Brody's Scribbles... Gayism can be fought like any other disease against the people and the Word of God. It is a sickness so we can fight and defeat it.

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Dec 7 | This date marks an important event for my father's generation, those few whom are still alive as actually as they've been passing away steadily over these past few years in droves. Today is the 68th anniversary of the Japanese sneak attack on the United States Pacific Fleet at the U. S. Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii.

Now, how does this correlate with the phrase above and to a LGBT themed blog? Maybe it doesn't but then again if you're taking the stance that I am, by viewing the constant attack on the LGBT community by the political right, the so called conservative "Christians" and of course organised religion as internecine warfare, a comparison is in order. The Americans celebrate Dec 7th as the date by which official entry into what chiefly was a European conflagration, became a global war and effort to eradicate fascism.

Why would I see this as a form of warfare you ask? Look at the quote above that I used as a headline for a moment. Alright, have that fixed in your mind then eh? Let me introduce you to the source of that quote, the very Reverend  Bishop Joseph Abura of Karamoja Diocese, Province of the Anglican Church of Uganda. He is one of the main proponents of the legislation in Uganda that would essentially make being LGBT a crime and in some instances a death sentence. 

According to Bishop Abura:

"Today, it is about blood and flesh, not the Word of God; gays tend to make a big deal on own feelings, own fulfillments, their sympathizers too tend to do the same. They are now swimming in their own ways and gone back to the situation Apostle Paul is describing in his Epistle to Ephesians Chapter 2 vs 1 – 2,“”And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of Disobedience.”” Indeed they have become dead in their transgressions and sins being led by the prince of air and have become sons and daughters of disobedience. They no longer believe in the Word of God, they believe what they think, feel, and do what they say is their right, not what God or society want; they have nothing to do with good and accepted norms.

They now want to legitimize lesbianism and homosexuality even when they know it is wrong and is against the Word of the Lord. Yes, there are those who are sick from it, that they have been overwhelmed by it. Yes, if and since it is sickness, it should have antidotes to correct it. Indeed, we understand them and pray for healing upon them. The world over should be on the search for drags or vaccines to treat and prevent it but not to make it acceptable."

Apparently being Gay is curable with a shot or a vaccination according to the good Bishop. Then he continues with:

"Gays tend to understand God and His Word differently. They think Africa misinterprets the Bible, “that Africa reads the Bible the wrong way”. Such of course are perverted mind as St. Paul writes, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock: and from among your own selves, men will rise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them (”Acts 20: 29, 30). Gays or their sympathizers who many of them are Christians no longer see God as the answer, or they don’t understand homosexuality and lesbianism as disease. That is why they can dedicate a day as an international day of prayer, more over to God, with a hope to perpetuate it, against the Ugandan parliament who soon may pass a motion to check its growth. This means the gay love their thing, they like it, and they want it to grow. It is no longer an abnormality or vice, it is now a virtue and they want it so."

A virtue? Hmm, okay leaving off that argument for a moment here's this bit:

"Our children are ignorant of the vice; but gays and their sympathizers want to appeal to their psyche, to their consciousness that they be infected too. They are spreading it in our institutions of learning. They want to condition every penny that comes to our government or churches or Non-Government Organizations. If you are dinning with such evil plan, come out of it; the Province of the Church of Uganda, as you know, is leading the way, let’s join the way. Homosexuality is infectious, it is a disease in the West and not so much in Africa and that is why they want to influence any agenda in order to entrench it. If it is inborn as they say, then it is transmitted and conceived in the mind, that it actualizes itself in one. Africans who have it have contracted it from the West or from acquainting with people who have it. Yes, it is infectious and it can be fought and defeated. It is a vice which has multiplied in the recent decades in the West; it can be fought and stopped."

So the last thing he does is call on the Ugandan Parliament to pass the law which also includes a 'death sentence' provision:

"Gayism can be fought like any other disease against the people and the Word of God. It is a sickness so we can fight and defeat it. One of the ways to fight it should be by prevention of its spread, by putting laws in place, preach the Word and pray to God to heal and orient those disoriented; there is need for a commandment(s) to enforce. Christ is the answer, feelings or sympathies, especially on evil, are not! Ugandan Parliament, the watch dog of our laws, please go ahead and put the anti- Gay laws in place. It is then that we become truly accountable to our young and to this country, not to Canada or England. We are in charge!"

That is a 'call to arms folks.' A declaration of warfare against LGBT everywhere with special emphasis on his own country. Now, the titular head of his church, the Reverend Rowan William, Archbishop of Canterbury, well, his response thus far has been a monstrous travesty. These people are supposed to be heads of religious bodies that allegedly preach love & charity to their fellow mankind, oh wait save for those singled out as not worthy of that love based on extremely questionable interpretations of the so-called Holy Bible. Here they are supporting a legislative effort to eradicate what they apparently view as a disease? So according to these two, men loving men et al is punishable by death eh?

