I wrote an article this morning for Cif belief that was published with the title Uganda’s anti-gay bill is far from dead.
It may be temporarily off the parliamentary agenda, but local Anglican support for the Ugandan anti-gay bill continues
The infamous Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill, which earlier this week was thought likely to be voted upon on Wednesday as the current session of the Uganda parliament draws to a close, does not now appear on the order paper for the day. The bill, which is technically still at the committee stage, could, however, be carried forward into the next session of parliament…
The article includes this analysis of the Anglican angle:
Sadly, local Anglican support for the bill continues, even though on Tuesday of the archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement in which he opposed it, saying: “Overall, the proposed legislation is of shocking severity and I can’t see how it could be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what the Communion has said in recent decades. Apart from invoking the death penalty, it makes pastoral care impossible – it seeks to turn pastors into informers.”
This was not, in fact, a new statement, but rather a quotation from the interview in the Telegraph that he gave in December 2009 to George Pitcher, who has since become his secretary for public affairs. Pitcher also wrote: “He adds that the Anglican Church in Uganda opposes the death penalty but, tellingly, he notes that its archbishop, Henry Orombi, who boycotted the Lambeth Conference last year, “has not taken a position on this bill.”
That lacuna was remedied in February 2010, when the Anglican church of Uganda issued a detailed statement offering strong support for the bill. It has not made any further public statements on the bill since that time. Archbishop Orombi has continued his boycott of Anglican Communion events, including the latest primates meeting in Dublin, and to support the rival church body Gafcon, which has announced plans for expansion. There can be little chance of a change of heart on homosexuality by Orombi.
Since I wrote this morning, the situation – which was changing rapidly then – has developed even further. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill was restored to (a revised) Order Paper. However, it was not reached during the Wednesday session, and may now be considered in the additional session that has been scheduled for Friday. For the latest reports see Warren Throckmorton here, and also Box Turtle Bulletin here.
Update Box Turtle Bulletin also reports LA Times Not Withstanding, Uganda’s Death Penalty Has NOT Been Dropped.
The ¨spiritual counselor¨ of Anglican MP David Bahati (author anti-LGBT bill before Parliament) is Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi according to Jeff Sharlet, author of ¨The Family¨…both +Orombi and MP Bahati are ¨extended¨ members of the Washington D.C. ¨C¨ Street Family.
Jeff Sharlet: In the last ten years, The Family has poured millions into “leadership development” in Uganda, more than it has invested in any other foreign country
Jeff Sharlet: “The kill-the-gays bill wasn’t conceived at C Street or the Cedars. The Uganda Fellowship that launched the bill was. The Family didn’t pull the trigger; they provided the gun.”
http://leonardoricardosanto.blogspot.com/2011/02/national-prayer-breakfast-history-has.html
The very unstable political situation in Uganda at present suggests a reason for the reintroduction of this bill — indeed, it suggest a reason for the bill’s introduction in the first place. The right-wing American evangelicals who pull the strings in the Ugandan church know how to play this demagogic game very well; they did it in the US for years.
All in the name of Religion LGBT lives are debated to weather we should live or be put to death. I have asked this question many times “where is the gospel in all this?
Given that Bishop Sandy Millar ( of HTB/Alpha fame ) is a bishop of the Church in Uganda and a personal friend of Orombi, he is well placed to air the abhorrance most members of the C of E feel about this.
I note that a petition opened 48 hours before the threatened introduction of the bill has garnered more than 1,500,000 signatures already! http://www.avaaz.org/en/uganda_stop_homophobia_petition/96.php
Archbishop Orombi should be taken to task by no less a person than the Archbishop of Canterbury on this important issue. He is an embarrassment to the Anglican world.
“All in the name of Religion LGBT lives are debated to weather we should live or be put to death. I have asked this question many times “where is the gospel in all this?”
Where is the Archbishop of Canterbury in all this?
“Archbishop Orombi should be taken to task by no less a person than the Archbishop of Canterbury on this important issue. He is an embarrassment to the Anglican world.”
Fat chance!
If this bill actually passes, as seems likely, are there ways that a refugee process could be speeded up for those who need to leave the country?
¨Archbishop Orombi should be taken to task by no less a person than the Archbishop of Canterbury on this important issue.¨ Father Ron Smith
I keep wondering. I keep throwing out this question (for years):
Did Archbishop Rowan Williams have ANY contact with ANY ¨C¨ Street Family members during his six month ¨sabbatical at Georgetown University¨ Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia area in 2007?
Archbishop Orombi is a ¨extended family¨ member of the ¨C¨ Street group.
“the Anglican church of Uganda issued a detailed statement offering strong support for the bill. It has not made any further public statements on the bill since that time. Archbishop Orombi has continued his boycott of Anglican Communion events, including the latest primates meeting in Dublin, and to support the rival church body Gafcon, which has announced plans for expansion. There can be little chance of a change of heart on homosexuality by Orombi.” This says all we really need to know – about Abp. Orombi’s headlong determination to outlaw LGBTs from the community of the Church in Uganda. Not… Read more »
im glad that this bill is over it never deserved to be there in the first place it is horrible that anyone would even thing of such a thing it is horrible! me being part of the queer community and all i would hate for anything to happen to any people in any part of the world, no matter who or what you are you should not be forced to change. so what if you like the same sex it is NOT evil or wrong.