U.S. Missionary Group De-Banked Over Uganda’s Anti-LGBT Law
By Scott Morgan, Juicy Ecumenism.
A rising threat to free societies is de-banking, something that has become especially controversial among financial institutions for being utilized as a weapon in the culture war.
De-banking, or de-risking as it’s referred to within the industry, is defined as the closure of individual or organizational bank accounts by those banks who perceive that the account holders pose a financial, legal, regulatory, or reputational risk to the financial institution.
It sounds straightforward. However, a recent complaint filed in Tennessee shows that the activities of Christian ministries may be in the crosshairs of these financial institutions. Last May, Bank of America (BoA) notified Indigenous Advance Ministries (IAM), a Christian non-profit that works with impoverished Ugandans, that their accounts with the bank would be closed as its “risk profile no longer aligns with the bank’s risk tolerance.”
Information presented on the website of the missionary outlet shows a likely reason why.
The ministry provides basic life necessities to impoverished people in Uganda. However, the religious positions taken by the missionary group may be the issue that has created the rancor with the multinational investment bank. The group espouses Pro-Life positions and traditional Christian sexual morality that all sexual relations should be between a married man and woman.
On May 29, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law one of the most strict sodomy laws in Africa. The law drew widespread criticism from Western governments, including the U.S. State Department. The World Bank subsequently cut funding to Uganda because of the law.
In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “the United States is deeply troubled by Uganda’s passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act.” Blinken further stated that the passage of this legislation “is part of a broader degradation of human rights protections that put Ugandan citizens at risk and damages the country’s reputation as a destination for investment, development, tourism and refugees”.
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