A professor and several students at Brown University have created an animated map of Africa from 1879 to 2002 showing armed conflicts, changing rule (colonial, monarchical, white minority, etc.) and shifting political boundaries. Access the map here. (Read about Professor Nancy Jacobs and the student research team here.)
The Nigerian legislature has before it another bill to prohibit same-sex unions and make a criminal out of anyone who witnesses or formalizes such marriages.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Nigerian Bar Association Human Rights Institute (NBAHRI) and Nigerian human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are deeply concerned by the ‘Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2008’, currently before the Nigerian National Assembly. The Bill would introduce criminal penalties for marriage ceremonies between persons of the same sex as well as for persons witnessing or helping to formalize such a marriage. The groups say that this is contrary to the Nigerian Constitution and inconsistent with Nigeria’s obligations under international and regional human rights treaties which the country has ratified. They are urging the National Assembly not to pass the Bill.
Amnesty International UK's LGBT Campaigner, Kim Manning-Cooper said:
'Singling out and depriving one group of people of rights that all are entitled to enjoy according to Nigeria's Constitution is blatant discrimination. And penalising people who witness same sex marriages is also an outrageous breach of basic human rights.'There is no way such a Bill can be passed without it being in breach of international and regional treaties which Nigeria has ratified. It would also contravene the Nigerian Constitution. We would strongly encourage the National Assembly not to pass the Bill.'
The Bill has a broad definition of same sex marriages and relationships. It is feared that, if passed, it could lead to the arbitrary arrest of people on the basis of rumors about their sexual orientation or behavior.
Kim Manning-Cooper added:
'Without the protection of fundamental freedoms, it is impossible for activists to form organizations and campaign for LGBT rights or even to meet in public. If this Bill is passed, it may be dangerous for them to meet even in private.'The Nigerian government has a duty to promote and protect the human rights of its population without distinction of any kind, including sexual orientation or gender identity. And as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Nigeria is required to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights of all people regardless of their sexual orientation.
Let's hope it lives up to its obligations by not proceeding any further with this Bill.'
HT to Thinking Anglicans.
Amnesty International: Nigeria: 'Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill' violates Constitution and Nigeria: 'Same gender marriage (Prohibition) Bill' threatens imprisonment of members of the LGBT community
ACNS:
The Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, meeting at Modderpoort in the Free State from 16 to 20 February 2009, have been shocked at the news that the Provincial Department of Health in the Free State has withdrawn anti-retroviral medication from HIV positive patients because of shortage of funds.Read it all.
The Changing Attitude blog reports that the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs reported to the UN periodic review of human rights in Geneva on February 9, 2009 that they know of no gays or lesbians in Nigeria, let alone LGBT groups, and therefore see no reason to protect their rights. Davis Mac-Iyalla and other leaders of Changing Attitude Nigeria described the statement as a lie.
The Minister, Ojo Madueke, said:
As we have indicated in our National Report, we have no record of any group of Nigerians, who have come together under the umbrella of “Lesbian, Gay and Transgender” group, let alone to start talking of their rights.During our National Consultative Forum, we went out of our way to look for the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender group, but we could not come across Nigerians with such sexuality....
If they are an amorphous group, then the question of violence against them does not arise, let alone negotiating special rights for them.
The bishops of Central Africa have released a statement regarding the formation of a new "Unity" government in Zimbabwe, a country whose president Robert Mugabe's rule was strongly condemned by this same group last year.
BBC:
Nigerian gay rights activists have told the country's lawmakers that a new bill to outlaw same sex marriage would lead to widespread human rights abuses. The new law would mean prison sentences for gay people who live together, and anyone who "aids and abets" them.
