A preacher in the streets of Kampala, Uganda from the film “God Loves Uganda”. Photo courtesy God Loves Uganda
Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill, which would further criminalize same-sex relations in the country, including provisions for the death penalty, has been in the news since its introduction in 2009. A new documentary explores the role American missionaries (and money from American churches) have played in the bill’s development and popularity, exposing one of the darkest sides of missionary work. God Loves Uganda, a documentary from Academy Award-winning producer Roger Ross Williams, looks at Ugandan politics and churches as it examines how this bill came to be and how the message of anti-homosexuality has thrived thanks to the work of these missionaries.
The film follows several different prominent figures from the American evangelical church, the Ugandan church, and Ugandan politics. There are some stories of hope here, but God Loves Uganda is mostly a story of the severe and sinister consequences of missionary work done outside the context of the country and culture the missionaries are in. At one point in the film, an onlooker says that “When the preach hate here, they forget they are preaching to people who will just take the law into their hands.”
“The moment we said no to homosexuality, actually the donations from Western churches multiplied by three,” said David Bahati, the MP who proposed the anti-homosexuality legislation. The pastor with whom Bahati was being interviewed was rapturous, saying that this topic was exactly where churches and politicians should be working together and reminding all who watched that tolerance for homosexuality was “political suicide” in Uganda.
Seeing all of this juxtaposed with prayer rallies against homosexuality and conversations with zealous evangelicals back in America, it’s hard not to draw the conclusion that the American church is complicit in this bill. Some branches of the church in America have so painfully and dangerously confused the gospel with anti-homosexuality that a government halfway around the world is looking to make homosexual behavior punishable by death.
In an interview at Outfest, a film festival showcasing movies with queer themes, producer Roger Ross Williams said he made the movie because he “wanted to understand the people who hate me.” He was sure, going into the process, that he would be full of antipathy for them, too–but as time went on, he saw them “just like everyone else; they were nice people, and we actually became friends.” The dividing walls came down between people who should have been enemies which, to my mind, is the most Christian thing of all.
God Loves Uganda is out in limited release. Check their website for current and future screenings, or to host a screening of your own.
Trailer video courtesy God Loves Uganda via YouTube
