At a time when he ought to be reminding his evangelical partners in Nigeria and Uganda that he morally opposes the torture and execution of sexual minorities, U.S. evangelist Rick Warren instead appears to be offering weak rationalizations for this persecution.
Warren told CNN’s Piers Morgan this week that acting on same-sex attractions is no different from “punching a guy in the nose” or consuming arsenic:
Warren also told CBS This Morning that sexual minorities can choose not to act upon their romantic attractions — for life.
Meanwhile, Warren has not commented on his African evangelical partners’ sponsorship of Uganda’s kill-the-gays legislation, apart from one brief and now-forgotten statement which was made under heavy public pressure in December 2009. Nor has Warren commented on renewed efforts to persecute sexual minorities in Nigeria.
As if to prove he is compassionate, Warren likes to touts his work against HIV/AIDS in Africa. But the official adoption of evangelicals’ abstinence-only policies and antigay prejudices have actually caused a resurgence of AIDS in Uganda since 2004.
Warren’s renewed antigay diatribes, and his trivialization of antigay persecution, suggest that — sated with power in the evangelical and political communities — Warren enjoys meddling in the private lives of sexual minorities around the world, lying about their lives, and promoting policies that cause the spread of death and disease.
Despite his claim to be a Christian, Warren refuses to share a gospel of peace and grace, nor to stop his own associates’ bloodshed against those whom he hypocritically deems to be sinners.
Hat tip: ThinkProgress
