Anti-gay bill in Uganda challenges Catholics to take a stand

[Siddhartha]

As Spiderman has always understood, with great power comes great responsibility. In Catholicism, that’s a point with particular relevance these days for Africa. Explosive growth of the church is turning Africa into a 21st century Catholic powerhouse, which means that Catholic leaders in Africa face a new responsibility to wield their influence wisely.

A startling story percolating in Uganda illustrates that truth.

An Anglophone nation located in eastern Africa, Uganda has a population of 32 million, roughly 40 percent Catholic. By mid-century the Catholic population should soar to 56 million, enough to make Uganda the sixth-largest Catholic nation in the world, ahead of such traditional Catholic powers as France, Italy, Spain and Poland.

As Comte said, demography is destiny, and Uganda’s destiny is to be a force in setting the tone for the global church. Right now Ugandan Catholics face precisely one of those tone-setting choices: How to respond to a draconian new bill in parliament which would impose the death penalty for homosexuality in certain circumstances…

The approach to homosexuality in the Catechism of the Catholic Church is well-known, and amounts to an elaboration of Augustine’s famous formula “love the sinner, hate the sin.” The Catechism unambiguously classifies homosexuality as “intrinsically disordered,” but adds that homosexual persons “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity,” and that “every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”

The question facing Ugandan Catholics is how to apply those principles to the debate sparked by Bahati’s bill. One thing seems clear: Whatever stand they take has to be their own choice. Efforts from the West to force their hand are likely to be counter-productive, as the Anglican reaction illustrates.

Historically, Africa’s bishops and other Catholic leaders haven’t had a particularly high global profile. From time to time they might complain about international neglect, but they came to accept it as the way of the world. Today, however, demographic change has turned the Catholic church upside down, putting a global spotlight on Africa.

Now that they have the world’s attention, the question is: What will Catholic leaders in Uganda have to say?

 

[eichenb2]

Siddhartha:
I see the issue as analagous to the death penalty. While, it is not intrinsically wrong, it must be engaged cautiously. Likewise, the spread of morally abhorrent, sinful, and harmful practises (such as sodomy) needs to be addressed. Punishing sodomites may not be the best router, but it is not intrinsically wrong. The issue is particulary urgent in western countries, due to the militant sodomites, who desire to eradicate the Church’s freedom to call sin sinful. The state (and if it is predominantly Catholic) has a compelling right to address morality in the society. However, it is incumbent on the government to not do more harm than good. Sodomy is intrinsically wrong. Having (from others’ perception) a tendency toward feminine traits is not. So, Catholics who make up any society need to understand that any laws punished sodomy but punish actions, not tendencies. Also, sodomy should not be singled out. Fornication, adultery, masterbastion, and others must be addressed as well.

 

[St_Francis]

Here is the text of the bill.

Just looking it over preliminarily, I see that engaging in homosexual acts is punishable by lifetime imprisonment, and aggravated homosexual acts (engaging with HIV, engaging with minors, disabled, or under one’s authority, etc.) are what are punished by the death penalty.

 

[St_Francis]

…So, Catholics who make up any society need to understand that any laws punished sodomy but punish actions, not tendencies. Also, sodomy should not be singled out. Fornication, adultery, masterbastion, and others must be addressed as well.

The bill would appear to address actions rather than tendencies, and it states that they are doing because their other statues against sexual activity do not cover homosexual activity (see part 2.1 of the bill I linked to).

I do not think that homosexual activity and extramarital heterosexual activity are equal, altho both are very sinful and harmful both to society and other individuals. However, extramarital heterosexual activity is still normal, whereas homosexual activity is also a perversion of the normal, and thus somewhat worse and potentially even more damaging.

