Cell Funding Blocked by Religious Right
Those  who believe the Religious Right is on its last legs might want to read the newspaper once in awhile. The August 23, 2010......
By Frank Cocozzelli (1 comment)
Ken Starr Praises JFK in Second Baptist Sermon
Ken Starr, the point man who spent $54 million trying to bring down Bill Clinton from the Monica Lewinski affair, preached a sermon Aug.......
By wilkyjr (2 comments)
Short Takes - Religious Right Pre-Election Rallies and Training
It's challenging to keep track of all the national events the Religious Right has planned in preparation for the upcoming election.  To be held......
By Rachel Tabachnick (2 comments)
U.S. Soldiers Punished For Not Attending Christian Concert
[editor - Talk To Action contributor Chris Rodda is Head Researcher for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that combats illegal and......
By Chris Rodda (47 comments)
Beyond Toleration: The Enduring Message Of Washington's Letter To The Touro Synagogue
President George Washington received an interesting letter 220 years ago today. Washington was visiting Newport, R.I., and Moses Seixas, an official at the Touro......
By Rob Boston (0 comments)

Glenn Beck, Alveda King - and Reproductive Rights
We are delighted to welcome Rev. Carlton Veazey's return as as a guest front pager. He is the longtime President and CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. -- FC The exclusionary values......
Reverend Carlton Veazey (0 comments)
Rival protests held at Ground Zero Islamic centre site
Hundreds of people took part in rival protests over plans for an Islamic centre near Ground Zero in New York. Police kept the banner-waving groups apart, although there were no reports of violence between......
Erica Lewis (1 comment)
Women Challenge Gender Apartheid in the Catholic Church
by Angela Bonavoglia from On The Issues Magazine If ever there were doubt about the relationship between the Catholic Church's spectacular failure to address the clerical child sex abuse crisis and the church's glaring......
On The Issues Magazine (1 comment)
Upcoming counter-protests against recent anti-mosque protests
Recently here on Talk to Action, Rachel Tabachnick mentioned an anti-Islam "Ground Zero Mosque Rally" to be held on Saturday, September 11 by the so-called "Freedom Defense Initiative" and "Stop Islamization of America."  This......
Diane Vera (0 comments)
A Response to Gay Gene Eugenics
In recent weeks the American broadsheets announced that a prenatal pill used to treat congenital adrenal hyperplasia could have the side effect of reducing the likelihood that females treated with the drug will be......
TMurray (0 comments)
Straight Man's Burden
September Harper's has a remarkable article by Jeff Sharlet - not yet available online. ......
daerie (1 comment)
From John Hagee's Can America Survive: Ten Prophetic Signs That We Are The Terminal Generation
Following are a few quotes from John Hagee's latest book, released June, 2010.  Also see the Media Matters post on the book and excerpts at Simon Schuster's website. ......
Rachel Tabachnick (0 comments)
Why is it worth $70 million to ordain 58 men?
The Archdiocese of Denver recently ordained five new priests bringing the total to 58 men commissioned to serve in Northern Colorado who had been trained in its two seminaries. Based upon the 2000 through......
bettyclermont (0 comments)
Nationally Famous Dog-Beating Moralist Offers Advice On Raising Girls
Nationally known Focus on the Family founder James Dobson has a new book out with advice on raising girls, Bringing Up Girls. Over the past several decades, Dobson has become a trusted authority on......
Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Documents related to atheist lawsuit
Here is a link through the local paper to some of the documents connected with the lawsuit by the Atheists of Florida against the city of Lakeland, Florida. ......
ArchaeoBob (1 comment)
Who Do You Blame For The Holocaust ?
Who was really responsible for the Holocaust ? It's a question people have been asking since before Milton Meyer's 1950's landmark book, featuring post-WW2 interviews with average Nazi Party members, They Thought They Were......
Bruce Wilson (1 comment)
Rampaging Atheist Horde Targets Christianity, Warns "Biblical Dinosaur" Expert Ken Ham
As Young Earth Creationist impresario Ken Ham wrote in a July 6th post on his Answers in Genesis web site, "Recently, atheists met at a conference in Copenhagen and released what they call their......
Bruce Wilson (4 comments)
Texas again
Radical conservatives are launching an attack on Texas higher education by way of a so called "transparency law" in Texas colleges and universities. ......
cloyd (3 comments)
Churches trying to get Oil Money
This news article states that some churches are already seeking money from BP because of the oil spill, and others are considering it.   ......
ArchaeoBob (0 comments)
Bad news in Florida
Florida has done it again.  The legislature passed a law that went into effect today protecting the "right to public prayers". ......
ArchaeoBob (0 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC. Powered by Scoop