Exclusive: Joseph Farah lists nations where homosexuality is punishable by death
 |
| Uganda President Yoweri Museveni |
By
JOSEPH FARAH
You’ve probably heard or read in the press that the African nation
of Uganda has passed a law calling for life in prison for the practice of
homosexuality.
It’s mentioned in nearly every Western news account of the action
taken by the Uganda legislature and signed by President Yoweri Museveni.
One would get the impression from these stories that someone convicted of one consensual act of homosexuality might find himself in prison for life.
But is it true?
No, not really.
Life imprisonment is reserved only for aggravated cases that
include, essentially, convictions for a form of homosexual rape or what is
defined as “serial homosexuality,” as the bill clearly states.
Now, do I approve of this law?
No, I don’t. I would not like to see homosexuals jailed for
consensual acts, though, as a Christian, I believe it to be sinful.
My point is, however, there is a lot of hyperbole and hysteria
about Uganda’s new law. Western nations, including the U.S., have either cut
back foreign aid or cut it off entirely. Secretary of State John Kerry is
sending a “scientific” delegation to Uganda to meet with Museveni to persuade
him that his assumptions about homosexuality are wrong. “Progressives” all over
the U.S. and Europe are up in arms about Uganda.
The news stories and
cable TV discussions about Uganda also leave one with the impression the nation
is out of step with the rest of the world, a pariah even in Africa. In fact,
homosexuality was already illegal in 37 other African countries, a reality
seldom referenced in any news accounts. In 10 nations, homosexuality is
punishable by death.
One has to wonder why so much fuss about Uganda when other
countries have much harsher laws on the books – including Yemen, Iran,
Mauritania, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Sudan. Of course, these
countries all share a common characteristic that Uganda does not share. They
are all Islamic. In several of these countries, including Saudi Arabia, the
death penalty can be carried out by stoning.
Don’t I recall Barack Obama bowing down to the king of Saudi
Arabia on a visit there?
Why is Uganda getting such scrutiny for its laws on homosexuality
while others, mostly Muslim, get a free pass?
That’s one of the questions Museveni has about a duly passed law
that is, by all accounts, very popular among the citizenry.
But there’s more to puzzle over with regard to the Uganda frenzy.
Other nations do things
all the time that are repugnant to Americans. But this one in
Uganda is in a class by itself in terms of attention, criticism and reprisals.
Just a week ago, Kenya’s parliament passed a bill allowing men to
marry as many women as they want without the approval of the wife.
This would seem like an action that would rile up feminists in the
West. Yet I can scarcely find any condemnation. No threats of aid cuts. No
planned trips by State Department task forces. No hysterical op-eds in the
major media.
Almost nothing.
What’s the difference?
Well, Kenya, too, is a mostly Islamic country.
It seems the multiculturalists on the left have one standard of
“tolerance” for Islam and another for Christian-oriented nations like Uganda.
Is that a surprise?
It shouldn’t be.
The West is reticent to impose its sense of morality on Islamic
nations. It is more than willing to apply its multicultural standard when
dealing with Muslims and Shariah law. But when Christians are in charge, as in
Uganda, you would think, based on the furor raised, that Idi Amin had returned
to power in all his butchery and savagery.
In fact, Uganda may be a more serious concern for U.S.
progressives right now than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korean tyranny,
Islamic terrorism and worldwide sex trafficking.
Would it be fair to say the left is losing any sense of perspective?
Media wishing to
interview Joseph Farah, please contact media@wnd.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment