{"id":4005,"date":"2010-04-21T18:41:40","date_gmt":"2010-04-22T01:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/?p=4005"},"modified":"2010-11-18T21:42:09","modified_gmt":"2010-11-19T04:42:09","slug":"american-anti-gay-extremist-finds-an-audience-at-ugandan-50th-anniversary-of-pentacostalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/2010\/04\/21\/american-anti-gay-extremist-finds-an-audience-at-ugandan-50th-anniversary-of-pentacostalism\/","title":{"rendered":"American anti-gay extremist finds an audience at Ugandan 50th anniversary of Pentacostalism"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-weight: normal\">The following update on the Uganda anti-gay movement comes from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.boxturtlebulletin.com\/2010\/04\/21\/21956?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BoxTurtleBulletin+%28Box+Turtle+Bulletin%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher\">Box Turtle Bulletin:<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: normal\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>American Evangelist To Rally Against Gays In Uganda<\/h2>\n<h4>Jim Burroway<\/h4>\n<h5>April 21st, 2010<\/h5>\n<p>The month of May will be a very dangerous time to be gay in Uganda, as Pentecostal churches there gear up for a series of crusades, marches and rallies commemorating the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pentecostalweek.org\/2010events.html\">50th Jubilee of the Pentecostal movement<\/a>\u00a0there. An anonymous BTB reader in Uganda reports that television is already carrying commercials advertising at least one event, a three-day conference to be held at the sports grounds at Makerere University (Uganda\u2019s largest institution of higher learning) with a march and rally to be held the following Friday, May 7.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4009\" href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/2010\/04\/21\/american-anti-gay-extremist-finds-an-audience-at-ugandan-50th-anniversary-of-pentacostalism\/louengle-150x100\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4009\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/files\/2010\/04\/LouEngle-150x100.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a>In the midst of that expected furor steps yet another American anti-gay extremist, Lou Engle of The Call, who has announced plans to hold a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecalluganda.com\/Index.htm\">rally in Kampala on May 2<\/a>, also at the Makerere University Sports Field. The Call Uganda\u2019s web site gives these reasons for holding the rally:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It is intended to awaken and revive the young and the old, men and women, church and family, government and the public and to fight vices eating away at our society. We shall all join our hearts across tribal, political, denominational, and generational boundaries, to cry to God to help us with the challenges in our country such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The heightened political tensions and wrangles in the country, especially as we go towards the 2011 general elections<\/li>\n<li>The increasing level of social evils in our society, some which are threatening our values and lifestyles e.g.\n<ul>\n<li>Witchcraft and human sacrifice<\/li>\n<li>Homosexuality and increased immorality<\/li>\n<li>Disasters and the resultant suffering of the people<\/li>\n<li>The decay of morals and infrastructure of our city Kampala<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Engle\u2019s emotionally-charged extremism and violence-laden rhetoric has become quite familiar here in the U.S. Engle believes that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/gay.americablog.com\/2009\/12\/lou-engle-says-gays-possessed-by-demons.html\">gays are possessed by demons<\/a>, and was part of a major rally for Prop 8 in San Diego where he called for\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.talk2action.org\/story\/2008\/11\/4\/14143\/7617\">Christian martyrs<\/a>. Casey Sanchez, of the Southern Poverty Law Center describes one talk that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/intel\/intelreport\/article.jsp?aid=964\">Engle gave this way<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI believe we\u2019re headed to an Elijah\/Jezebel showdown on the Earth, not just in America but all over the globe, and the main warriors will be the prophets of Baal versus the prophets of God, and there will be no middle ground,\u201d said Engle. He was referring to the Baal of the Old Testament, a pagan idol whose followers were slaughtered under orders from the prophet Elijah.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s an Elijah generation that\u2019s going to be the forerunners for the coming of Jesus, a generation marked not by their niceness but by the intensity of their passion,\u201d Engle continued. \u201cThe kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Such force demands an equal response, and Jesus is going to make war on everything that hinders love, with his eyes blazing fire.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Engle has also said, \u201cThe most \u2018dangerous terrorist\u2019 is not Islam but God. One of God\u2019s names is the avenger of blood. Have you worshiped that God yet?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last year, a BTB reader shared with me his experience of attending a Call rally in Nashville in 2007.\u00a0 Tyler (his last name is being withheld) remembers that day vividly \u2014 July 7, 2007 (07\/07\/07 was their \u201cHoly Date\u201d):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I went to Nashville and the day was a whole day of fasting and prayer to \u201cturn the nation back to God.