 

[Lief_Erikson]

I see the issue as analagous to the death penalty. While, it is not intrinsically wrong, it must be engaged cautiously. Likewise, the spread of morally abhorrent, sinful, and harmful practises (such as sodomy) needs to be addressed. Punishing sodomites may not be the best router, but it is not intrinsically wrong. The issue is particulary urgent in western countries, due to the militant sodomites, who desire to eradicate the Church’s freedom to call sin sinful. The state (and if it is predominantly Catholic) has a compelling right to address morality in the society. However, it is incumbent on the government to not do more harm than good. Sodomy is intrinsically wrong. Having (from others’ perception) a tendency toward feminine traits is not. So, Catholics who make up any society need to understand that any laws punished sodomy but punish actions, not tendencies. Also, sodomy should not be singled out. Fornication, adultery, masterbastion, and others must be addressed as well.

I agree with this post. The Ugandan bill is certainly not an intrinsic evil. It is hard line justice. The question must be whether the circumstances are such that it is best to do this, and also whether it is possible to initiate such a law while remaining obedient to the Catholic Church.

 

[Arwen037]

A man having consensual sex with a man should not be imprisoned for life. Or really be legally punished at all. It is not a moral thing, but it shouldn’t be illegal. Do you really think that masturbators or fornicators should be locked up for life?

A man forcing himself on a child aor a man with AIDS having sex without warning his partner should be punished, but not with death unless there is no other way to punish them.

 

[Christopher68]

So two gay men having sex would face life in prison? Utterly ridiculous. How you think about the act of consensual homosexual activity from a moral standpoint is a different issue. From a legal standpoint, the fact that this is even punishable is an abhorrent misue of the justice system.

 

[eichenb2]

A man having consensual sex with a man should not be imprisoned for life. Or really be legally punished at all. It is not a moral thing, but it shouldn’t be illegal. Do you really think that masturbators or fornicators should be locked up for life?

A man forcing himself on a child aor a man with AIDS having sex without warning his partner should be punished, but not with death unless there is no other way to punish them.

If a man and woman who are married (not to each other) should have consentual intercourse (fyi - this is called aldutery), do you say that no one is being hurt? As a child of this type of disordered situation, I can guarantee that child, families, and society are harmed. Do you think the state have no interest in maintaining a certain level of civility and peace? If you say no, then why do we have marriage laws at all?

I will acknowledge that sudsidiarity is part of Catholic social teaching, by the liberaterian idea of “separation of church and state” (which is NOT in the U.S. Constitution) is not. One who is, indeed, Catholic those needs to know and understand the following.

1 Corinthians 6:9-13

"Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites

nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.

That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

“Everything is lawful for me,” 5 but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful for me,” but I will not let myself be dominated by anything.

“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both the one and the other. The body, however, is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; "

 

[eichenb2]

So two gay men having sex would face life in prison? Utterly ridiculous. How you think about the act of consensual homosexual activity from a moral standpoint is a different issue. From a legal standpoint, the fact that this is even punishable is an abhorrent misue of the justice system.

You are being ridiculous! There have been laws “on the books” for generations in many countries. Likewise, there have been similar laws against adultery, child molestation, gang-rape, etc. For you to simply dismiss the need more social laws in society is appaling and ignorant. Please read the previous posts in the thread. Free your mind and learn to think…please.

 

[Christopher68]

You are being ridiculous! There have been laws “on the books” for generations in many countries. Likewise, there have been similar laws against adultery, child molestation, gang-rape, etc. For you to simply dismiss the need more social laws in society is appaling and ignorant. Please read the previous posts in the thread. Free your mind and learn to think…please.

Child molestation and gang rape are non-consensual, and in the case of child molestation, they involve a minor. Yes, of course the state has an interest in these types of laws. However, to equate these abhorrent acts with non-violent acts between consenting adults is utterly ridiculous, and represents the worst kind of societal busy-body mentality.

 

[eichenb2]

Child molestation and gang rape are non-consensual, and in the case of child molestation, they involve a minor. Yes, of course the state has an interest in these types of laws. However, to equate these abhorrent acts with non-violent acts between consenting adults is utterly ridiculous, and represents the worst kind of societal busy-body mentality.

