Christian response to anti-gay bill

I copied this from a blog called "Compassion in Politics".

What do Christians say about the Anti Gay Bill (the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009) in Uganda?

Last winter Uganda passed an ordinance which criminalized homosexuality and subjected the practice to imprisonment and in some cases the death penalty. Two large faith based groups stood up against the anti-gay injustice and virulent hate which was in those Ugandan bills:
Christian leaders who are themselves divided over homosexuality have joined forces to oppose a proposed Ugandan law that calls for the death penalty for some homosexual behavior.

“Our Christian faith recognizes violence, harassment and unjust treatment of any human being as a betrayal of Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves,” reads the statement released Monday and signed by dozens of leaders. “As followers of the teachings of Christ, we must express profound dismay at a bill currently before the Parliament in Uganda.”

The bill calls for those convicted of involvement in homosexual acts to be sentenced to life in prison and those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” to receive the death penalty.

You can read the rest of the pledge at Faith in Public Life, which suggest the anti-gay agenda in Uganda which is violent and virulent stands in opposition to scripture and Biblical teachings:

As Americans, some may wonder why we are raising our voices to oppose a measure proposed in a nation so far away from home. We do so to bear witness to our Christian values, and to express our condemnation of an injustice in which groups and leaders within the American Christian community are being implicated. We appeal to all Christian leaders in our own country to speak out against this unjust legislation.

In our efforts to imitate the Good Samaritan, we stand in solidarity with those Ugandans beaten and left abandoned by the side of the road because of hatred, bigotry and fear. Especially during this holy season of Advent, when the global Christian community prepares in hope for the light of Christ to break through the darkness, we pray that they are comforted by God’s love.
Regardless of the diverse theological views of our religious traditions regarding the morality of homosexuality, in our churches, communities and families, we seek to embrace our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters as God’s children worthy of respect and love. Yet we are painfully aware that in our country gays and lesbians still face hostility and violence. We recognize that such treatment degrades the human family, threatens the common good and defies the teachings of our Lord — wherever it occurs.

Whatever your opinions of gays and lesbians, it seems this Uganda law or the “Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009″ while perhaps well intended, runs contrary to the Biblical principles of compassion and love that we’re called to live out on a daily basis. The message it sends also erodes some of the possibility of dialouge, healing, reconciliation, and rebirth which is (probably) necessary for personal behaviour change which is out of faith rather than fear of punishment.