\u201d\u00a0 Their tactics include, in my opinion, a lot of manipulation using emotionally-driven songs, yelling, dancing, and the like to get individuals charged up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Call Uganda\u2019s web site lists the following endorsements by Ugandan Christian leaders:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bishop Simon Peter Emiau \u2013 Chairman Evangelical Fellowship of Uganda;<\/li>\n<li>Archbishop Luke Henry Orombi \u2013 Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda;<\/li>\n<li>Pastor Jotham Mutebi \u2013 Chairman Full Gospel Churches of Uganda;<\/li>\n<li>Pastor Titus Oundo \u2013 Chairman Deliverance Churches of Uganda;<\/li>\n<li>Apostle John Mulinde \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldtrumpet.com\/\">World Trumpet Mission<\/a>, which also has extensive staff in Orlando, Florida under International Director Mark Daniel.<\/li>\n<li>Apostle Jackson Ssenyonga \u2013 Christian Life Ministries;<\/li>\n<li>Pastor Gary Skinner \u2013 Watoto (formerly Kampala Pentecostal) Church. An elder of that church is Stephen Langa, who helped to organize\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boxturtlebulletin.com\/2009\/02\/24\/9098\">last year\u2019s anti-gay conference<\/a>\u00a0featuring three American anti-gay activists. That conference delivered the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boxturtlebulletin.com\/2010\/01\/06\/19081\">\u201cnuclear bomb\u201d<\/a>\u00a0that served as a precursor and catalyst to the draconian\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boxturtlebulletin.com\/2009\/10\/15\/15609\">Anti-Homosexuality Bill<\/a>\u00a0that is now before Uganda\u2019s Parliament.<\/li>\n<li>Apostle Joseph Ssewadda \u2013 General Overseer of Born Again Federation;<\/li>\n<li>Peter Asiimwe \u2013 Uganda Evangelical Mission Agency;<\/li>\n<li>Pastor Fred Wantaate \u2013 Coordinator for Pentecostal Golden Jubilee \u2013 Full Gospel Church.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The next several weeks will prove to be exceedingly dangerous for LGBT Ugandans. Last year\u2019s conference led to a massive public anti-gay pogrom that included a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boxturtlebulletin.com\/2009\/04\/19\/10764\">public vigilante campaign<\/a>\u00a0in a major Ugandan tabloid and various FM stations in Kampala in which gay people were forcibly outed. We have reports that several people lost their jobs and were abandoned by their families as a result. Several were arrested, and there are reports of at least one death in the eastern city of Mbale.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Mugisha, president Sexual Minorities of Uganda, said, \u201cGay people are already fleeing their homes and have to move from house to house because of threats to their lives. Americans need to stop Lou Engle from coming to Uganda.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When we first reported on the anti-gay conference last March in Uganda,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boxturtlebulletin.com\/2009\/02\/24\/9098\">we warned<\/a>\u00a0that it was a very dangerous move. But even knowing and warning of those dangers, we had no idea that it would ultimately lead to a proposal to put gay people to death under certain circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>After that experience, there now can be no excuse. We know what can happen following rallies like this one. And whatever happens as an aftermath of this rally, no one can say they could not predict what would happen next. Given the virulent hatred openly expressed by ordinary Ugandans and their religious leaders toward the gay community, Engle\u2019s rally is a dangerous and reckless escalation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;d like to know this: at what point will other countries began offering political refuge for gay Ugandans? At what point will there will be airlift evacuations? When will American people of faith intervene with these extremist religious leaders?<\/p>\n<p>Related <em>Sexuality &amp; Society<\/em> posts:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/2010\/01\/13\/a-legacy-of-white-supremacy-why-ugandans-embrace-u-s-christian-rights-anti-gay-agenda\/\">A legacy of White Supremacy: Why Ugandans embrace U.S. Christian right&#8217;s anti-gay-agenda (Jan. 13, 2010).<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/2009\/12\/14\/growing-global-opposition-to-ugandan-kill-the-gays-bill\/\">Growing Global Opposition to Ugandan &#8220;kill the gays bill&#8221; (Dec. 14, 2009).<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/2009\/12\/09\/homo-hatred-in-uganda-how-us-conservative-evangelicals-took-their-anti-gay-work-abroad\/\">Homo hatred in Uganda: A gift from US conservative evangelicals (Dec. 9 2009).<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following update on the Uganda anti-gay movement comes from the Box Turtle Bulletin: &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212; American Evangelist To Rally Against Gays In Uganda Jim Burroway April 21st, 2010 The month of May will be a very dangerous time to be gay in Uganda, as Pentecostal churches there gear up for a series of crusades, marches [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":422,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3840,668,8187,42,2020,133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-glbt","category-global-region","category-religion","category-sexual-rights","category-violence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/422"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4005"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5839,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4005\/revisions\/5839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/sexuality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}