Anti Homosexual laws, Miniskirts and the Gospel of Grace.

Usually I do not engage in political affairs in this blog. Nor do I want to be about pointing out others faults and what I disagree with them. Instead I try to make this blog about my own heart, and the lessons I learn while living here in Uganda.

But recently, two laws have come to pass in Uganda that are very worrying, and due to a lot of discussion people are having, I thought I would express some of my views. These laws not only effect people on a policing, law enforcing level, but they also help enhance dangerous deeply entrenched and rooted mentalities in a national psyche, that I could argue are very worrying.

The first law I will talk about is extremely controversial and even just mentioning it here in my blog, could cause conflict. It is an issue that is divided between my western brothers and sisters in Australia and my eastern brothers and sisters in Uganda.
Both take very opposite approaches to the way they think about this issue, but I feel like I don’t resonate with either of them.
The issue I am talking about is the new anti-homosexual bill that has been passed in Uganda. Some aspects of the reasoning behind the bill are agreeable. Uganda does not want promotion or forceful encouragement of homosexuality in its schools and towards its youth. It is also trying to stop the abuse of young boys being molested. In a country where homosexuality is much rarer than in the west (and as much as you want to argue about genetic disposition and the likes, the fact is, homosexuality is much more common in the western world then in Africa) it is completely fair that the government doesn’t want to encourage young people to “experiment sexually”.
What is worrying is a law that says someone who is openly homosexual, or is caught in the act, or living in a homosexual relationship, will and can be thrown into jail, in some cases, for life.
This is assuming that a mob has not yet gone on a witch hunt and beaten the suspected homosexual.
The bill also says prison sentences will be put in place for anyone who doesn’t report a gay person that they know. Reaching out and counselling gay people is also illegal under the new law and can result in prison sentences for a number of years.
The death penalty was only just scraped in the bill due to international criticism.
It seems in reaction to the western world’s legalizing of gay marriage, Uganda, in shock and concern, has gone so far to the other end.
In response the western world has already threatened to stop sending aid to a struggling improvised country, and social media like facebook has suggesting cutting its services off in Uganda.
Meanwhile Uganda suffers from corruption in the government, and funding cuts to medical, health and education sectors in a country riddled with poverty makes you ask “what on earth is the government putting its energy and focus into?”
What concerns me the most about this particular issue is the amount of self-proclaiming Christians I have heard over here expressing that this law is good, and in fact the death penalty would have been appropriate as well. I hear so much hatred towards homosexuals coming from the mouths of people who profess to know our grace and love filled Lord, Jesus Christ.
Many young people come to me and justify their views because the bible says homosexuality is a sin, and that God created man and woman to be together in sexual union in marriage. In fact this very view point is what was used to drive the reasoning of the bill. As a Christian I agree and believe with this view ‘that it is a sin, and that sexual union was designed for man and woman in a committed marriage relationship’.
What I think is unbiblical is the hatred towards this one particular sexual sin from many Ugandan Christian communities. I often tell many young people here that if they want to use the bible to justify these views then they have to be willing to say people who sleep with someone who is not their spouse, must also be thrown into jail and should be put to death. I then let them know that this is a lot of young people in jail (usually including the one who I am giving this response to).
Of course they don’t agree with this, because many young people here in Uganda are sleeping around with their boyfriends/girlfriends, but again, they feel they can pick and choose what they want out of the bible.
And then I try to explain to them the overarching message of grace and the gospel that the bible gives. That though we are sinners, Christ died for us out of love and grace, even when we were still his enemies. That because of this forgiveness and grace we are empowered to show mercy and love towards others. That Jesus calls us to love and forgive, and that he never called us to persecute one type of person committing a sexual sin.
Never mind that Jesus also spoke much more, and warned much more harshly, about pride and greed, two issues, often unquestioned, that are rampant in the church and the government here.
As I often put it towards my young friends “So often the sins we vilify the most are the ones we struggle with the least. And the ones we overlook and excuse the most are the ones we struggle with the most.”

It seems that today, in Uganda, in the Christian community, homosexuality has become the new “women caught in adultery and dragged before Jesus to be stoned.”
We would be wise to look at Jesus reaction.
He states “Those without sin throw the first stone”. And as everyone leaves he turns to the woman and says “has anyone condemned you” to which she replies “No one sir”.
Jesus then says “Then neither do I condemn you, go now and sin no more.”

You can almost feel the love and grace coming off the page when you read it.

