Though mainstream media news coverage of the situation in Uganda has diminished in recent weeks, what is happening in that nation continues to deserve attention. The movement to enact laws that may include capital punishment for gays in Uganda remains strong, and as Rev. Rick Warren’s disciple in Uganda, Rev. Martin Ssempa, has recently announced, mass demonstrations in favor of the impending legislation are now being planned in Uganda. Ssempa notes this in a video statement in which he takes Rev. Warren to task for condemning the Ugandan legislation.Since the situation in Uganda remains volatile (and dangerous), I’d like to offer readers a list of links I’ve been collecting in recent weeks that discuss the role of the American religious and political right in creating the situation in Uganda. As I’ve noted before, the best comprehensive (and constantly updated) source I’ve seen for commentary on the Ugandan situation is Box Turtle Bulletin’s “Slouching Towards Kampala.” For anyone seeking ongoing commentary about Uganda and links to abundant research tracking what has been going on there vis-à-vis gay citizens for some time now, I can’t recommend this source highly enough.
What follows is a supplementary (and very selective) list of links to recent articles that probe the role of the American religious and political right in Uganda. I offer these in the hope that they’ll be useful to readers wanting to learn more about that aspect of the Ugandan situation.
(And as I offer these links, I’m struck yet again by the dearth of commentary among—by the total silence of—the American Catholic intellectual elite, re: the Ugandan legislation. Shameful silence . . . . For an indicator of how desperately sane, open discussion (based in accurate information) of this issue is needed to correct malicious disinformation about queer folks circulating among African Christians, see my exchange with a commentator named Maazi N.C.O. following the recent National Catholic Reporter discussion of Uganda.)
And here’s the list:
Frederick Clarkson, “The Africa Connection to the Attack on the Mainline Churches,” Talk to Action, 19 Nov. 2009; and “U.S. Religious Right Stirs Up Anti-Gay Politics in Africa,” Daily Kos, 23 Nov. 2009.
Frederick Clarkson, “‘The Family’ Behind Anti-Gay Act in Uganda,” Talk to Action, 25 Nov. 2009.
Michelle Goldberg, “Uganda’s Radical Anti-Gay Measure and the American Religious Right,” Religion Dispatches, 30 Nov. 2009.
Father Jake, “Exporting Homophobia,” Father Jake Stops the World, 21 Nov. 2009.
Kathryn Joyce, “The Anti-Gay Highway: New Report Details Mutually Beneficial Relationship Between US Evangelicals and African Antigay Clergy,” Religion Dispatches, 19 Nov. 2009.
Steven Webster, “Cult of Conservative Christian GOPers Backs Death Penalty for Gays with HIV,” Alternet, 30 Nov. 2009.
The graphic shows Rev. Martin Ssempa walking beside Kay Warren, wife of Rev. Rick Warren, at an AIDS conference in Lake Forest, CA, 2005.