Writing as chairman of the Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Primate of the Anglican Church of South Africa has asked President Kgalema Motlanthe to reconsider the decision to deny a visa to the Dali Lama:
The Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum wishes to express its serious concern over South Africa’s decision to deny a visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the occasion of the proposed conference to celebrate world peace and the 2010 Football World Soccer Cup in South Africa. We raise our voice alongside the many others of our civil society expressing anger and disappointment, including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s clearly stated unhappiness with the action and its underlying causes. ....We note that speculation surrounding the motivation for this decision has provided a stark reminder of the need to separate the functions of the ruling political party from those of Government and Head of State.
More fundamental is the question of the relationship between domestic and international human rights norms and values, and policy-making.
Click Read more to see the full letter.
The Executive Council's Committee on Racism reports, "Our most recent initiative, in response to Resolution A123, has been uplifting for us as we witness eight dioceses actively engaged in the process of discovering how they “were complicit in or profited from the institution of transatlantic slavery.”"
Eliud Wabukala is the new Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya.
The 58 year old Wabukala who has been serving as the Bungoma Bishop was elected by a simple majority in the fourth round, after the contesting clerics failed to secure the compulsory two thirds majority in the first three rounds.
Dr Wabukala is due to take over from Benjamin Nzimbi who formally retires in June after attaining the maximum age limit of 65.
Read more here.
Archbishop Ndungane has written an essay in response to voices claiming that financial aid to Africa needs to end before African nations can turn themselves around. He identifies how financial globalization combined with local issues are making the situation in Africa worse and influx of money used in ways not sensitive to the African contexts are combined to create the present situation.
He writes specifically:
CNN reports:
"Children accused of witchcraft are often incarcerated in churches for weeks on end and beaten, starved and tortured in order to extract a confession," said Gary Foxcroft, program director of Stepping Stones Nigeria, a nonprofit that helps alleged witch children in the region. Many of those targeted have traits that make them stand out, including learning disabilities, stubbornness and ailments such as epilepsy, he added. The issue of "child witches" is soaring in Nigeria and other parts of the world, Foxcroft said.The states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River have about 15,000 children branded as witches, and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets, he said.
...
Foxcroft, whose documentary, "Saving Africa's Witch Children," was broadcast last year, spoke to a U.N. panel on the issue in April.
...
"The role of the international Christian community in this cannot be underestimated," Foxcroft said. "Unfortunately, the fact remains that this belief system is being spread by so-called Christians."
Last month Adriann Vlok repeated a simple action that he'd already done twice before. As a former minister of police under the old apartheid regime in South Africa, he demonstrated his desire to reconcile by washing the feet of those he had wronged.
There has been progress on settling the border between north and south Sudan, a dispute that has been amplified because significant oil revenue is in play.
From the BBC:
North and south Sudan have accepted a ruling by judges in The Hague which gives the north control of an oilfield.
A report from Anglican-Information:
Zimbabwe and Malawi are two different countries with the ecclesiastical commonality of the Church of the Province of Central African (C.P.C.A.). They also have in common a quest for justice particularly on the part of an increasingly influential lay voice.
[via email from Anglican Information]
A voice for the voiceless in the Anglican Province of Central Africa
Saturday 1st August:
Religious leaders told their input is valued
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
African bishops attending a Vatican meeting are speaking about the election of Barack Obama in divine terms — putting them very much at odds with many of their U.S. counterparts.
AP writer Katharine Houreld finds further evidence that children in Africa are being made to atone for the "sins" of their community, and that they are bearing it in their bodies, all the name of religion. They are being denounced as witches, often with torture as a consequence.
There's been a spate of news about partnerships between Episcopal churches and dioceses in the U.S. working in concert with Tanzanians. An incomplete listing is below. We'd love to know of more.
There has been deafening silence from many prominent religious voices about the proposed new Ugandan Anti-Gay Law which would authorize life imprisonment and even execution for gays and lesbians. Rick Warren has worked closely with Henry Orombi, Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Uganda, and with ACNA which is recognized by the province. The Cafe reported on these relationships HERE and HERE.
