Nah, that's not HATE!

When Bob Emrich led the charge to overturn the Maine legislature's passage of a law that allowed same-sex marriage, he was, of course, just defending traditional marriage.  It had nothing to do with disliking gay people.  As the blog Box Turtle Bulletin cites him,  “At some point, it’s a personal, private matter."  Right.


Box Turtle Bulletin goes on to say that Emrich's “personal, private” comments may have only been for public consumption in Maine, and his real goals and desires may be something quite other than what he was willing to admit. In fact, Emrich may well favor draconian laws that enact extreme civil punishment of gay men and women. And Emrich is part of that previously-unknown but amazingly large collection of conservative evangelical Americans who have been investing time and effort in Uganda.

Good As You has a copy of an email sent out yesterday by Emrich to those who share his religious and political views.

I have just recently returned from two weeks in Uganda, ministering the Word among village pastors and Churches. It was a refreshing change of pace from the last year spent on the “marriage referendum”...I visited almost 20 remote villages and spent time with the believers. One of the common sentiments expressed there was that “in order to have a healthy village, there must be a strong and healthy church”... as I work my way back into ministry here at Emmanuel Bible Baptist Church (Plymouth) and with the Maine Jeremiah Project, I wanted to share the following article I found in Uganda’s largest daily newspaper. I had tucked it into my journal and found it yesterday as I reviewed some of my scribbling. I think it speaks for itself, but I hope you will wonder, as I do, where our own culture lost its way.

Box Turtle Bulletin found the article in question.  And guess what? It challenges "sodomists" who swear to you "that what they do in the privacy of their bedroom does not concern the public." It calls for cultural and religious leaders to defend the "African heritage against the moral confusion of Western civilisation."  And it calls the politician who came up with the Anti-Homosexuality Bill as "brilliant."  This is the bill that would put gay people to death.

Can I say it one more time? No. not everyone hates.  But sometimes we use the word hate to describe opponents to same-sex marriage because, well, how else do you describe a "man of God" who supports laws that kill gay people?  And how many times will the public be snookered into believing that these leaders against same-sex marriage, who spend millions of dollars and hours to make sure their fellow citizens don't get what they have, aren't just worried about the definition of "marriage"?

Thanks to Box Turtle Bulletin and Good As You for the research for this entry.