Throckmorton Appeals to Ugandan Christians
Timothy Kincaid
November 2nd, 2009
Dr. Warren Throckmorton has had published a guest blog in The Independent, a Ugandan news blog. In it, he appeals to fellow Christians to follow the lead of Christ and avoid harsh civil punishment for spiritual sins.
Throckmorton selected the story of the woman at the well caught in adultery whose accusers disappeared when Jesus said that the person who was without sin should be the person who threw the first stone.
As I read the Anti-Homosexuality Bill proposed in Uganda by MPs David Bahati and Benson Obua, I wonder if perhaps these gentlemen think Jesus should have picked up a stone. Instead, Jesus intervened on behalf of the woman, was He wrong? Clearly, He did not believe adultery was proper. But He signaled a new way of dealing with sin, one which emphasizes mercy and freedom, rather than coercion and death. People must choose to follow the teachings of Christ, not be coerced by Pharisees or government officials. The human heart cannot be changed by laws, but through the freely chosen grace of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, jailing or killing gays or those suspected of being gay or those who know gays cannot create a righteous people, and in fact may further a self-righteous people. One may disapprove of homosexuality, and still treat homosexuals as you would want to be treated. Who among us could stand if our private sins were judged in such a manner as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009?
I urge my brethren in beautiful Uganda to follow the example of Jesus. Please, for the sake of Christ, put down your stones.
BTB’s complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda:
Nov 14: Anglican’s Communion’s Tangled Ties To Uganda’s Anti-Gay Extremists
Nov 11: Nigerian calls on Anglican Communion to oppose Ugandan “Kill Gays” bill
Nov 9: Uganda’s Most Wanted
Nov 9: Uganda’s “Kill Gays” bill is “Providing Leadership to the World”
Nov 9: More American Evangelical Ties To Uganda’s Anti-Gay Politicians
Nov 7: The “Biblical” Worldwide Anglican Communion
Nov 6: Australian Senate Refuses to Oppose Uganda’s “Kill Gays” Bill
Nov 6: Uganda Women’s Group: “Kill the Gays”
Nov 2: Throckmorton Appeals to Ugandan Christians
Nov 2: US Reps Condemn Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Nov 2: Uganda Parliament Committee, Religious Leaders Weigh Death Penalty for LGBT People
Oct 28: Uganda Religious Leaders All Calling for Anti-Gay Bill… But Maybe Not Death
Oct 28: A Call for Christian Action in Uganda — A Time to Show the Love
Oct 23: Uganda Civil Rights Coalition Denounces Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Oct 22: Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill Put Off Until 2010
Oct 18: Take Action: Tell Uganda To Respect Human Rights And Dismiss the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Oct 17: Uganda’s Daily Monitor: All Ugandans Should Fear Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Oct 16: Does Exodus Support Criminalizing Homosexuality?
Oct 15: Human Rights Watch, Sexual Minorities Uganda Condemn Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Oct 15: Here It Is: The Text of Uganda’s Proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Oct 14: Uganda Parliament Takes Up Anti-Gay Bill Adding Death Sentence and Bans on Free Speech”
Sep 15: Draft Anti-Gay Bill Circulating In Uganda
Jul 26: Uganda Parliament To Take Up Bill Banning LGBT Free Speech
Jul 6: Sports Figure Latest Victim Of Ugandan Anti-Gay Offensive
Jul 3: Uganda May Ban All LGBT Advocacy
Jun 1: Nazi Comparisons
May 14: Uganda’s Anti-Gay Campaign Snares LGBT People and Rival Pastors, Tabloid Promises More “Outings”
May 4: Uganda Gays Arrested, Blackmail Attempts Reported
Apr 24: Uganda Anti-Gay Activists March, “Storm Parliament”
Apr 20: Alan Chambers Addresses Developments In Uganda
Apr 19: Uganda’s Anti-Gay Vigilante Campaign Is Now In Full Swing
Apr 17: Uganda Government Attacks Human Rights Groups for “Promoting Homosexuality”
Apr 10: Uganda Columnist: “Happy Easter …Irrespective of Sexual Orientation”
Apr 6: Uganda Press Crank Up “Predator” Rhetoric
Apr 3: Uganda to Ban LGBT Advocacy?
