Ugandan Pastors Call for Apology From Rick Warren

In a recent letter, the group of 20 denominational leaders
said the Purpose Driven Life author caused “distress” in their
nation after he requested they speak out against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
2009 currently awaiting approval in the Ugandan Parliament.

Photo: Uganda’s Parliament building

“Your letter has caused great distress and the pastors
are demanding that you issue a formal apology for insulting the people of
Africa by your very inapropriate (sic) bully use of your church and purpose
driven pulpits to coerse (sic) us into the ‘evil’ of Sodomy and Gaymorrah,
(sic)” the group of pastors, calling themselves the Uganda National
Pastors Task Force Against Homosexuality, said in a letter to Warren. 

The rebuttal was spawned after the Saddleback Church founder
issued a video statement on Dec. 11, calling the proposed bill “unjust,
extreme and un-Christian toward homosexuals.” The bill would impose
the death penalty for some homosexual acts and force pastors to report
conversations about homosexual practices. Warren said the measure would also
squelch ” the freedom to make moral choices.”

The task force, which was formed to respond to Warren,
asserts that the bill has been widely misrepresented by homosexual activists
and that its only purpose is to
protect the traditional
family unit by halting the spread of homosexual acceptance.

The pastors further
condemn the argument that the bill infringes on the right to privacy.

 “Not all things done in private are free of negative
consequences on the public,” the letter said. “Most harmful behavior
occurs in private: corruption, bribery, abortion, murder, rape, etc. Many laws
prohibit these private practices.”

The letter stated that Warren, who works with the African
pastors to help fight HIV/AIDS, could only oppose the bill because he is
ill-informed about its details, quoting Warren’s words as evidence.

“As you yourself have said, ‘The Bible says evil has to
be opposed. Evil has to be stopped,’ the letter read. ‘The Bible does not say
negotiate with evil. It says stop it. Stop evil.’ (12/2007)” 

“Since homosexuality is evil, you cannot possibly be
against a law that seeks to stop it unless you have misunderstood it,” the
pastors stated.

In addition to Warren, numerous Christian leaders have
spoken out against the Ugandan bill, including Exodus International, known as
one of the largest outreach ministries to homosexuals.

The Ugandan pastors representing the National Fellowship of
Born again Churches, Uganda Joint Christian Council and the Roman Catholic
Church in Uganda to name a few insist that the Western homosexual lobby has
jaded Christians and caused them to fervently oppose the bill.

The pastors’ further declare that America and Europe have
addressed homosexuality “with kid-gloves as a minor, private issue,”
but now “these societies are waking up too late on realizing that the
matter affects how their entire society is ran.”

The group continued to defend the bill by insisting that
requiring everyone—including pastors, teachers and parents—to report knowledge
of homosexual acts is necessary because of the prevalence of sexual abuse in
same-sex schools in Africa. The group noted that a similar law protecting young
women has been in effect for 15 years.

The task force also insists that the death penalty provison
would only apply to “aggravated homosexuality,” which includes rape
of a minor and/or a handicapped person.

Further in the letter, the group conceded to amending the
bill by reducing the “aggravated homosexuality” sentence to 20 years.
The pastors also amended the bill to include stipulations for churches to
provide counseling and rehabilitation to those struggling with same-sex
attraction.

Though the pastors said they would support the bill with
some amendments, they also said they would not make homosexuality legal in
Uganda.

“In a
globalized world, this western takeover of institutions by homosexuals has
turned into international promotion of homosexuality and of other vices like
abortion and pornography in other countries, ” the letter said. “Some
members of Parliament in Uganda have looked at all these developments as a
threat to strongly held family values in Uganda and everywhere and have sought
to use their mandate as [the] people’s representatives to seek remedies before
it is too late.”