Fwd: Perhaps of interest

[Wilson Gray]

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Murder in Uganda -- Stop U.S. pastors from exporting bigotry

Stop exporting hate.

Stand with HRC's Religion and Faith program. Tell American
right-wingers to stop hateful proselytizing in Africa.

Sign our petition now.

U.S. pastors are exporting bigotry to Uganda, with brutal results.

This is an issue close to my heart, because I've spent over a decade
working for equality as a lay leader in my own church, and now, as
acting director of HRC's Religion and Faith program – which helps
religious leaders of all stripes speak out for equality and fight back
when hatred is promoted in the name of religion.

On Thursday, that perversion of faith cost Ugandan gay rights advocate
David Kato his life. He was bludgeoned to death in his home after his
name was among those listed in an anti-gay magazine, under the
headline "Hang them!"

Since at least 2009, radical U.S. Christian missionaries have added
anti-gay conferences and workshops in Uganda to their anti-gay efforts
in the U.S. – and now they're beginning to ordain ministers and build
churches across East Africa focused almost entirely on preaching
against homosexuality.

These American extremists didn't call for David's death. But they
created a climate of hate that breeds violence – and they must stop
and acknowledge they were wrong.

"Stop Exporting Hate." Sign our petition to Carl Ellis Jenkins, Lou
Engle, and Scott Lively.

We'll deliver your signature to three men who have gone out of their
way to promote hatred:

Scott Lively of Massachusetts held an anti-gay conference in Uganda
with two other U.S. pastors. A few months later, a bill was introduced
in Uganda that would make homosexuality punishable by death.
Lou Engle, a Missouri preacher whose rallies draw tens of thousands in
the U.S., spoke at a rally in Uganda this year that focused on praying
for the bill's passage. (Engle claims not to support some parts of the
bill, but internal documents show he came to speak about "the threat
of homosexuality," and defend the Ugandan government's efforts to
"curb the growth of the vice using the law.")
And Carl Ellis Jenkins of Georgia is presiding over a group that's
opening 50 new churches in Uganda to "help clean up bad morals,
including homosexuality" according to his staff.

They have been stirring up hostility in a country where homosexuality
is already illegal, violent attacks are common, rape is used to 'cure'
people of their sexual orientation – and a shocking law has been
proposed that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment
or even death.

And they're in lockstep with some of the largest and wealthiest
right-wing groups in the U.S. When the U.S. Congress considered a
resolution denouncing the grotesque Ugandan death-penalty-for-gays
bill, the extreme-right Family Research Council – now classified as a
hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center – spent $25,000 lobbying
to stop the resolution from passing.

Religion should never be used to spread hate. These men do not speak
for me or the millions of diverse religious people who support
equality not in spite of our faith, but because of it

That's what our Religion and Faith program is all about: helping
people of faith from all different traditions speak out so we can
reclaim the core religious values we hold dear in America.

At the heart of every religious tradition is love of humanity and love
of creator – not hatred for our neighbors. Creating a climate of hate
runs contrary to the very idea of faith – but that's exactly what the
right wing in America is doing.

Tell missionaries and radical hate groups: "Stop exporting hate."

Whether or not we're people of faith, we cannot stay silent or stand
idly by while a radical minority pushes a hateful agenda in God's
name. Please stand with us and speak out today.

Sincerely,

Sharon Groves
Religion and Faith Program

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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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