Think! Please! Adultery, fornication, and polygyny are consensual. Are you prepared to say that the government ought to stay out of polygamy, as long as it is consensual? This is not rhetorical. It is coming. The Catholic Church taught, teaches, and will always teach that sexual intercourse is intended only between a one man and one woman who are married sacramentally. Any other attempt to mimic this by disordered people is sinful. If you intend be a faithful Catholic, come on-board and accept the Church’s teaching.

 

[Christopher68]

Think! Please! Adultery, fornication, and polygyny are consensual. Are you prepared to say that the government ought to stay out of polygamy, as long as it is consensual? This is not rhetorical. It is coming. The Catholic Church taught, teaches, and will always teach that sexual intercourse is intended only between a one man and one woman who are married sacramentally. Any other attempt to mimic this by disordered people is sinful. If you intend be a faithful Catholic, come on-board and accept the Church’s teaching.

Another red herring. First you brought up child molestation and rape which I proved as faulty analogies, and now you are adding polygamy to the equation. Why don’t you focus on the specific acts which are being discussed - homosexual acts between consenting adults. I am not arguing that they are against church teaching. However, as a legal matter, pursuing these acts as ‘crimes’ is a ridiculous waste of time.

 

[Zoe_Brain]

Under this law, 2 17 year old boys who kissed each other would both be executed. So would two 15 year old girls. Even if they did so outside Uganda.

And if they told the priest of this at confession, unless he reported them to the police within 24 hours, he would be imprisoned for 5 years.

At some point you have to look at your own homophobia, and see what the consequences are. And what the Church is countenancing just so it doesn’t appear to be tolerating homosexuality.

 

[IHeartAquinas]

And if they told the priest of this at confession, unless he reported them to the police within 24 hours, he would be imprisoned for 5 years.

I thought that the inviolability and sacredness of confession was protected under Canon Law and respected internationally. Wouldn’t this be in violation of established international norms, or even international law? (I’m not sure on the status of Canon Law in the UN, so I could be wrong to suggest it)

 

[Zoe_Brain]

Part of this law abrogates all such International treaties when it comes to homosexuality. It says that specifically.

 

[Zoe_Brain]

The Catholic Church in Uganda has so far made no comment - because to protest could be seen as somehow legitimising homosexuality. The same excuse they use for opposing anti-bullying laws in the USA that would specifically protect Gay students.

I think they may get in trouble with the Vatican though - the sanctity of the confession is supposed to be absolutely inviolate. To acquiesce to such laws without demur or protest, even if they are not obeyed in practice, would seem to me to be a very grave matter.

But maybe not. Maybe Homosexuality is seen as so much greater a sin than genocide, rape, murder, etc that “allowances have to be made”. Certainly it seems that way sometimes, when Catholic Bishops and Archbishops in the US spend so much energy trying to stop the passage of bills that would allow basic human rights regarding employment etc to gay people, as to allow them would be a “restriction of religious freedom”.

 

[St_Francis]

Under this law, 2 17 year old boys who kissed each other would both be executed. So would two 15 year old girls. Even if they did so outside Uganda.

Well, I personally think that the law should take into account when both involved are minors, or very close in age (like a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old), not that what I personally think will have any effect on this.

And if they told the priest of this at confession, unless he reported them to the police within 24 hours, he would be imprisoned for 5 years.

They cannot require this. Priests are not permitted to reveal what has been told to them in confession.

At some point you have to look at your own homophobia, and see what the consequences are.

OK, homophobia is becoming one of those words like Hitler that is totally meaningless. it is not homophobia to think that the homosexual movement is totally out of line. I would not go out and kill someone just for being homosexual, or even for acting on it. However, I do see that allowing homosexuality out of the closet has opened a can of worms in which *more *young men are abused, in which teens are confused about their sexuality, and in which homosexual activity is proclaimed to one and all, and in which we can have those lovely “Gay” Pride parades.

