Comments on: Scuffle Breaks Out at David Kato’s Funeral

By: Tom in Lazybrook

Tom in Lazybrook — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:41:27 +0000

This Anglican Priest should be censured publically by CANA (The Nigerian/Ugandan influenced anti-Gay Anglican group in America).

If Prominent CANAns (or Orthodox Anglicans in America) felt so strongly about a Gay priest being the head of NH Episcopalians that they would leave, then why the silence of them in this case?

By: truthteller

truthteller — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 12:38:45 +0000

@Bruce Garner
Hate to tell you this, Bruce, but the beautiful story you mentioned does note exist in the earliest biblical documents. It is a forgery, adder much later.

By: GreenEyedLilo

GreenEyedLilo — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:24:04 +0000

What a horrible, horrible excuse for a human being that pastor is. And what brave, inspiring people Kato’s friends are. This reminds me of just how varied humans can be. It’s awful that they had to have this funeral at all.

By: Meadowlark

Meadowlark — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 22:59:36 +0000

This is terrible–I am weeping to hear that the villagers refused to bury him properly. Where is his mother? I wish I could have been there myself to help carry him and give him the respectful burial he deserves. Rest in peace, David Kato, and thank you for your courage.

By: IT

IT — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:56:23 +0000

A more detailed description of the event and who was there is in this article at the San Diego Gay and Lesbian News, by the Rev Canon Albert Ogle, who works with liberal Anglicans in Uganda and elsewhere to fight the hate.

The Ugandan church did not send a priest. It was a lay reader, not a man in orders, who spouted the homophobia. (NOt that it would have made a difference, the church in Uganda being vitriolic itself). It was an excommunicated bishop who works for reconciliation, who helped bury David Kato.

The problem with boycotts is that they hurt the people we need to support. We need there to be voices, loud voices in Uganda to counter the lying Scott Lively and his crew. People who speak with the authority of religion and can speak about the authority of love.

There are lots of faith groups who actively support LGBT people in this country and overseas. This is not a battle against the religious and the mockery doesn’t help. It’s a battle against one narrow slice of belief that has perverted the message, and that would deny freedom of religion to all others.

By: Rob San Diego

Rob San Diego — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:03:15 +0000

Glorious are the Ori, who lead us to salvation, who did fight the evil that would doom us all to mortal sin. Did they defeat the old spirits and cast them out? And now, with the strength of our will, they do call upon us to prevail against the corruption of all unbelievers.

The book of Origin tell us that enemies of the Ori will show no mercy in their attempt to lead us astray from the true path, likewise we must attack with all the Strength which we have been given

Hallowed be the Ori!- Stargate SG1.

By: Timothy Kincaid

Timothy Kincaid — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:00:12 +0000

There’s something about the temptation to preach to a captive audience that can lead some preachers to lose all sense of compassion.

In 1995 I had a close friend die of AIDS. The pastor of the church he grew up in conducted a memorial and asked the family if my friend had made his peace with God. When they answered in the affirmative (my friend had never left his faith), the pastor took it to mean that he had ‘rejected the homosexual lifestyle’ and repented of it on his deathbed, which he then announced at my friend’s funeral along with some ‘if only he’d repented sooner’ remonstrations.

Some friends stood up and stormed out. His parents were devastated and never went back.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:33:06 +0000

Looks like Uganda has its own version of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church.

When are we as a species going to get beyond the ignorance promulgated by religion and grow up?

By: Jim Burroway

Jim Burroway — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:59:18 +0000

Actually, the U.S. and Canada imports almost no coffee from Uganda — very little anyway. Uganda’s coffee trade is mostly in lower quality coffees which make there way to Central and Eastern Europe. There are efforts to increase the quality of Ugandas coffee growers, but there are significant transportation and financial impediments.

If I thought a boycott of coffee would have had an impact, I would have jumped on that bandwagon a long time ago.

By: Ahab

Ahab — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:58:29 +0000

Horrible. As if Kato’s murder wasn’t terrible enough, a pastor had to make homophobic comments at his funeral. Even in death, he’s subjected to homophobia.

I hope that Kato’s killer will be brought to justice soon, and that this tragedy serves as a wake-up call to the dangers of anti-gay bigotry.