Recently, while watching our local news station, ZNS, I listened with great concern over the comments made by an individual advocating the rights of gay individuals to be lawfully joined in holy matrimony in The Bahamas.
The individual speaking noted that the Church should not place its standards on the wider communities of The Bahamas. I have always said that the problem with democracy is that anyone can speak even if what they are saying is foolishness.
I agree that everyone has a right to govern their life as best they see fit and be responsible to their maker for how they lived their life. When we make our laws they should always be guided by the document we use to establish ourselves as a nation. Allow me to quote the preamble of our constitution:
THE PREAMBLE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS
WHEREAS Four hundred and eighty-one years ago the rediscovery of this Family of Islands, Rocks and Cays heralded the rebirth of the New World;
AND WHEREAS the People of this Family of Islands recognizing that the preservation of their Freedom will be guaranteed by a national commitment to Self-discipline, Industry, Loyalty, Unity and an abiding respect for Christian values and the Rule of Law;
NOW KNOW YE THEREFORE:
We the Inheritors of and Successors to this Family of Islands, recognizing the Supremacy of God and believing in the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM IN SOLEMN PRAISE the Establishment of a Free and Democratic Sovereign Nation founded on Spiritual Values and in which no Man, Woman or Child shall ever be Slave or Bondsman to anyone or their Labour exploited or their Lives frustrated by deprivation, AND DO HEREBY PROVIDE by these Articles for the indivisible Unity and Creation under God of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
There are three things I would like to highlight about the preamble to the Constitution:
1. The People of this Family of Islands must recognize that the preservation of their Freedom will be guaranteed by an abiding respect for Christian values and the Rule of Law.
2. We the Inheritors of and the Successors to this Family of Islands, recognizing the Supremacy of God
3. We are a Free and Democratic Sovereign Nation founded on Spiritual Values
A constitution is defined as “A body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.”
If what is written in the Preamble of our Constitution is to have any sense of credence then we must be considered a Christian nation. Understanding this one will admit that the Christian Church is not trying to push their standards on the wider Bahamian communities, but we are upholding what is written in the Preamble of our Constitution based on what is written in our guide book, The Bible.
If we want to move away from the Christian guidelines of our Constitution we would have to stop all the talk and call a referendum to change the Preamble of the Constitution.
It must be made clear that the church does not dislike those, who for one reason or the other, have chosen to go against the standards of God and the Constitution, what we dislike is their action of defying the laws of God. We are either a Christian nation or we are not; Christianity is not what we say or how we dress, it is a lifestyle in which we live.
While within our family of islands there are individuals that live contrary to what God commands, we must not make the mistake to make disobeying God a law in what we consider a Christian nation. We are told that “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” (Psalm 9:17) We must be warned as Bahamians and not embrace God’s wrath because of our desire to fit-in with an international society. Paul wrote: “So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God; they deliberately chose to believe lies.” (Romans 1:24 – 25)
As a nation we must be prepared to stand for something even if it means standing alone, and then we are never alone; if we stand for God He will stand with us. When Peter and John were told not to speak in Jesus’ name any more they responded by telling the rulers that it is more important to obey God rather than man, (Acts 4:19, 20). Take note of what is written in our manual for living: “Do not practice homosexuality; it is a detestable sin.” (Lev. 18:22 NLT)
“The penalty for homosexual acts is death to both parties. They have committed a detestable act and are guilty of a capital offense.” (Lev. 20:13 NLT)
My warning to my fellow Bahamians is that we stop and take heed or we will pay the price for our actions.
Permitting same-sex marriages should not even be up for discussion because it is a violation of God’s law. Our Bible states that: “God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved.
When they refused to acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
They are back-stabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving.
They are fully aware of God’s death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” (Romans 1:26 – 32 NLT)
Therefore, the stand of the Church is not an attempt to control the lives of individuals, but to uphold God’s standard in what is supposed to be a Christian nation. If we are not going to enact laws to protect and preserve our Christian heritage then we should remove the word Christian because the word Christian means to be as Christ is, obedient to God. If we are going to use His name then we must live up to His standard. Failing this change the constitution and refer to us as religious. May God help our Bahama Land.
Thank you for this opportunity to share.
By: Pastor Dwight A. Rolle
