American Evangelist Involvement

There was some discussion yesterday about US Evangelist support for the Kill the Gays bill.

Sadly, there's a lot of evidence to suggest it.

Although Pastor Rick Warren is a highly disturbing character:

American Church Admits to Funding
Kill the Gays Bill in Uganda

He's not the only one:

American Evangelical Lou Engle Promotes 'Kill the Gays' Bill

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Ugandan Gay Rights Group Sues U.S. Evangelist

A Ugandan gay rights group [SMUG] filed suit against an American evangelist, Scott Lively, in federal court in Massachusetts on Wednesday, accusing him of violating international law by inciting the persecution of gay men and lesbians in Uganda.

It's well known that Obama went after the gay vote strongly during his first election campaign. In February 2010, Obama condemned the Kill the Gays bill as 'odiouse', but we don't seem to have heard much from him on the subject since?

There's an interesting summary article here:

Uganda + U.S Evangelism

But why did the Ugandan government decide that this was the time to solidify anti-gay hatred in the law? Why not earlier? Few realize the influence that the U.S fundamentalist right has on many Ugandan political and religious leaders. David Bahati, the bill’s main backer, is not only a member of Uganda parliament but was also part of “The Family”, a secretive American Evangelical political organization founded in 1935. Bahati was invited to the organization’s “National Prayer Breakfast” in 2008, where he first introduced the idea of executing homosexuals.

Worrying times. If you'd like to write to register your concern, you can tweet Rick Warren at: @RickWarren, find him on Facebook or e-mail: PastorRick@saddleback.com

You can e-mail David Bahati, the Ugandan MP who first dreamt up the bill here: dbahati@parliament.go.ug (further contact details).

You can also visit the United States Select Committee on Foreign Relations website, and send an e-mail to all those listed down the right-hand side. If you have trouble contacting anyone, you can look them up on the List of Senators. You don't have to be American to do this. It might help to hear views from across the world.

Try to keep it civil, formal and polite.

[Note Dec. 2012: another one to add to the list. Disturbing video of an American Evangelist, David Dykes, calling for funds towards the bill.]