And what the Church is countenancing just so it doesn’t appear to be tolerating homosexuality.

What do any of us know about the situation in Uganda? I mean, we do not know what prompted their decision to put this bill up. Not knowing what the situation is there, we can’t really comment on some of the specifics of the bill.

 

[St_Francis]

It would seem that international pressure to accept homosexual “lifestyles,” as well as “sex tourism” has caused this harsh reaction from Uganda, according to this article in LifeSite News.

KAMPALA, Uganda, November 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While a proposed and much-criticized anti-homosexuality law in Uganda is definitely too harsh, the law comes as a direct response to the heavy-handed pressure from international gay-activist politicians on Uganda to accept homosexuality as normal, … the bill itself contain numerous references to stopping international pressure on Uganda to accept Western sexual values that are abhorrent to Ugandan culture.

…

…the impetus for the bill was “a lot of external interference from European and American gay activists attempting to do in Uganda what they’ve done around the world - homosexualize that society.” One of their main concerns, explained Lively, "are the many male homosexuals coming in to the country and abusing boys who are on the streets."

Lively explained that the bill, as it is currently worded, is definitely too harsh…

The law, as written, may also conflict with the rights of religious…

While the Catholic leadership in the nation has not yet responded publicly to the proposed bill, they have consistently expressed outrage at the attempts of the West to impose acceptance of homosexuality on the country. Last month at the Synod for Africa at the Vatican, bishops from all over the continent noted their grave concerns over the international anti-family pressure.

Summing up the discussions, the Cardinal Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana, Peter Turkson, said that the Synod had “described in various ways a **ferocious onslaught on the family and the related fundamental institution of marriage from outside Africa and attributed it to diverse sources.” **The bishops, he said, "vigorously denounced the ideology and international programs which are imposed on African countries under false pretexts or as conditions for development assistance."

Lively said he went to Uganda “with the purpose of getting them to liberalize the law making it more oriented toward therapy.” He testified to lawmakers in the Ugandan Assembly Hall that having legislation against homosexuality on the books is important since it protects against those who would advocate in public and in schools that homosexuality is positive. He noted however that the current bill has gone “way too far.”
…

Lively also told LifeSiteNews that to understand the opposition to homosexuality in Uganada it is necessary to **recognize the importance of the June 3rd feast of the Ugandan martyrs Saint Charles Lwanga and companions, which is still celebrated in the nation every year. **

**The martyrs were killed in the 1800’s in Uganda by then King Mwanga for interfering with the homosexual activities of the King. King Mwanga was a violent ruler and sexual abuser who forced himself on the young boys and men who served him as pages and attendants.

The growing number of conversions among the King’s pages infuriated the King since they would no longer participate in his immoral sexual acts. In all, 22 converts accepted death rather than renounce their Catholic faith.**

I think that it is clear that while the law is too harsh in several respects, there is definitely a reason that this is happening.

 

[Zoe_Brain]

What do any of us know about the situation in Uganda? .

Ask Sylvia Tamale, Law Professor at Makerere University
Thus, while I agree with you Hon. Bahati that we must seek ways of dealing with issues that threaten our families, I do not agree that homosexuality is one of those issues. Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and gentlemen, what issues currently threaten our families here in Uganda? I will name a few:

