An American anti-homosexual preacher traveled to Uganda to join in the fervor for passing anti-gay laws. And he’s based in Springfield, Massachusetts. (The first pastor mentioned, it bears noting, is Ugandan):
Standing onstage in black velvet robes, despite the stifling heat in the open-air church, Pastor Martin Ssempa’s face is a mask of disgust.
“Anal licking!,” he shouts, directing the crowd’s attention to the images of hardcore gay pornography that he’s projecting via his laptop. “That is what they are doing in the privacy of their bedrooms.”
…The pornographic images, which reduced some of the churchgoers to tears, were meant to whip up support for a bill under consideration in Uganda that would make some gays and lesbians eligible for the death penalty.
Much of this, the story says, was prompted by a visit from American evangelicals:
One of them was Scott Lively, a pastor from Springfield, MA, who believes that countries like Uganda can still protect themselves from what he sees as the scourge of the gay agenda.
“These are good Christians; better Christians than there are here in the states,” says Lively. “They care about each other. And I think the reason they’re pushing so hard on this law is that they don’t want to see what happened to our country happen over there.”
Nothing says care quite like discrimination! Lively must be thinking of some other Jesus.
Here’s his statement about the legislation in question:
“When I addressed the Ugandan Parliament last Spring, my advice was to take a positive, pro-active approach to the problem, and actively promote marriage-based culture,” said Lively. “ I suggested for example that they require age-appropriate instruction to school children at every level designed to promote faithful marriage as the goal of each student, and to prepare young people to be good husbands and wives in their adult lives. By taking this approach,” Lively argued “ the entire population could be inoculated to the excesses of the sexual revolution that have done so much damage in the West.
Regarding homosexuality, specifically, I urged the government to lead the world in emphasizing rehabilitation for homosexuals through their public policy.
“Frankly, when I learned that bill included the death penalty I was mortified,” said Lively. “I publicly rejected it as written, and privately expressed my strong disapproval through my pro-family allies in Kampala, asking them to pass my concerns along to the MPs. Thank God the sponsors did in fact agree to change the bill. I can’t say that I necessarily agree with every element of the revised bill, but I believe this revision is an acceptable compromise under the circumstances and well within the prerogative of a civilized sovereign nation.”
ADDITIONAL: I never thought I’d find myself agreeing so wholeheartedly with Jesse Ventura:
The Constitution is “under fire because look what happened. They gutted the Fourth Amendment [against] illegal search and seizure,” Ventura told Doocy and Gretchen Carlson. He may have been referring to the Bush administration’s “terrorist surveillance program.” The program allowed the NSA to monitor phone calls, e-mail and internet activity without first obtaining a warrant.
Ventura also noted that habeas corpus was under attack. “They can now charge you with terrorism. They can hold you without letting you see a lawyer,” he complained. “It has me gravely concerned that we continue to see an erosion of our rights in this country and our freedoms,” said Ventura.
With his concern about the erosion of freedom, one might think that Ventura has a lot in common with the Tea Parties but he sees a conspiracy behind the movement because they only began protesting after Barack Obama became president.
“Where were those guys protesting when we lost habeas corpus, when they violate the Fourth Amendment of illegal search and seizure? They were nowhere to be found at that point in time,” said Ventura.
But then he rambles on about some pretty sketchy stuff like the JFK assassination and the CIA operative in the Minnesota government, lest we forget he’s still Jesse Ventura. It reminds me of those moments of lucidity one gets with Patrick Buchanan, who then goes back to complete insanity.