Citing sadness over the threat of the complete collapse of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) process, the people of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan have issued a wide ranging statement that calls for an end to inter-ethnic violence and damage done to the environment by oil companies in Sudan, alerting the world to the threat of widespread famine, and calling for free and fair elections:
There has been increasing coverage of the proposed legislation in Uganda that would make "repeated homosexual acts" a capital crime. The Swedish government is considering sanctions should the legislation be adopted. Integrity has called again for the Episcopal Church to speak out in opposition. And the mainstream media is starting to cover the story.
An independent paper in Uganda, The Daily Monitor, runs an op-ed by Augustine Ruzindana that says the real purpose of the Anti-Homosexual Bill is divert the public's attention from the real crimes public corruption and mismanagement. "The life and death sentences introduced in the new Bill are to impress an external constituency critical for regime survival.":
Bloomberg (and, so far, only Bloomberg) is reporting,
Uganda will drop the death penalty and life imprisonment for gays in a refined version of an anti-gay bill expected to be ready for presentation to Parliament in two weeks, James Nsaba Buturo, the minister of ethics and integrity, said.
Rev. Kapya Kaoma, the Project Director of the progressive think tank PRA (Political Research Associates), was on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show on Wednesday night to discuss Uganda's anti-homosexuality legislation and the U.S. Right's involvement.
The link http://www.mediacentre.go.ug/details.php?catId=1&item=718 is now empty (text of taken down) and it no longer shows on the front page http://www.mediacentre.go.ug/ under the category responses/clarifications where a link to it appeared before. The cached version is below the fold.
It's back up with a new link, and it is appearing a highlighted link on the Media Centre main page, too.
_____
With the expiry of the comprehensive peace agreement, Sudan faces turmoil. The worldwide church should not stand by.
ENS reports southern Sudan Bishop John Zawo of the Diocese of Ezo has been visiting the Dioceses of Rhode Island and Virginia, and with their assistance spoke with USAID and Rhode Island's senators, Reed and Whitehouse.
In the Guardian, Graham Kings writes:
The Liberian Observer is reporting on the details of the Presiding Bishop's upcoming trip to the country and Episcopal Diocese of Liberia and its bishop Jonathan Hart.
Tuesday, on NPR's Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviewed Bob Hunter, a member of The Family. Hunter had written Gross and an earlier guest, Jeff Sharlet. Gross writes,
Ugandans at an anti-gay protest in Kampala held up "Barack Omaba Back Off" signs.
Box Turtle Bulletin has TV news footage and reporting.
Box Turtle Bulletin reports that Secretary General Chris Opoka of the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) has denounced the anti-homosexuality bill as discriminatory, saying
“the state has no business with what people do in their bedrooms. What two consenting adults do, the state has no business… absolutely! It is discriminatory. Me, I don’t understand this idea of “African values.”
The Episcopal Church's Primate and President of the House of Deputies have been joined by the entire House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in Canada (and their Lutheran colleagues) in expressing their deep concern regarding the proposed Ugandan legislation which would increase the already harsh penalties for homosexuality in that country:
Sudan. Next Monday Daniel Deng, the archbishop of the Episcopal church of Sudan, and Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, will meet Gordon Brown to discuss the growing crisis in the Sudan.
Two op-eds in today's The (Uganda) Independent call for reasoned thinking about homosexuality.
UPDATE: Daily Trust reports,
As reactions continue to trail a fresh crisis in parts of Jos, religious leaders have been advised to avoid preaching messages that could aggravate violence in their communities.
The Rt. Rev. Peter Imasuen, bishop of the Diocese of Benin (in Edo State) in the Anglican Church of Nigeria, has been kidnapped, different sources there are reporting.
The Zimbabwean reports that Anglicans will protest with prayer next Sunday to press for access to their churches:
Anglicans from Harare will next Sunday hold prayers at Africa Unity Square in central Harare to press the police to allow the church access to its halls and buildings across the capital.
