So the general update for the day
Dec. 2nd, 2009 03:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdSullivan continues to follow the Uganda story particularly closely. There are a few notes of interest today. particularly where the Catholic Church has remained silent on the death penalty bill, despite official opposition to the death penalty. Earlier this month, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, who is both a cardinal and president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Health, asserted that GBLT people "will never enter into the reign of God," effectively declaring queers to be non-people from the Catholic standpoint. I don't know whether this is related or not.
This Catholic inaction is relevant because Catholicism is the largest single religious denomination in Uganda. The second largest Church of the Province of Uganda (Anglican), who have declined thus far to oppose the bill in any way or take an official position, but did take the time recently to restate that "homosexual behaviour is immoral and should not be promoted, supported, or condoned in any way as an 'alternative lifestyle'" when asked about the bill of genocide.
The Guardian has more on the connection to US fundamentalists and the Stephen Langa-organised Scott Lively/Don Schmierer/Caleb Lee Brundidge anti-gay hate conference that lead to the bill being introduced. The seminar series focused on the need to, quote, "expose the truth behind homosexuality and the homosexual agenda." (Which, if you're wondering, was of course child rape.)
In better news, the DC City Council gave first-vote approval to extending civil marriage equality, with a second vote coming up December 15th. Congress will then have 30 days to review the ordinance, which it can override. This was in defiance of the Catholic Church's threat to withdraw all social services from the city.
In contrast to this step forward, the New York State Senate has again overwhelmingly rejected marriage equality today, and the prospects for advancement in New Jersey appear increasingly grim as - quoting the linked story - "the Roman Catholic Church in New Jersey threw its muscle into the fight. Bishops and priests spoke against it from the pulpit, and more than 150,000 parishioners signed petitions in opposition."
We see what they can do, here and now. In Uganda, we see what they will do, if they can.
This Catholic inaction is relevant because Catholicism is the largest single religious denomination in Uganda. The second largest Church of the Province of Uganda (Anglican), who have declined thus far to oppose the bill in any way or take an official position, but did take the time recently to restate that "homosexual behaviour is immoral and should not be promoted, supported, or condoned in any way as an 'alternative lifestyle'" when asked about the bill of genocide.
The Guardian has more on the connection to US fundamentalists and the Stephen Langa-organised Scott Lively/Don Schmierer/Caleb Lee Brundidge anti-gay hate conference that lead to the bill being introduced. The seminar series focused on the need to, quote, "expose the truth behind homosexuality and the homosexual agenda." (Which, if you're wondering, was of course child rape.)
In better news, the DC City Council gave first-vote approval to extending civil marriage equality, with a second vote coming up December 15th. Congress will then have 30 days to review the ordinance, which it can override. This was in defiance of the Catholic Church's threat to withdraw all social services from the city.
In contrast to this step forward, the New York State Senate has again overwhelmingly rejected marriage equality today, and the prospects for advancement in New Jersey appear increasingly grim as - quoting the linked story - "the Roman Catholic Church in New Jersey threw its muscle into the fight. Bishops and priests spoke against it from the pulpit, and more than 150,000 parishioners signed petitions in opposition."
We see what they can do, here and now. In Uganda, we see what they will do, if they can.
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 02:28 am (UTC)Must confess that I am significantly disinterested in being on the receiving end of a crusade, y'know?
[filed under 'more stupid human tricks to watch out for']
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 07:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 12:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 06:22 pm (UTC)I loathe the fucking Catholic Church and all the damage they do all over the world. I don't know how my (progressive and intelligent) parents could have stayed dedicated to those hypocritical pieces of shit.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-03 08:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-04 05:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-05 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-05 06:14 pm (UTC)I'm pretty big on peace and love myself. They beat the hell out of hatred and war, which are entirely too popular at the moment.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-06 12:00 am (UTC)