Two Day Magazine

Warning: This Video is Very Graphic. Weak Stomaches Beware!

Seriously, has it come to this? With all of the plights facing Africa: famine, widespread child trafficking, forced prostitution, civil war, international raping of their natural resources and a rampant HIV epidemic leaving millions of children orphaned or infected, the Ugandans believe this is the best way to spend their time? Discussing what two consenting men do in the privacy of their own bedroom?

I find this all very appalling and frightening. It disturbs me to know that Christian missionaries (because, come on, we all know they are behind this--he just happened to have a mac computer with a power point presentation of two guys fisting on it? Yea, right.) are using blatant ignorance and fear to control the poor people of Uganda into thinking that homosexuals are somehow to blame for all of their troubles and that the “sickness” of homosexuality need never see the light of day in Uganda.

In fact, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianty in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, Uganda is the fastest growing center for Christianity than anywhere else on earth.

“There’s a lot in Africans’ circumstances that makes Christianity really resonate with them,” said Jonathan Bonk, the editor of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research in New Haven, Connecticut. “It’s a faith of hope for poor people.”

Oh, so I get it. Evangelical christianity has worn out its welcome in the western world due to its bigotry and hate speech, so it has moved on to the most vulnerable of us all. Where in the Bible does Jesus give a power point presentation of two men fisting, anyway? Someone needs to show me that chapter and verse.

Like here at home, Uganda’s churches hold a lot of political influence and Evangelicals have helped shape Uganda’s controversial, American backed anti-AIDS defensive, which, of course, stresses abstinence over protection.

So, the people of Uganda get screwed twice. First, they are offered no education from the US, instead they are given pamphlets on Jesus and abstinence, while down the road, an eight year old girl gets raped because the attacker is still under the impression that sleeping with a virgin will cure AIDS.

Because of this, the US (under Bush) gave Uganda $239 million dollars (from 2004-2006) which earmarked the money for abstinence programs. As a result, evangelicalism has thrived because of the threat of AIDS in Uganda.

What also creeps me out is the anti-Obama signs in the background. Now, I am not launching into a political debate about whether you like our president or not. All I am pointing out is the fact that they don’t like Obama because they have been brainwashed into thinking that “as Africans, we want Obama to explain to us, is this what he wants to bring to Africa as a human right, to eat the poo poo?”

When, in fact, Obama came out to support global human rights and condemned the proposed anti-gay law in Uganda. He stated to the National Prayer Breakfast:

“We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are--whether it’s here in the United States or...more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.”

Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that this law would breach international standards and it “proposes draconian punishments for people alleged to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered--namely life imprisonment, or in some cases, the death penalty.”

This law could also lead to a three year prison sentence for anyone who knows someone may be gay, lesbian, transgendered, or bisexual and failing to report within 24 hours.

In other words, this is madness and a witch hunt. Is this what the Christians want? Basically bringing back the Crusades? Killing all who are different? Isn’t this how Nazi Germany came to power? Through fear and threats? Is this the kind of world we want our children to inherit? I know there are plenty of good people out there who find this as appalling as I do. I know that there are many people of faith out there who are disgusted by the way their God is being misrepresented and used to fuel ignorance, fear and the propagation of hate.

Once again, where is this all leading? You can’t hide who you are forever. They may try to squash it out, rub it out, or start slaughtering in the streets, but you can’t stop it. Instead of all of this hate and anger, why can’t we follow the one rule from the Bible worth pondering:

Leviticus 19:34 reads “But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.”

We might evolve as a collective consciousness and as a civilization much better this way.