The Rt. Rev. Peter Imasuen, bishop of the Diocese of Benin, who was kidnapped 5 days ago has been freed. Nigerian news Vanguard reports:
Upon retirement from office, priests and bishops can be given a wide range of things, from the English with their gifts of rank and title to the Americans with their cash envelopes and their penchant for naming parish halls after particularly effective (or at least well-loved) rectors.
Reuters is reporting that Al Qaeda in North Africa is offering help to Nigerian Muslims in the face of Christian-Muslim clashes:
Received via e-mail from the Primate's office of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa:
Integrity USA's website has a very alarming report on the situation today in Uganda. The outside voices that have fanned the flames of homophobia in the country have created a volatile situation that might erupt in violence with the passage of the proposed anti-gay legislation.
From the report:
Uganda is not a "threshold partner" of the U.S. government's Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and that status is unlikely to change if the government's human rights record towards gays does not improve. At stake for Uganda is the potential for infrastructure grants in the 100s of millions of dollars.
Update: Although numbers are difficult to confirm the BBC now says the number killed may be closer to 500.
Much more detail is available from Monday morning's BBC World Service. Follow this link and listen to chapters 1 through 4: an on location report, interviews with local authorities, and background behind the violence.
TV Tip: Tune in tonight (or at least set your DVR) for ABC's "Nightline" (11:35 EST) and "World News Tonight," (6:30 EST), Box Turtle Bulletin reports.
It looks like it will be well worth watching (or recording, if you can’t stay up for it). Martin Ssempa is already upset that the Nightline crew didn’t fall for his easily-disproven lies.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in the Washington Post, writes forcefully: "Hate has no place in the house of God". He takes politicians in Africa to task for fomenting hatred and fear of gay and lesbian people as a tool to gain more power for themselves.
The people of Ethiopia have claimed a jewish heritage for most of their recorded history. And there's some reason to think that their memory and lore is accurate, the scientific verdict is still out.
A new group claiming Jewish descent has been found in the nation of Zimbabwe much further to the south on the African continent.
Riazat Butt, writing in The Guardian
I don't know why I expected the new archbishop of Nigeria to be any different from the old one, not on the subject of sexuality anyway.
The Sudanese are voting this weekend in their first democratic elections in the past quarter century. The voters are electing their next president and the members of the National Assembly. There are elections for the regional government in southern Sudan as well. All of this is happening as a result of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
From Anglican-Information, a network acting as a free conduit for news and information related to the Anglican Dioceses of Malawi, and the Province of Central Africa:
Political tension has so deeply penetrated life in this southern African country that when Tendai Mahachi kneels down to receive communion he is making a partisan statement according to the Global Post:
The President of Malawi has intervened, pardoned and ordered the immediate release of the gay couple that were recently sentenced to 14 years of hard labor for holding a marriage commitment service in December.
The BBC reports:
Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, has called for his country to pull out of the United Nations because the organization opposes bias against gays and lesbians. Can we expect Rowan Williams to express displeasure as quickly as he condemned the election of a lesbian bishop in the Episcopal Church? No, because that deadline has already passed.
Vanity Fair reports that although the section of the bill to punish gays and lesbians with the death penalty has been changed, an amended version will end health and sexualiy programs and make it illegal for gays to exist.
We are now having second thoughts about this story based on confirmation that Bishop Christopher Senyonjo did not make the statements attributed to him. This calls the veracity of the entire story into question. More soon. 7/6/10 6:10 pm
Archbishop Orombi has written to his nation following the July 11th bombings in Uganda. Anglican Communion News Service carries his letter which begins:
Jeremy Schaap of ESPN's E:60 speaks with South African women soccer players who say they were beaten and raped because they are lesbians.
Warning - difficult subject matter to watch if you have experienced rape.
We reported on the second all African Bishop's Conference back in January. Now the details of the conference have been published by a Ugandan newspaper. From the report the conference will be held third week of August at a resort in Entebbe Uganda.