Apr 2: Exodus Maintains Month-Long Silence Amid Ugandan Gov’t Calls For LGBT Arrests
Apr 2: Press Release from Ugandan LGBT Advocacy Group
Mar 31: Forced Outings Continue As Uganda LGBT Advocates Allege Oundo Is In It For The Money
Mar 31: Uganda Activist Cites Disbarred “Therapist” As Authority on Homosexuality
Mar 30: Uganda Situation Continues To Deteriorate; Exodus Washes Their Hands
Mar 27: Videos Surface of Ugandan Activist Stirring Anti-Gay Fervor; Fears of Violence Grows
Mar 26: Ugandan Gov’t Poised to Take “Stern Action” Against Gays
Mar 26: The “Ex-Gay” Star of the Uganda Anti-Gay Campaign
Mar 25: More on Uganda Anti-Gay Vigilante Incitement
Mar 25: Another Anti-Gay Vigilante Campaign May Have Begun In Uganda
Mar 23: Schmierer’s & Lively’s Uganda Talks Continue to Reverberate
Mar 17: Lively Defends Forced Therapy Proposal
Mar 16: Commentary: When Good Men Do Nothing
Mar 13: Sanctimony Alert
Mar 13: Scott Lively and Alan Chambers Respond to Questions About Uganda Conference
Mar 13: Exodus Applauds Schmierer’s Part in Uganda Conference
Mar 12: South African LGBT Advocates Condemn Exodus
Mar 12: Ex-Exodus Minister Condemns Uganda Conference
Mar 12: Ugandan Conference Leaders Call For Another Meeting While Pushing Pedophilia Theme; Exodus Continues Silence
Mar 11: Open Letter To the Exodus International Board of Directors
Mar 10: Scott Lively: The Gay Agenda Is “To Turn The Whole World Gay”
Mar 9: Exodus Removes Link To Scott Lively From Its Web Site
Mar 9: EU Group Condemns Ugandan Conference
Mar 8: Uganda Anti-Gay Conference: Day Three — Gays Blamed For Rwandan Genocide & Pedophilia; More Exodus Ties To Holocaust Revisionism
Mar 6: Uganda Anti-Gay Conference: Day Two
Mar 6: Exodus’ Silence About Uganda: Day Five
Mar 6: Exodus Board Member Participates In Uganda Conference Calling For Forcing Gays Into Conversion Therapy
Mar 5: Anti-Gay Conference Kicks Off In Kampala
Mar 5: Warren Throckmorton Speaks Out Against Uganda Conference
Mar 5: International LGBT Group Expresses Concern About Uganda Conference
Mar 2: Anonymous Ugandan Blogger Wants Answers From American Anti-Gay Activists
Feb 24: Exodus Board Member Joins Nazi Revisionist At Uganda Conference

News, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric


The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
Patrick
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
Kudos to Throckmorton – this time. I’m glad he’s perhaps beginning to see the fruits of the ex-gay conservative Christian movement.
tavdy79
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
The story about the woman at the well is from John 4 vs. 1-26. It describes a Samaritan who’d had a string of husbands and at the time was living with a man who was not her husband. She went to the well at midday to avoid the other women of her town; the midday heat meant they would avoid being there. The setting was Sychar in Samaria, in what is now the northern West Bank; there would not have been Israelites living there at that time.
The phrase about those without sin casting the first stone comes from John 8 vs.1-11, and was said to a group of Pharisees regarding an adulteress (some believe it was Mary Magdalen) they had brought before Jesus. They intended to force Jesus into commending that she be stoned, in accordance with the law of Moses. Jesus did exactly that, but in such a way that none of them dare cast the first stone, thereby protecting her from them. The story is set in Jerusalem, forty miles south of Sychar.
Timothy Kincaid
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
Oh pooh. That’s what I get for going from memory.
Thanks Tavdy79
Dan
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
A person who will be happy with our imprisonment is just as bad as a person who advocates for killing us.
I see no difference!
David C.
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
he rest of the religious right that got this stirred up in the first place needs to start saying the same kind of thing.
You know who you are.
Priya Lynn
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
The story about the woman at the well doesn’t belong in the bible. It is not found in the earliest manuscripts of the bible, and if I remember correctly first appeared in the bible around 1400.
Priya Lynn
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
For more information see Bart D. Ehrman’s book “Misquoting Jesus”.
Elliot
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
“Please, for the sake of Christ, put down your stones.”
I don’t say this often, but…amen.
Désirée
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
Actually Priya, the passage has been around since the 4th century at least.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_and_the_woman_taken_in_adultery
Priya Lynn
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
Interesting Desiree, I’ll have to check my book and see what it says, maybe my memory is off. Ehrman is an expert on early manuscripts so I’d be inclined to believe him over wikipedia.
Priya Lynn
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
Desiree, I also note that even the wikipedia article says that most scholars agree it “was certainly not part of the original text”.
Désirée
November 2nd, 2009 | LINK
oh of that I have no doubt. It’s placement in the text makes that clear. But the history of the story is older than 1400s, that was my only point
Lynn David
November 3rd, 2009 | LINK
An opinion against the bill was written by a Makerere University Law don:
Why anti-gay Bill should worry us
Mrs Sylvia Tamale
Regan DuCasse
November 3rd, 2009 | LINK
Good luck to Dr. Throckmorton, but isn’t he a perfect example of exactly what the Ugandan government and Ugandan culture WANT gay people to do and be?
A gay person who has effectively become non gay, non involved in a gay relationship, completely conformed to the dominant ideal of what a gay person should behave like?
That he even can do it without the threat of imprisonment, death or silence speaks volumes to being what THEY want, with less.
So then, how could he possibly be of any meaningful help to this situation?
I’m simply trying to understand how a person who conforms to a standard STILL maintained as fair and desirable for gay people, can defend gay people in a way that makes a difference that really matters.
Fair?
Ben in Oakland
November 3rd, 2009 | LINK
Good for Throckmorton. At least he is beginning to see something of the damage that he and his brethren cause.
Funny how some people refuse to learn.
A nazi is a nazi, whether wearing a swastika, or tefillin, or a cross.
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