There was an excellent op-ed piece by guardian.uk.com's Andrew Brown on his 'Comment Is Free' Blog that appeared in Sunday's Edition of the Guardian. He takes the Archbishop of Canterbury to task for his inept handling of addressing the remarks and hate-filled politicking by his underling in Uganda while criticising the American branch of the Church, the Episcopal Communion in Los Angeles for electing an openly Lesbian Bishop to head the Diocese there.

"Rowan Williams has found himself in some difficult and undignified places as Archbishop of Canterbury, but it looks as if the Ugandan church is going to land him in the hardest and most uncomfortable early next year. But his difficulties have been greatly aggravated by his own diplomatic ineptitude. He has got himself into a position where he thinks that he can tell liberal Americans what to do, but dare not tell conservative Africans. He's certainly wrong about the Americans; the Ugandans may leave him with no choice but to speak out.

If he speaks out against the homophobic Ugandan law now, he may make it more likely that the bill will pass."

Then, Andrew focuses in on the meat of the argument, the total and complete hypocrisy of the Archbishop of Canterbury:

"Consider the case of two Anglicans of the same gender who love one another. If they are in the USA, the Anglican church will marry them and may elect one of them to office. If they are in Uganda, the Anglican church will have try to have them jailed for life, and ensure that any priest who did not report them to the authorities within 24 hours would be jailed for three years; anyone who spoke out in their defence might be jailed for seven.

Under Williams, the church that marries two women who love each other is to be thrown out of the Anglican Communion. The church that would jail them both for life, and would revile and persecute their defenders, stays snugly in his bosom. Not even the Archbishop's remarkable gift for obfuscation can conceal these facts forever."

What is comic, in a twisted sense, was the speed at which Williams' decried the election of the Reverend Mary Glasspool as Bishop of Los Angeles, less than 12 hours. after the vote by the American Episcopal Elders.                                  
Photo of Rowan Williams By pinknews.com

He claims to be working covertly to be handling the travesty of human rights in Uganda and yet says this about an American colleague?

"The election of Mary Glasspool by the Diocese of Los Angeles as suffragan bishop elect raises very serious questions not just for the Episcopal Church and its place in the Anglican Communion, but for the Communion as a whole. The process of selection however is only part complete. The election has to be confirmed, or could be rejected, by diocesan bishops and diocesan standing committees.That decision will have very important implications.

The bishops of the Communion have collectively acknowledged that a period of gracious restraint in respect of actions which are contrary to the mind of the Communion is necessary if our bonds of mutual affection are to hold."

Hmm, election of a Lesbian Bishop raises serious questions while the public homophobia and hate filled speech of one of the spiritual leaders, read princes of the church doesn't merit that same level of public questioning?  That is pretty clear hypocrisy to this correspondent.

Reverend Mary Glasspool, Bishop of Los Angeles   

Photo Courtesy of The Episcopal Diocese Of Los Angeles

What of the newly elected Bishop Of Los Angeles? Here she is in her own words: 

"It’s time for our wonderful church to move on and be the inclusive Church we say we are. I believe that the Diocese of Los Angeles is in alignment with the kairos – ready to move boldly into the future, with a strategic plan centered in the love of God and purposed with bringing God’s Reign of Justice and Love further into being, modeling for the whole Church an episcopal team. And maybe, just maybe, God is calling me to be a part of that exciting future. The Episcopal Church has some real gifts to offer the emerging world. We have a rich liturgical tradition and a spirituality that is informed not only by Western Roman Christianity, but also by the Celtic Tradition. We value diversity and (at least) try to give each other space to differ. We have a theology that is based not only in the Resurrection, but also on the Incarnation. We hold that the three-legged stool of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason (which includes experience) is an appropriate way in which to discern God’s Will. But we can be hampered by the disadvantages of the colonialism that is part of our history, institutional structures that change too slowly, and a lack of the freedom that faith brings in response to fear."

Colonialism? Hmm, I'd agree with the Madame Bishop on that point. 

Which brings me back to today's historic anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I am going to argue that the Anglican Church has declared war on the LGBT community in all forms and further more is ignoring the very tenets of the theology and philosophy that they teach.

Maybe there has been no sneak attack to be certain, but the attack launched by the Ugandan Church coupled with the hypocrisy and complete lack of moral fibre as displayed by the Archbishop of Canterbury is warfare, period. The Church Leadership is calling for the eradication of gay people just as one would call for the eradication of disease.  Maybe its no December 7th, 1941, but it is infamy in its clearest definition.