If it holds true that you're not supposed to believe everything you read, we wonder about this recent feature-story profile of David Bahati (Ugandan Parliament MP and mover of the now-infamous kill-the-gays bill) appearing in Sunday Monitor.
This article in the Advocate has a good comprehensive look at how some anti-gay American evangelicals export the culture war to Africa. This article sets the wider context surrounding our the Anglican Communion's issues.
Now that the 2nd All Africa Bishops' Conference is all but ended, a flurry of communications has arrived at our electronic transom.
First up, the four hundred bishops gathered at Entebbe. [UPDATE: full statement now available] ACO's Jan Butter has it like this:
Herald Reporter in Zimbabwe, reports on the visit of Bishop Roberto Crespo. Crespo hails former Bishop of Harare Nolbert Kunonga. Kunonga in alliance with Robert Mugabe has been instrumental in oppressing the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, locking congregations out of their churches and other acts. Crespo was arrested and charged with arms smuggling in 2001. Strangers in good company?
The Province of Kenya reports the sad news of the death of the wife of Archbishop Wabukala
Sudan Vision Daily News reports on the Episcopal Church of Sudan conference on the upcoming referendum on independence in Southern Sudan:
Last week, I was privileged to interview Jeff Sharlet, a journalist who's been working in the area of religion for some time. Author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, a major portion of Sharlet's effort has been pointed toward exposing the philosophy and methodology of a secretive, powerful, and influential fundamentalist organization, The Family, which is headquartered on C Street in Washington, D.C., and lead by a man named Doug Coe.
Editorial from Zimbabwe criticizing Nolbert Kunonga, former Anglican bishop, for his thuggish ways and the support for him from President Mugabe.
During the triennial Provincial Synod of the Anglican Church of South Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town spoke of the continuing damage done to both white and black South Africans by the “dehumanizing” effect of the struggle against apartheid. In particular he named the emotional and spiritual consequences for white South African men who were conscripted to fight for apartheid. An emotional debate followed.
The AP reports that a Ugandan newspaper has published photos, names and addresses of gay men with the headline Hang Them. Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, ally of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons and who recently toured the United States is among the targeted with his photo on the front page.
Uganda's Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Butoro says that stories of persecution of gays and lesbians in his country are lies. He also expects the infamous "kill-the-gays" bill to pass Uganda's legislature "in due course."
A tabloid newspaper called "The Rolling Stone" (not related to the US publication) has ceased publication, not because it printed a list a people they said were gay or lesbian under the banner "Hang Them High" but because the publishers did not secure the proper permits. As soon as it get those permits, the presses will roll again.
News reports from Zimbabwe indicate that two Anglican bishops might be targets for assassination.
ZimOnline.com reports:
CNN reports that a Ugandan judge has "temporarily ordered a tabloid in Uganda to stop publishing lists identifying people it claims are gay after an advocacy organization filed a lawsuit."
Box Turtle Bulletin reports
Prime Minister Raila Odinga, speaking at a political rally on Sunday, said that all gays in Kenya should be rounded up and charged with violating the nation’s anti-sodomy laws. According to the Kenyan independent newspaper Daily Nation:
As the January date of the upcoming vote on the question of partition nears, Christians across the United States are being asked to support the people of Sudan with their prayers. This focus of prayer began in earnest this week with an event at the Episcopal Church Center in NYC which brought together representatives of a number of denominations.
MP David Bahati, the mover of Uganda's kill-the-gays bill currently under consideration, continues planning to attend a meeting of The International Consortium on Governmental Financial Management slated for this week, despite having had his registration cancelled, Box Turtle Bulletin reports.
Violence about and toward gays in some quarters of Africa appears to be one of the ticking bombs of that continent's present reality.
A pattern of violence initiated through Christmas Eve bomb attacks that killed 32 and injured more than 70 continues to resound in Jos, capital city of Nigeria's Plateau State.
