We already know that Rick Warren, Obama’s choice for the invocation at his upcoming inauguration, doesn’t think too much of gay people, but his defense of this intolerance has always been his heavily-publicized work toward battling HIV/AIDS in Africa.
In an article in The Daily Beast, Max Blumenthal reveals that Warren had tacitly endorsed condom-burning and anti-gay ‘witch hunts’ in Uganda:
“His website contains scant information about the results of his program. However, an investigation into Warren’s involvement in Africa reveals a web of alliances with right-wing clergymen who have sidelined science-based approaches to combating AIDS in favor of abstinence-only education...Warren’s man in Uganda is a charismatic pastor named Martin Ssempa. The head of the Makerere Community Church, a rapidly growing congregation, Ssempe enjoys close ties to his country’s First Lady, Janet Museveni, and is a favorite of the Bush White House. In the capitol of Kampala, Ssempa is known for his boisterous crusading. Ssempa’s stunts have included burning condoms in the name of Jesus and arranging the publication of names of homosexuals in cooperative local newspapers while lobbying for criminal penalties to imprison them.”
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