Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Brian McLaren's Open Letter to Rebecca Kadaga

So delighted to see this VERY strong "Open Letter" from Brian McLaren to the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament. Please read, mark, learn, inwardly digest and then like, share, tweet, blog and email!

(And DO note that Brian will be with us at All Saints Church this coming Sunday, December 16th as the speaker in our Rector's Forum. If you can't be with us in person, you can live-stream the presentation which will begin at 10:15 am (Pacific) and afterwards it will be available on our YouTube Channel.)
The Christmas gift that would honor Christ would be this: to drop your stones. To see Christ in the most vulnerable people of Uganda ... rich or poor, powerful or powerless, straight or gay. To banish the darkness of prejudice and scapegoating and let in the light of compassion, respectful listening, and mutual understanding.

So my prayer this Christmas is that you and the people of Uganda set an example to the world - by turning away from what has been planned, by turning toward compassion and understanding, and by making your country not more dangerous and hateful, but even more welcoming and loving.

I am especially touched by the threat of this law because in my own family and among my closest circle of friends, there are many gay people. Like you, I was raised in a cultural and religious tradition that condemned them. But I have come to see that our tradition was wrong - just as it was wrong about slavery, segregation/apartheid, colonialism, and chauvinism.

I would hate to think that in the future, if I again have the pleasure of visiting Uganda, I might be thrown into jail for seeking to follow Jesus by speaking against a misguided tradition and standing with the vulnerable.
Read the rest here.

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