BBC News reports that religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim, are blaming politicians for the unrest and violence in the Jos area of Nigeria:
New developments in three stories we have been following:
If you visit the Cafe often, you will have noticed that the Episcopal Church is deeply involved in working toward a peaceful conclusion to the referendum now underway in Sudan. The most recent manifestation of this relationship comes from the Diocese of Chicago, courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.
Friends and allies of those in Sudan are keeping a close watch on the Sudanese independence vote this week; and keeping them in prayer as well:
People throughout southern Sudan have been "shedding tears and shouting for joy" this week as polls opened to voters in the historic Jan. 9-15 referendum that will determine a likely future of independence for the African nation.
The Bishops of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) have issued a pastoral letter addressing the state of Nigeria economy, corruption, religious and sectarian violence, and the neglected state of the nation's infrastructure and educational services.
On a night when it seems all but certain that southern Sudan will soon become an independent country comes this news via press release:
UPDATED: see below
The BBC and Reuters are reporting that the funeral for David Kato in Nakawala, Uganda, turned chaotic after the local Anglican priest began to berate gay people and refused to bury Kato's body.
In a written response to news of the murder of gay Ugandan activist David Kato, Scott Lively has issued a soggy volley in his defense. It's a weird and maddening attempt to set himself free from what he did in Kampala, which was to essentially pour gasoline all over an already incendiary matter and then hand the Ugandan people a lit match.
AP's Jenny Gross writes that South Africans have been in prayer for former president Nelson Mandela since he was released from hospital care earlier this week.
A statement by a Ugandan official relating to the murder of gay activist David Kato cautions against anti-gay violence, including sentiments whipped up by clergy.
Newsweek's Christopher Dickey chats with the octogenarian author and activist, Nawal El-Saadawi, Egyptian novelist, essayist and physician, whose feminist works have widened the boundaries of the Arab novel. Nawal El Saadawi's central theme is the oppression of women and womens' desire for self-expression.
Southern Sudan celebrates its vote for independence and looks forward to the birth of a new nation:
The Economist's obituary of Sexual Minorities Uganda activist David Kato makes the hard point that although Kato used the self-applied label "same" to describe himself as gay, it was sadly that part of his humanity - that he was made of the same stuff that we're all made of - that was easy to overlook until it was too late.
Sudanese bishops say that the Episcopal Church of Sudan will remain one united church regardless of political boundaries:
Zimbabwean Anglicans in Harare (Church of the Province of Central Africa) could find themselves in a place of fear and intimidation depending on which side of a church-politics war they happen to be standing.
Rev. Jesca Mandeya, an 89-year-old priest, was recently murdered.
Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) reports:
A statement from Bishop William Mchombo, Acting Provincial Secretary of the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
Episcopal News Service reports death threats have been received by the South African Council of Churches President and Anglican Bishop of Pretoria Jo Seoka, and members of his family:
Reports coming in from:
Two people were killed in a bomb blast outside the ECWA Church, Nasarawa Gwom in Jos, a city in Nigeria’s Plateau state, a region beset in recent months by sectarian violence, a government official said.
A heartbreaking story - 'Why was I born gay in Africa?' - is running at the Guardian site. In it, Elizabeth Day interviews two Ugandans - one man, one woman - who have experienced deep levels of persecution both at home in Africa and in the UK, where they sought asylum from oppression.
The Christian Science Monitor provides a good analysis of the recent Nigerian presidential elections which went reasonably smoothly, and the ethnic/religious violence that has ensued nonetheless. Gubernatorial elections take place April 26th.
The brave souls involved in this story reported in the Guardian need our prayers:
AP reports that the death penalty provision in the Uganda anti-gay bill will likely be dropped:
He's cracked down on aid organizations and has had human rights violations, torture, and killing all pegged to him. The primates of the Anglican Communion singled out his "total disregard for life" and asked him to observe 2008 election results in his own country by stepping down from office.
Updated, 12:04pm EST...
