That Was The Week That Was: A Warren Uganda Guam Palin Bennny Kind Of Week

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By Daniel Vojir (about the author) Page 1 of 1 page(s)

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For OpEdNews: Daniel Vojir - Writer

Playing Catch-up Is Confusing!

If you're like me, you get frustrated when there's just so much going on that you can't absorb it all. Last week was like that:

Rick Warren condones executing gays -- Uganda's death penalty for gays with HIV -- Ratzinger wants the British monarchy's money -- Guam's archbishop thinks that Iran has the right solution for homosexuality (hanging) -- and -- Palin goes crony before she goes ballistic about polar bears!

The thing about the five topics is that four of them are connected like ideological cars of a train, except for Palin who "goes rogue" and, as a caboose, typically derails.

Rick Warren, he of the Purpose-Driven-Publicity-Seeking-I-Really-Love-Everyone-Life, is (hopefully) having a pang of conscience over Uganda. In Dec. 2008:

Americablog.com

A Kampala newspaper report on Warren's support of the Lambeth boycott included this paragraph:

Dr Warren said that homosexuality is not a natural way of life and thus not a human right. "We shall not tolerate this aspect at all," Dr Warren said.

So far, the erstwhile Pastor of Saddleback Church has made no comment about the legislative proposal in Ugnada. He may never make one.

Back in Uganda: the committee is still out about the aforementioned legislation:

The bill is aimed at increasing and expanding penalties for 'homosexual acts' and for all institutions (including NGOs, donors and private companies) who defend the rights of people who engage in sexual relations with people of the same gender. The bill also calls for Uganda to withdraw from all international treaties and conventions which support the rights of lesbians, gays and bisexuals, introduces extradition arrangements for Ugandan citizens who perform 'homosexual acts' abroad, and includes legal penalties for people who fail to report alleged homosexual acts or individuals and institutions that promote homosexuality or same-sex marriage to the authorities.

The death penalty is mandated for HIV-positive people who engage in sex with people of the same gender. The tabling of the bill has been accompanied by threats against any Ugandan media organization that allows LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Ugandans to air their views or publish press statements.

In other words: they believe in gay genocide.

Now if you think that someone as learned and wise as the pope would never be connected to Uganda, well guess again. The pontiff has made a oddly cryptic move to invite disenchanted Anglicans to seek shelter under the wings of the Catholic Church. He'll even let married priests stay married! So how does that work? Never mind. The big question is: why? Is it an historic outreach from Catholic to Protestant? Is the pope getting senile?

Maybe - just maybe - it's the money. There are over 70 million Anglicans in the world and the British Anglicans have the most power. They also control most of the assets which are, in part, ladled out by the monarchy since Queen Elizabeth II is the titular head of the Church of England. Maybe the pope's bucking for a lordship or two.

Trying to emulate the pope, Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron of Guam came out with the most shocking "pastoral letter" the other day and basically condoned Iran and Iraq's execution of gays since it was necessary to save Western Civilization from "imploding' (one of his favorite words). Guam has had an identity crisis for the last hundred years and now has a new image: homophobic center of the Pacific Islanders.

And finally: the week wouldn't have been complete if Sarah Palin wouldn't crop up with not one but two instances involving her persona: 1. she created another PAC:

Sarah Palin fans can expect to see a new Palin political organization surface as her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” hits the shelves next month. “There will be an announcement about it coming up,” Palin associate Tim Crawford said Wednesday.

Oh joy! More Sarah Palin! When she goes on the talk show circuit, perhaps she'll tell us why she hates polar bears so much!

Yep, it was an incredible week. I can't wait for another one to top it!

Dan Vojir is a San Francisco writer and raconteur. His latest attempt is "Sacred Cows Make the Best Hamburger - How to becaome a lion and devour the Christian Right."

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