Churches Can't Support Uganda's "Kill the Gays" Bill and Say They Support Public Health

Talk about a shocking inconsistency. Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas has an active ministry directed toward outreach to people who have HIV. They regularly host free HIV testing on their church grounds, most recently in late June, because they want to "be a show of compassion" to people living with HIV.

Sounds noble, until you realize that Canyon Ridge Christian Church is also a close "strategic partner" to Ugandan Pastor Martin Ssempa, a minister who has been one of Uganda's most vocal proponents of a piece of legislation known as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. As has been documented in many, many places, the Anti-Homosexuality bill would make it legal for Ugandan authorities to kill HIV-positive gay people, imprison gay people for life, and imprison straight people who do not out their LGBT relatives, neighbors and colleagues.

Seems like Canyon Ridge is trying to have their cake and eat it, too. On one hand they want to "be a show of compassion" to people living with HIV. And on the other hand they celebrate as a leader and champion a man who would prefer to have HIV-positive people slaughtered.

But Canyon's Ridge's two-step isn't going unchallenged. Hundreds of people have written the Church, urging them to condemn the work of Pastor Ssempa, and sever their relationship with him. And in a welcome turn of events, a local public health organization in Las Vegas has announced that they are severing ties with the Church, due to Canyon Ridge's support of Pastor Ssempa and his work.

The Southern Nevada Health District, which previously partnered with Canyon Ridge to run free HIV-testing on Canyon Ridge's church grounds, issued a statement today saying that they could no longer in good conscience work with a Church that supports a man with beliefs like Pastor Ssempa.

"Pastor Ssempa's support of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would criminally penalize homosexuals, is in direct conflict with the overarching public health goals of the health district," writes Dr. Lawrence Sands, the head of the Southern Nevada Health District. "One of the central tenets of public health is to provide services without judgment ... we are profoundly concerned about [Canyon Ridge's] partnership with Pastor Ssempa as it contradicts this central tenet in that it amounts to tacit approval of activities that violate the basic human rights that should be afforded to all Ugandans."

That's right. No church can say they want to be compassionate toward people living with HIV, while openly supporting a Pastor in Uganda who is anything but compassionate in his work to criminalize homosexuality and HIV.

As Warren Throckmorton writes (Mr. Throckmorton has been stellar at putting pressure on Canyon Ridge Christian Church), Canyon Ridge Christian Church has a very close relationship with Pastor Ssempa, and though other evangelical leaders (Rick Warren, the Philadelphia Bible University, to name a few) have condemned the work of Ssempa, Canyon Ridge has stood strongly by their alliance with him. On their Web site, Canyon Ridge refers to Pastor Ssempa as a "mentor," helping foster "Uganda's next generation of world-class Christian leaders."

That's some pretty celebratory rhetoric for a man who has said of gay people: "I've taken the time to research what homosexuals do in the privacy of their bedroom. It is inhuman, it is animalistic, and it cannot be right," Ssempa said in one of his regular sermons throughout Uganda. Ssempa has also made it perfectly clear that he wants Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill to pass the country's legislature with resounding support.

Does Canyon Ridge agree?

It's great that the Southern Nevada Health District has issued a strong statement pointing out their extreme disagreements and concerns with the priorities of Canyon Ridge Christian Church. Make no bones about it: a church cannot say they want to be compassionate toward people living with HIV, and support leaders and initiatives in Uganda that would result in murdering people living with HIV. That is a shocking inconsistency, to say the least.

Now that the Southern Nevada Health District has spoken out, how much longer will Canyon Ridge be able to stay silent about Ssempa's work? Send them a message today, urging them to sever their ties with Pastor Ssempa, and denounce every effort to pass Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

Photo credit: solarshakti