Thursday 11 July 2013

Uganda: Paradise for American Evangelists

Street preacher in Kampala, Uganda.

Here's a really good interview with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams, who made God Loves Uganda.

He really nails the reasons why Uganda attracts so many evangelical nutters:

I agree that Scott Lively is marginal, and that is exactly why evangelicals must not let him speak for them. But in Uganda, Scott Lively is allowed to address the parliament for five hours, and his hate-filled message led directly to the anti-homosexuality bill. Why have no evangelical leaders stood up and said he does not speak for us?...

[Ordinary Ugandas]... embrace [evangelical preachers] because they represent everything that America represents: money, power, and freedom. Why else would you see an old Ugandan woman respectfully listen to a 22-year-old white girl from America telling her what she should or shouldn't believe? What is so attractive about Uganda for missionaries is that they have free rein. They can go anywhere they please—schools, hospitals, the parliament. The first lady of Uganda is a devoted evangelical and beloved by the faith community. At an evangelical conference in Argentina, one minister said, "Mama Janet has given us the keys to Africa." She has done that by creating a nation that has embraced a Dominionist form of Christianity that believes that Christians have a God-given right to rule the world.

Of course, they're going to Africa because the US Supreme Court recently washed its hands of human rights atrocities committed by American citizens overseas. Basically telling them: "Yes, you can be an evil little hate monger, just do it over there."

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