In contradiction to our earlier post, the editors of the Episcopal Cafe have now learned that it seems the Uganda anti-gay bill IS ON the agenda for the Parliament session today. Read more about this HERE.
Updated 12:38 EST
Uganda’s parliament on Wednesday was forced to drop plans to debate a controversial bill that once proposed the death penalty for some gays and lesbians, but officials indicated lawmakers would debate it on Friday.
Update / 8:15 am, Friday: Bill stalled on parliamentary technicality
Bishop Gene Robinson says that "Ugandan lawmakers and government leaders need to know that the world is watching, and that passage of such a bill will have political, diplomatic, and financial repercussions."
He and Andre Banks write in the Huffington Post:
From Twitter:
wthrockmorton (@wthrockmorton)
5/13/11 10:16 AM
http://t.co/Qemyz6l It is official: Uganda's Parliament has adjourned with no action on AHB. Check link for updates #uganda #gay
Amnesty International is urging Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to do something about the country's deteriorating human rights record.
The troubling saga of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has come to the attention of The New York Times.
The Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) has issued the Archbishop of Canterbury's statement on South Kordofan, Sudan:
From PANA, the Panafrican News Agency: Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Primate of the Anglican Communion Church in Nigeria, suggests Nigeria should withdraw from the United Nations over matters of homosexuality.
As a result of an overwhelming vote in favor of the partition of Sudan into two countries, Sudan and South Sudan, at midnight last night, a new nation was born.
Archbishop’s urgent appeal for the Horn of Africa
Thursday 28th July 2011
It seems possible that the Ugandan parliament will take up notorious anti-gay legislation when it reconvenes later this month. Box Turtle Bulletin has the story:
UPDATE: Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori speaks about Zimbabwe following her visit to Anglicans there:
Andudu Adam Elnail, the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Kadugli, in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan state appeared before congress in DC this week and appealed to the UN Security Council to investigate and intervene in wide-spread crimes against humanity by the northern Sudanese government based in Khartoum.
Anglican Communion News Service reports that the Zimbabwe high court has ruled in favor of excommunicated bishop Norbert Kunonga:
The Archbishop of Canterbury is traveling to Zimbabwe in hopes of being able to stop the ongoing violence caused by renegade Anglicans under the leadership of Bishop Nolbert Kunonga.
The US Embassy in Uganda reports that there is no serious move to bring up the virulently anti-gay bill in the Ugandan Parliament. The Petrelis File blog reports:
The Chinese may not welcome religion at home but they love to build churches in Africa.
Fredrick Nzwili writes for Ecumenical News International about how more and more church building contracts in Africa go to Chinese firms:
Dr. Mouneer Anis, Anglican Bishop of Egypt, has issued a call for prayer after the riots in Egypt according to Eternity Magazine.
Wondering where our Editor-in-Chief is this morning?
From the Chicago Consultation web site:
CHICAGO CONSULTATION PARTNERS WITH UJAMAA CENTRE
Lambeth Palace has released this statement following the Archbishops of Canterbury, Central Africa and Southern African, and the President of the All Africa Conference of Churches the Archbishop of Tanzania meeting with Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe:
The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Rev. Dr. Thabo Makgoba, says the dispute within the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe was “a result not of schism but of thuggery.”
Zimbabwe's deposed Bishop Nolbert Kunonga is still defiant even after Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams visited his country and handed President Robert Mugabe a dossier filled with accounts of human rights abuses perpetrated by Kunonga with government help.
UPDATE: children may have been abused by Kunonga staff during occupation.
Zimbabwe's high court has ruled in favor of the Anglican Church in the case Anglican hospital staff who were evicted by deposed archbishop, Nolbert Kunonga according to the
Anglican Journal but it may be just for show:
The Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler, Rector of St. John's Church-Maadi, Cairo, Egypt and interfaith advocate writes about last week's events in Cairo with its sectarian strife and resulting deaths. Received via email.