a) Blood thirsty Ugandans and traditional healers that believe that their good fortune will multiply through rituals of child sacrifice.
b) Rapists and child molesters who pounce on unsuspecting family members. Research undertaken by the NGO, Hope after Rape (HAR) shows that over 50% of child sexual abuse reports involve children below 10 years of age, and the perpetrators are heterosexual men who are known to the victims.[1]
c) Sexual predators that breach the trust placed in them as fathers, teachers, religious leaders, doctors, uncles and sexually exploit young girls and boys. A 2005 report by Raising Voices and Save the Children revealed that 90% of Ugandan children experienced domestic violence and defilement.[2]
d) Abusive partners who engage in domestic violence whether physical, sexual or emotional. The 2006 national study on Domestic Violence by the Law Reform Commission confirmed the DV was pervasive in our communities. 66% of people in all regions of Uganda reported that DV occurred in their homes and the majority of the perpetrators were “male heads of households.”[3] The Uganda Demographic Health Survey of 2006 put the figure slightly higher at 68%.[4]
e) Parents who force their 14-year old daughters to get married in exchange for bride price and marriage gifts.
f) A whole generation of children who were either born and bred in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps or abducted by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) in the northern sub-region of Kitgum, Gulu and Pader districts.
g) The millions of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The Uganda Aids Commission puts the cumulative number of orphans due to AIDS at 2 million.[5]
h) The all powerful patriarchs that demand total submission and rule their households with an iron hand.
i) Rising poverty levels and growing food insecurity which lead to hunger, disease, suffering and undignified living. Figures from the latest report from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics show that over 60% of Ugandans living in rural areas live below the poverty line.[6]

[1] Study cited in Uganda Youth Development Link, Report on Sectoral Study on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Uganda, Commissioned by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (January 2004).

[2] See Raising Voices and Save the Children (edited by Dipak Naker), Violence Against Children: The Voices of Ugandan Children and Adults. (2005). Available at raisingvoices.org/files/VACuganda.RV.pdf

[3] See Law Reform Commission, A Study Report on Domestic Violence, April 2006 at p.112

[4] See measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR194/FR194.pdf

[5] See Report by the Office of the Auditor General, Value for Money Audit Report on Uganda AIDS Control Project, October 2007. Available at oag.go.ug/docs/UACauditreport.pdf

[6] See UBOS, Spatial Trends of Poverty and Inequality in Uganda: 2002-2005, February 2009.

 

[Zoe_Brain]

One of their main concerns, explained Lively, "are the many male homosexuals coming in to the country and abusing boys who are on the streets.".

When asked if there’d ever been a single case of this before the courts, Mr Lively merely said that was no proof that it didn’t occur anyway, but had been covered up by a conspiracy of police, religious leaders, judges and politicians.

In the same speech, he also blamed the Rwandan genocide on gay men.

Lively has also claimed, in his book The Poisoned Stream, that “a dark and powerful homosexual presence” can be traced through “the Spanish Inquisition, the French ‘Reign of Terror,’ the era of South African apartheid, and the two centuries of American slavery.” He claims that Homosexuality was the driving force behind Nazism in his book The Pink Swastika.

One reason for the Catholic Church’s silence is easily explained:

The situation in Uganda continues to escalate. Late yesterday, Uganda’s New Vision followed up on Stephen Langa’s launch of a public forced “outing” drive against Ugandan LGBT individuals and against rivals who are alleged to be gay. On Monday, Langa sponsored a press conference in which another allegedly “former gay activist” Paul Kagaba accused a very popular Catholic priest and gospel singer, Fr. Anthony Musaala, of being gay.

Musaala is a well-known figure, and the Catholic church is seen as a rival to Stephen Langa’s evangelical organization.
…
Father Francis Ssemuddu, the head of St. Matia Mulumba parish in Old Kampala, said the accusations “were untrue”. Ssemuddu said the church was clear about aberrant sexual practices and how to guide offenders get out of “the abnormal behaviour”.

Musaala, the charismatic preacher and gospel music award winner, was on Tuesday accused by a self-confessed former homosexual of eight years of promoting the illegal practice. Paul Kagaba said the priest had often held parties for the gays at his residence in Gayaza near Kampala.

They’re afraid of the accusations of Homosexuality too. Evidence is not required.

I’d talk about “witch hunts”, but they actually have those in Uganda, with “Prophets” and “Witch Smellers” active and causing the lynching of a number of people every year.