I recognise that some of the views I have expressed here would be vilified as bigotry in the western world. As a Christian I do believe marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman, and just expressing this can label you with ‘hate speech’ in the west. And woe to me if I mention the word sin (but I would like to make a point here, that though I believe it to be a sin, I would like to whole heartedly and honestly say I am also a sinner, and in no way am I better than people who sin differently then me). So in a sense things are extreme on both ends. As I recently posted on my facebook wall: “In Australia, if I believe marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman I am a conservative bigot. In Uganda if I believe homosexuals should be treated with love, dignity and not persecution, I am a perverted liberal. Feeling like I am caught between two worlds.”
I recognise the criticism I may get from the west for expressing my biblical views, and I recognise the risks here in Uganda in even speaking against this bill. But neither do I want to be afraid of what people think of me due to my Christian beliefs, nor do I want to stay silent when a group of people are being persecuted and hate is being thrown down on them.

The second law is just as worrying, but in this case, towards women.
In an effort to reduce the numbers of rape in Uganda, the government has now made miniskirts illegal and any woman caught in a mini skirt can be put in jail.

Yup .. you try and rationalize that.

In response many mobs and rowdy men are going around finding women in short skirts and ripping them off and pulling their panties of as well in the act. The woman is still up for breaking the law, and mostly, the men get away with what they have done.

You tell me who is committing the bigger crime/sin
.
I have tried to explain to men here that what this is doing, is basically saying “Men have no control over their behaviour and therefore we need to restrict and punish the women. Men are basically animals and cannot help themselves, therefore the rape of a woman wearing scantily dressed clothing is mostly justified”.

I do not think this view will reduce rape. I think views like this help enhance rape.

Why is the focus on the women? Why is there not a bigger effort to educate young men and boys in school to value and respect women? Why is there not more conviction and punishment on so many men who get away with rape and domestic abuse? Or if they want to focus on women, why don’t they focus on educating and empowering young women to have value and respect for themselves? Or creating safe places for them to be able to talk about sexual abuse they have suffered? Or enhancing a view that says “you don’t need male love and affection to be valuable, and that trying to get this love by dressing scantly won’t attract the kind of love you may be after.”
Miniskirts and pornography are banned in Uganda, but Ugandan music television stations are allowed to be constantly filled with rap and pop artists trying to emulate American hip hop stars. They have their music videos filled with nearly naked women grinding their buts up against the singer, while he spews out lyrics that degrade women and reduces them to meat.
Why the double standards?

I do believe this miniskirt law is like putting a band aid on a broken leg.

I do want to be careful in this post, I realize the danger of painting Ugandans as somehow backwards or horrible people. I do not want to paint all Ugandans with a broad brush, as there are many I know who do not think on these extreme ends.
I can honestly say the most welcoming, beautiful, loving and sharing people I have had experiences with in this world, are Ugandans. And we in the west have ‘So Much’ to learn from their often beautiful generous way of living. But I also believe that all humans, in all cultures, no matter how loving, are broken and have a tendency to be swept into bigotry, hatred and selfishness.
I also think Australians are amazing people, but look at the ignorance, fear and racism so many normally great people, and Australian Christians, are expressing towards the refugee debate.
Or I could twist it, I see many liberals who fight for human rights, but who have a deep hatred and loathing towards politicians, or Tony Abbot, or people in the mining industry like Gina, or anyone who owns a big corporate multinational.
I see the potential for this kind of attitude even in myself. I have always felt comfortable talking with, and spending time around the outcasts: the drunk, the prostitute, the drug addict, the homosexual or the foreigner. But I need to be careful about not dehumanizing the hypocritical religious leader, and I can have a tendency to forget they are also image bearers of God.
We as humans are all guilty of dehumanizing others who are different, or don’t have the same beliefs as us. We love to look at the negatives in others without searching for their good. And we often forget to look into our own hearts and see the potential for good, and the potential for evil in all of us.
This is why I believe in the gospel.
This is why I believe in grace.
This is why I believe in Jesus.
I believe our human hearts need Him.
And us Christians need to continue to look at the way Jesus treated others, even when he disagreed with their way of life.

If you are a Christian, you are called to follow Jesus.
You are called to be a light in a broken hurting world.
You are called to be loving, generous, compassionate and humble.
You are called to look inside yourself in humility and see your own need for grace.
You are called to look outside at others and see their need for grace from you.
We are called to do this not because we are trying to earn God’s love and grace. But we are called to do this out of a heart full of joy and gratitude.
Because God’s grace cannot be bought or worked for. 

It was freely given.
Remember that.

It may help you the next time you feel like dehumanizing someone else.