Bishop Samuel Greene stood his ground Tuesday and restated his Independence Day service “warning,” that if the government passes an Act authorising same sex marriages, he would have much more to give than a stern warning.
The president of The Bahamas Christian Council, reiterated to the Guardian during a telephone interview, that God created Adam and Eve and told them to go and multiply; hence this trend should never change.
“There is no sissy in this world that can change anything in this country. I have now found out that we have an Alliance, but I have not gotten to them yet, because I did not know that they existed. God made decent people, male and female to be fruitful and multiply.
“They (gays) cannot be fruitful and multiply. They are taking out a devilish attack to destroy the family and if they think they can do that, they can think again because I will take them apart,” charged Bishop Greene.
During the service on July 6, Bishop Greene told the congregation at Zion Baptist Church on East and Shirley Streets, that Canada’s new gay marriage law was a “plan of the devil to destroy the family.” He said it was against Christ’s entreaty that people should be fruitful and multiply and also charged that if gay marriages were made legal in The Bahamas, he would become the “first live Guy Fawkes.”
The outspoken pastor said those who believe in same sex marriages are “devoid of common sense” and if they had sense, they would understand that every single thing God did was firstly done to show mercy and then to bring judgment.
“Mine was a warning that it will not happen in this country. It will happen in Canada, but not in this country. Some diabolical things are happening, males getting married to males and females getting married to females. In this Bahamas that God gave us, it will never happen,” said the Baptist bishop, who added he “regretted” that his message did not span the entire Bahamas.
“I just came to Cat Island and now I am going to Exuma. My job is to educate Bahamians about this, so that this country remain a Christian country,” he said.
Many religious leaders from various denominations fully supported the bishop’s views.
Apostle Cedric Moss, pastor of Kingdom View Ministries, who was a guest on Love 97 “Issues of the Day” talk show with host Jeff Lloyd, expressed that homosexuality ought to be condemned like any other sin, however the persons committing these acts should not be condemned.
“We should not ostracise them, we should not be antagonistic towards them. Jesus was not and neither should we be,” said Pastor Moss. He further stated that society should not create laws against homosexuality and exclude adultery and fornication. This, he said would not only be inconsistent, but “discriminatory.”
“I think that we should allow the norms and public morals to determine and govern what people do and don’t do, but I don’t think that there should be a law that says if you are caught in the act of homosexuality, you would be charged,” he said.
Pastor Moss further said laws should not be passed in The Bahamas allowing gays to be married. He said if this happens, other laws would have to be passed to accommodate other acts.
“If you lift up the boundary stone of marriage and say we are going to allow homosexual marriages, what are you going to say to the individual who comes using the same argument of having freedom and not wanting to be discriminated against,” he said. He also explained that if a same sex marriage is agreed upon, what can be said to a man who wants to marry his daughter?
“On what basis would we say that relatives cannot marry and on what basis do we say that homosexuals cannot marry? I think that when we talk about the whole issue of allowing homosexuals to marry, one will have to consider a whole lot of other issues, which I don’t think we as a society really want to deal with,” he said.
Reverend Terrance Morrison, Pastor of the Zion Baptist church on East and Shirley Streets, who was also a guest on Issues of the Day talk show, said that anyone who examines the document of the Judeo-Christian tradition would realise same sex relationships are condemned in the scripture. He said one of the ways to interpret the scripture is to suggest the wrath of God is already being manifested as persons practice certain lifestyles.
“God made man and woman, gave them the command to be fruitful and to multiply to replenish the earth and it is a known fact biologically that two persons of the same gender will not be able to carry out this command,” said Rev. Morrison.
He further said even though Jesus did not out rightly condemn homosexuality or same sex marriage in the Bible, the books of Genesis and Leviticus clearly suggests that God finds homosexuality to be an abomination.
“Whether or not Jesus made specific reference to it, it does not change the fact that it is against God’s order.
“Glasses is not in the bible and we see people wearing them, so for us to argue that it has to written from the lips of Jesus, does not necessarily follow,” he said, adding that there are many things that are not outlined in the scriptures, but there is a “natural order” that God has established to know what is right from wrong and what goes against creation.
If same sex marriages are made legal in The Bahamas, Rev. Morrison said that it would be a “sad day” for the country and such a move would add to the downward spiral that the country is taking in regards to infidelity within the context of marriage.
Bishop Andrew O. Stewart, Leader of the Cornerstone Zion churches also expressed to The Guardian via telephone, that it is wrong for individuals to engage in same sex marriages. He said that such individuals should order their lives according to the word of God and adopt the principles of the Bible.
He said however, it is “very unlikely” that same sex marriages would be legalised in The Bahamas, as the country subscribes to be being a Christian nation in its Constitution.
“This alone causes it not to be possible in The Bahamas. I would also say that I would be watching the upcoming revision of our Constitution and it is going to be imperative that we do maintain that marriage is seen as a union between a male and female and not merely two consenting adults,” he said.
Anglican and Catholic Archbishops Drexel Gomez and Lawerence Burke were also contacted for comments, but were said to be off the island up to press time.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
