Church Leaders Say They Have the Numbers to Prevent Anti-Homosexual Law From Being Changed
Jamaica (The Gleaner ) With some 2,050,771 Jamaicans claiming affiliation to a religion, it would appear the church community, which has been standing firm against gay-rights activists in recent days, might be able to put up a formidable defence against those seeking to have the Government repeal the country’s buggery law.
Just recently, one prominent clergyman shouted from his pulpit that he was prepared to die to ensure that Jamaica does not succumb to pressure from gay rights activists.
The statement from the executive director of the Church of God in Jamaica, Reverend Lenworth Anglin, followed that of another pastor, Reverend Al Miller, who declared last week that “a group of concerned pastors and leaders” have stated their willingness to mobilise and resist any attempts to tamper with the country’s Constitution as it relates to the buggery law.
“We certainly have the numbers,” Anglin told The Gleaner yesterday.
Data from the latest Population and Housing Census appear to support Anglin’s claim. They indicate that some 129,554 Jamaicans are affiliated with a Church of God denomination.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church alone accounts for some 322,228, making it the denomination with the highest affiliation in numbers in Jamaica.
The Rastafarian religion, which is well known for its intolerance of homosexuality, has an affiliation number of 29,026.
But as the gay community and the Church continue on what appears to be a collision course, yesterday one social commentator who refrained from saying the level of impact the Church is likely to have in helping to prevent any repeal of the buggery law, stopped just short of saying that recent comments from some clergymen might help to fuel even greater hostility in the minds of Jamaicans towards the gay community.
“Language like ‘persons willing to die for’ and so on, in my view, is unnecessary language at this point,” said Carol Narcisse, who stressed that her views didn’t necessarily represent those of the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition (JCSC) of which she is the chairperson.
“This is a discussion that the country needs to have, and it is hoped that the Church will provide an honest, sober position in the public domain, recognising that there is already a tendency towards making this issue being the subject of violence and the subject of harm to Jamaicans who are homosexual.”
