Church of Uganda Explains Support for Controversial Anti-Homosexuality Law
Michael Gryboski ("The Christian Post," April 11, 2014)
As Uganda continues to face international outrage over its
Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was signed into law earlier this year, The
Christian Post
sought to get a better understanding of not only the bill but also how the
churches in the East African country came to support it.
Read U.S. Evangelicals' opposition to the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act
here and here.
A spokesperson with the Church of Uganda (part of the Anglican Communion)
answered questions from CP regarding the church's position on the law, its
opinion of the law, and regarding American opposition. The spokesperson, who
requested to remain anonymous, stated that they "honestly don't
understand" the outrage.
The spokesperson admitted that the Act, signed by Ugandan President Yoweri
Museveni, may seem "draconian" to those whose "point of reference is the
Western world's rapid adoption of same-sex marriage." But to others, whose
point of reference is Uganda's existing laws when the bill was passed, the
new law changes nothing.
In actuality, the new law "mitigates punishment for aggravated
homosexuality/defilement," the spokesperson said.
The Church of Uganda helped get the bill amended to remove the death
penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" and the provision that those in
authority
who become aware of practices of homosexuality must report it within 24
hours.
Below are excerpts from the responses given via email from the
spokesperson.
It was widely reported that the Church of Uganda supported the new law.
What is the Church of Uganda's position on the new law?
We have heard many stories from youth and young adults of homosexual rape
taking place in boarding schools. Once the young boy is raped, he is told
that he can get money or school fees if he continues. Together with the
president, parents, and other religious leaders, the Church of Uganda
considers
this to be "recruiting" into homosexuality and feels an obligation to
defend her children from such exploitation.
We have also heard stories of people going on to university campuses
promising jobs in other countries. Students struggling financially accept the
offers of foreign jobs, only to reach the foreign country and find that their
passports are taken and they are consigned to a life of homosexual
prostitution. The Church of Uganda, together with other national leaders,
considers
such human trafficking to be "recruiting" into homosexuality and is
steadfastly opposed to it.
We have heard stories of community leaders, teachers, and even pastors, who
seduce children and adolescents of the same sex into homosexual acts in
exchange for favors, passing grades, money or spiritual power. We believe
such corruption and perversion to be not only immoral, but also criminal, and
appreciate the Anti-Homosexuality Act for proscribing these behaviors that
"recruit" others into homosexuality.
For those who have been homosexually raped, or victimized by pedophilia or
human trafficking, the Church of Uganda seeks not only to support the
criminalization of those acts, but, at the same time, to offer counseling and
pastoral care for those who have been victimized. In their victimization they
have been stigmatized and cast out of their families. They often fear
disclosing the shameful life they have been forced to live. The Church of
Uganda wants to assure them of a safe place to share their story, and to find
hope and healing for a new life in Christ.
The original Anti-Homosexuality Bill called for those in authority who
became aware of practices of homosexuality to report it within 24 hours, and,
if they didn't report it, they would be charged and could be imprisoned for
up to three years. The Church of Uganda was opposed to this provision in
the original bill because it violated the church's pastoral calling to offer
forgiveness and counseling to those who have strayed from God's ways.
The original bill also called for the death penalty for aggravated
homosexuality, which included such crimes as homosexual rape, homosexual
incest,
engaging in homosexual sex when HIV positive, administering a "date rape"
drug in order to commit homosexual rape, homosexual sex demanded by someone in
a power relationship or a relationship of authority over another (sexual
harassment), and those who have been convicted of charges under this bill
more than once (defined in the bill as a "serial offender"). The Church of
Uganda recognized that the Western world criminalizes almost all of these
same offenses, though the Western world may not define them as "aggravated
homosexuality." So the Church of Uganda supported the criminalizing of these
offenses, but it was opposed to the death penalty as the prescribed
punishment.
Although the Church of Uganda was sympathetic with the concerns behind the
bill, for the reasons described above, it was originally opposed to the
bill because of these two provisions.
When Parliament listened to our concerns and amended the bill by removing
the clause requiring professionals to report practices of homosexuality and
removed the death penalty, the Church of Uganda changed its position and
joined with all the other leaders of religious groups in the country to
support the bill and encouraged the president to sign it.
The Church of Uganda also supports the bill – now Act – because it seeks
to protect its people from the worldview or "narrative" that often
accompanies gay activism. There is a prevailing ideology among gay activists
that
seeks to deconstruct the biblical understanding of man and woman, male and
female, human nature, natural law, and marriage, among other things. Our
perception is that to accept homosexuality is to also accept this ideology
that
goes with it; it is a "package deal" and seems to be a modern-day
manifestation of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism. The prevailing ideology of
gay
activists not only undermines the Bible's message, which is deliberate on
their part, but it is also an attack on the foundations of our society.