Today I hope to roll out some of the first videos, columns and sermons from participants in the recently concluded consultation in Durban, South Africa among African Anglicans, Episcopalians and some interfaith friends on issues of justice and human sexuality. First up is a video that Bishop Jeff Lee of Chicago sent home to the people of his diocese.
The Rev. Bonnie Perry, co-founder of the Chicago Consultation, preached this sermon about the recently concluded consultation on justice and human sexuality to her congregation at All Saints Church in Chicago yesterday.
Bishop Mark Beckwith of Newark attended the recent consultation in Durban, South Africa on issues of justice and sexuality. It inspired a reflection recently published on his blog that included this passage:
The parliament of Uganda has our attention again. Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported last week:
Warren Throckmorton reports on the progress of the anti-gay law in Nigeria:
Rt Rev Christopher Ssenyonjo, a church leader who campaigns for gay rights speaks out as the Ugandan anti-gay bill looms again:
The small country of Swaziland in Southern Africa is the last absolute monarchy on that continent. It also has the highest rate of HIV infection (50% of young adults test positive) in the world. The Kingdom's response to this public health crisis has been hampered by a significant lack of leadership by the King according to people in the country
Henning Mankiel writes of learning about the importance of story in human life. Writing in The New York Times:
From the Episcopal News Service, word of a January 3rd prayer meeting in the Diocese of Harare broken up by state police under Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
From the Church of Uganda website come the news of the call for election of a new Archbishop by the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi:
Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the day David Kato, a gay activist in Uganda, was beaten to death in his neighborhood with a hammer after his photo appeared in a local paper under the headline "Hang Them."
After collecting dust in the prior session of Uganda's Parliament, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been returned to active consideration by MP David Bahati. In spite of some reporting, it appears the bill has been reintroduced in its original form, which keeps the death penalty intact.
CNN:
"This is a piece of legislation that is needed in this country to protect the traditional family here in Africa, and also protect the future of our children," said David Bahati, the lawmaker. "Every single day of my life now I am still pushing that it passes."In addition to punishing homosexuals, it also proposes years in prison for anyone who counsels or reaches out to homosexuals, a provision that would ensnare rights groups, they said.
"It aims to criminalize the 'promotion' of homosexuality, compels HIV testing in some circumstances, and imposes life sentences for entering into a same-sex marriage," Amnesty International said in a statement Tuesday. "It would also be an offense for a person who is aware of any violations of the bill's wide-ranging provisions not to report them to the authorities within 24 hours."
There was excitement at Parliament Tuesday afternoon after the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009 was re-tabled for consideration....MPs applauded as Ndorwa West MP David Bahati took to the floor to re-introduce the controversial Bill for reference to the appropriate committee.
After re-tabling the Bill, MPs both on the ruling side and the opposition gave Bahati a standing ovation. “Our Bill, our man,” the legislators chanted.
O-blog-dee managed to speak with Bahati and reports the same rhetoric as the last go-around. A sample:
I asked Bahati about tourism, “are you concerned people will stop visiting Uganda if you pass the Bill?” He said, “no Uganda has been voted the best destination in Africa last year. I am not worried about that.”He told me that the purpose of the Anti-homosexuality Bill is to “protect our children from promotion of that behavior.” I then asked what about consenting adult in private. He said that is outlawed “because they are doing the wrong thing.”
I asked him to explain how that fell into the reasoning of promotion and he was unable to answer, instead changing back to the same repetitive rhetoric: “We cannot debate the freedom of our country to make laws to protect our children.”
This blogger's best prediction is that if the thing ever makes it out of committee consideration, it could have its day and be passed forward to President Museveni, who would veto it. That would return it to Members of Parliament, who could override the president.
We urge you therefore to contact your elected officials in Congress, in state government, or even at the White House (remind President Obama that he already has a stated position) and tell them to apply whatever pressure they can bring in order to permanently push the Anti-Homosexuality Bill out of the Ugandan Parliament.
