CANTERBURY, England — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and well-known Baptist pastor Rick Warren have condemned the “shocking severity” of proposed anti-gay legislation pending in Uganda’s Parliament.
Williams, spiritual leader of the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, said, “I can’t see how it could be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what the Communion has said in recent decades.”
In an open letter and video message Dec. 10, Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., called on Uganda’s pastors to speak out against the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009, which in its draft form would punish some kinds of homosexual behavior by death.
Warren described the proposed law as “unjust, extreme and unchristian.” He said it would force pastors to report pastoral conversations with homosexuals to authorities and would have “a chilling effect” on ministries to people who are hurting. Warren said all life is precious to God, and it would be inconsistent to save some lives and wish death on others.
Warren said he prefers to build consensus for social change through direct diplomacy and behind-the-scenes dialogue than through the media. He said the first thing he did when he heard about the Ugandan law was to write the most influential religious leader he knew in the country, the Anglican archbishop of Uganda, and share his opposition and concern.
“While we can never deny or water down what God’s Word clearly teaches about sexuality, at the same time the Church must stand to protect the dignity of all individuals — as Jesus did and commanded all of us to do,” Warren said. (TAB)
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