Americans’ Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push (NYT)

[Duncan Grant]

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: January 3, 2010

KAMPALA, Uganda — Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda’s capital to give a series of talks.

The theme of the event, according to Stephen Langa, its Ugandan organizer, was “the gay agenda — that whole hidden and dark agenda” — and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family.

For three days, according to participants and audio recordings, thousands of Ugandans, including police officers, teachers and national politicians, listened raptly to the Americans, who were presented as experts on homosexuality. The visitors discussed how to make gay people straight, how gay men often sodomized teenage boys and how “the gay movement is an evil institution” whose goal is “to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity.”

Now the three Americans are finding themselves on the defensive, saying they had no intention of helping stoke the kind of anger that could lead to what came next: a bill to impose a death sentence for homosexual behavior.

Complete story at the New York Times.

If you read the article, you'll see that one of these American evangelicals now says he feels "duped" by the Ugandans(!). What an asshole. I've been fascinated as this story develops, morphing from a great moment in Christian culture to international condemnation. Even Rick Warren is trying to cover his sorry ass while continuing to fleece the flocks ($900,000 at last count). Anyhoo, for those of us who watch the American evangelical movement -- this has been far more than simply informative, it affirms every ounce of contempt I have for these moralistic holier-than-thou types.

:grr:

[NMMNG]

1. It's their typical cycle

Cause a problem, then when they're called on it pretend they're the ones being "persecuted".

[applegrove]

2. Those pesky right wing religious nuts are spewing their crap all over the world.

And they have alot of money behind them.

[jonnyblitz]

3. Obama has some fucking disgusting friends, that's all I can say.nt

[alp227]

4. American interventionism gone WILD.

I thought that we were supposed to spread FREEDOM and democracy worldwide! Because of this, we should start apologizing to the freepers who hate us and start supporting Reagan's wild worldwide invasions, GW Bush's Iraq War that he allegedly started on false pretenses, and Senator Joe Lieberman's plan to invade Yemen in retaliation to the underpants bomber. :sarcasm:

If the American religious right can spread bigotry into international law, why can't French health care workers spread the goodness of that country's system to our broken health care system?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. i hate ex-gays. hate them, fucking killing the rest of us through their cowardice.

[ShadowLiberal]

6. These guys need to be prosecuted for something if anyone dies because of what they stirred up

I don't care what any lawyer would say, these guys need to be charged with hate crimes, charged for inciting violence, charged for causing murder, something, if any gays or gay friendly people end up losing their lives in Uganda because of the fear and hatred these three American bigots stirred up.

[Toasterlad]

7. My Thoughts Exactly. I'd Happily Pull the Switch On Any Of These Assholes.

They are not fit to live. One gay Ugandan is worth more than any number of those sick evangelical fucks.