So, as a church, we support Uganda's national sovereignty and our right to
self-determination in establishing this law, and will not bow to
international pressure to change that part of our culture that aligns with our
biblical convictions.
While you didn't ask about it, we would like to add that we are opposed to
any "mob justice" or vigilante approach on the part of ordinary citizens
who are trying to "help" law enforcement do their job. Violence by one person
against another is not acceptable, for any reason.
It was widely reported that the Church of Uganda sought to break ties with
its western Churches over differences on the new law. What relationship
does the Church of Uganda have with the Anglican Communion in developed
nations and has there been an effort to break away from said churches due to
this
new law?
The Church of Uganda broke communion with the Episcopal Church USA and the
Anglican Church of Canada in 2003, long before the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
was proposed to Parliament. The Church of Uganda broke communion with these
two North American churches because of their violation of Scripture and
the common agreements in the Anglican Communion to not consecrate as bishops
people living in same-sex relationships and to not bless same-sex unions.
Both of those churches have continued on the same trajectory, so, sadly, the
relationships remain broken.
Since the establishment of the Anglican Church in North America in 2009,
the Church of Uganda has entered into full communion with it.
The Church of Uganda has not broken its relationship with the Church of
England, as was widely reported in the media. It is true that we are concerned
about the level of vocal support for the blessing of same-sex unions and
same-sex marriage on the part of some Church of England clergy and bishops.
We are equally concerned about the possibility of the Church of England
adopting the blessing of same-sex unions at the end of their two-year process
of "facilitated conversations." We are also concerned about the House of
Bishops Pastoral Letter allowing clergy to use "pastoral discretion" in
welcoming same-sex couples and offering "informal prayers" for them. We have
expressed our concerns and are praying for the Church of England to remain
true to the faith she has received from her forebears.
Our relationships with other Provinces in the Anglican Communion have
nothing to do with the Anti-Homosexuality Bill/Act. Our relationships within
the
Anglican Communion are based not on civil laws, but on a common confession
of faith and a common commitment to order in the church.
We recognize the difficult position the Church of England is in with
respect to being the State Church and the recently enacted Marriage Equality
Act.
At the same time, we long for the Mother Church to exercise strong
domestic and international leadership in extolling the blessings and abundance
of
life that come from following God's ways and surrendering to God's will.
This perspective is at the heart of a regular prayer in the Morning Prayer
service in the Book of Common Prayer. The Collect for Peace says, "O God, the
author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to
serve you is perfect freedom.'"
What is your opinion of the response by American media and the United
States government to the new law?
We honestly don't understand it.
What we don't understand as a church is why there has been such
international outrage for a bill that states virtually the same thing as what
already
existed in Uganda's penal code. Surely, this bill – now Act – is no more
"draconian" than what previously existed. In fact, with the elimination of
the death penalty, the new law mitigates existing punishments, and it was
the church that spoke out about that. Still, Uganda and its churches have
been roundly condemned outside of Uganda and most of Africa. To us, it reveals
the ignorance of those condemning us because they haven't taken the time
or interest to actually research the issue, or they choose to condemn the
church and Christians because it fits their ideology.
The United States government has cut funding to Uganda for the tourism
sector. According to the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda, it is because some of
America's citizens would not be welcome in Uganda because of the enactment of
the new law. This is a very surprising statement because the provisions in
the new Anti-Homosexuality Act, which would presumably cause LGBT Americans
to not feel "welcome" in Uganda, are exactly the same as the provisions that
existed in Uganda before the bill was signed into law and when the United
States government agreed to fund tourism in the first place. In reality,
nothing has really changed.
So to withdraw funding for that reason is to demonstrate a lack of
awareness about what already existed in Uganda's legal framework, and seems to
be
solely a politically-motivated decision. So maybe the misreporting in
American media about the law and the Church of Uganda is for similar reasons.
We
really don't know.
Finally, it probably depends on what your point of reference is. If your
point of reference is the Western world's rapid adoption of same-sex marriage
and the generally prevailing ideology that goes with it, and you have no
idea what Uganda's laws were at the time, then the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
may seem "draconian."
But if your point of reference is Uganda's existing laws at the time the
Bill was proposed – which seems to be a more reasonable starting point –
then you have to acknowledge that the new Act codifies most of the existing
laws in one place, without substantially changing them, and actually
mitigates the punishment for aggravated homosexuality/defilement.
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