The Las Vegas Church Working to Kill Gay People in Uganda

They don't call it "Sin City" for nothing. Though forget gambling, drinking, overeating at behemoth buffet lines or any of the other images you might associate with Las Vegas. Because when it comes to the Vegas-based Canyon Ridge Christian Church, there's another sin in mind: proudly supporting the people in Uganda who want to enact a law that will kill or imprison LGBT people.

Canyon Ridge has a tight relationship with Pastor Martin Ssempa, the Rev. Fred Phelps of Uganda. Except while Phelps has largely been marginalized and ostracized, Ssempa enjoys quite the bit of influence in Uganda. You can see him live and in person in various documentaries, including Missionaries of Hate and Exporting Hate, where Ssempa travels around various parts of Uganda rallying people to call for the killing of and imprisonment of LGBT people.

But forget quoting the Gospel. Ssempa's sermons focus exclusively on his understanding of gay sex, which is not only distorted, but quite limited. "I want to say homosexuals eat each other's poop. Homosexuals stick their hands into their rectum. Homosexuals stick all sorts of deviant sexual things into their rectum," Ssempa tells his flock of followers. Then he whoops the crowd up by telling them to keep gay people out of Uganda by any means necessary.

These tactics have earned Ssempa worldwide condemnation from even some of his formerly close allies. Rick Warren's condemned the dude. WAIT Training has condemned Ssempa, too. The Philadelphia Bible University, which had previously awarded Ssempa an honorary degree, also blasted his work championing the killing and jailing of gay people.

But Canyon Ridge? Nope, they haven't condemned Ssempa's ministry to kill and imprison gay folks. Instead, they proudly list him as a partner on their Web site, and note that Ssempa "has a prophetic ministry through the media." Yeah, if by prophetic you mean calling for a gay genocide in the country.

But Canyon Ridge's praise for Ssempa doesn't end there. They hold both Ssempa and his wife up as moral compasses that everyone should follow.

"As a father of three sons and two daughters, [Ssempa] firmly recognizes that Africa's problem is primarily leadership, and together with his wife, desires to raise a new generation of world-class leaders," Canyon Ridge says on their Web site. Indeed, a generation of world-class leaders who call on people to be killed because of their sexual orientation, and jail straight people who support gay rights. Now that's some vision of leadership.

It's time to demand better from Canyon Ridge Christian Church. Their own mission statement says they believe that church can be "where all people can come as they are and experience God's grace, love, forgiveness, healing, and hope." Yet their own works, by supporting the politicians and faith leaders behind Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill, say exactly the opposite. They can't be a house of worship that says they experience grace, love and forgiveness, and then partner with people who want to commit genocide.

Grove City College Professor (and one of the folks who has been most on top of developments in Uganda as it relates to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill there), Warren Throckmorton, called out Canyon Ridge earlier this week. Throckmorton (and others) have pushed Canyon Ridge to denounce Martin Ssempa and his incredibly violent rhetoric. But Canyon Ridge just won't budge.

Last week Canyon Ridge issued a milquetoast statement saying that they're having a conversation with Ssempa, but that they don't want to comment publicly on Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill.

"We don’t make public statements about our partners until we have worked through issues with them personally and brought those issues to resolution. We have been and are currently in conversation with Martin Ssempa and others regarding the controversy in Uganda and his activities in addressing it," the Church said. Yup, a proposed slaughter of people solely on the basis of their sexual orientation, plus the imprisonment of straight people who don't go around outing suspected homosexuals. But don't expect Canyon Ridge to take a public statement in opposition to that.

In fact, that statement couples with previous comments that Canyon Ridge made regarding Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill a few months back. Then, Canyon Ridge said that their faith calls them to be neutral in the face of injustice.

"Canyon Ridge Christian Church does not wish to enter into the debate over the legislation in Uganda. We do encourage those involved to seek God’s leadership in humility and grace and to follow Jesus command to love one another as they wrestle with this difficult issue. Our prayers are for the good of the people Uganda," the Church said. Yes, Uganda. Canyon Ridge is pleased to pray for you, but won't really lift a finger to make sure that rampant human rights violations don't occur with their blessing.

Box Turtle Bulletin, the rock star Web site chronicling all things Uganda-related, frames Canyon Ridge's involvement with Ssempa and anti-gay ministries in Uganda perfectly. They ask how long Canyon Ridge Church is willing to dither while Uganda burns. More than that, they want to know whether Canyon Ridge (and its parishioners) are giving money to support Ssempa and his work to terrorize LGBT people in Uganda.

"Given Ssempa’s egregious and dangerous activities, it is critical to know exactly what kind of support Canyon Ridge provides to further his cause," Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin writes. "How much money does Canyon Ridge supply to Ssempa? What other resources have they provided and continue to provide? In what ways exactly are Canyon Ridge facilitating Ssempa’s campaign to literally legislate gay people out of existence?"

Exactly. The longer Canyon Ridge plays neutral and quiet on this issue, the longer they look like funders and culprits in plans to exterminate and imprison LGBT people in Uganda. Is that really something that the ministers and pastors behind Canyon Ridge want associated with their faith community?

Send Canyon Ridge a message that it's time to come clean about their involvement with anti-gay work in Uganda, and time for them to condemn the work of Martin Ssempa. They continue to praise Ssempa as a man who is leading Uganda toward a vision for tomorrow. But that vision literally involves murdering LGBT people, jailing LGBT people, and locking straight people who support gay rights in prison. Hard to believe that Canyon Ridge and its leaders want to celebrate that vision as prophetic.

Photo credit: Darwin Bell