Reverend Al Miller has no moral authority (yet again) to speak on flags & correctness

Rev Al Miller as captioned in this old Observer cartoon by Clovis with Dudus on board his car


The Reverend Al Miller is commending Attorney General, Marlene Malahoo Forte, for her controversial tweet condemning the flying of the Rainbow flag at the US embassy in Kingston. Remember this in 2015 Is this a joke .... Church group denies gay bias, I wonder what this latest salvo is now? and see this: Restorative Therapy Advocate & Anti Gay Voice on Trial for Perverting the Course of Justiceand Reverend Al Miller continues his antigay advocacy while his integrity is severely damaged 2014, meanwhile in a statement today, Reverend Miller praised what he calls her boldness in standing on a principled and moral position.

He condemned what he called the despicable act against citizens of the USA and also extended condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and suffered injuries. He notes that on previous occasions of mass shootings, the US Embassy has seen it sufficient to fly the US flag at half-mast. Reverend Miller asks what has motivated the US Embassy on this particular occasion to fly another flag which is not one of the official emblems of the country.

Mr. Miller says it’s no secret that Jamaican law forbids certain types of sexual behaviour. He says in light of this the US Embassy mounting the rainbow flag, widely accepted as the banner of the LGBT community, can only be interpreted as a deliberate act of provocation and a slap in the face. He says we need leaders who have clear moral vision and who are prepared to stand up for principle. Mr. Miller says to take a stand for principle is not something to apologize for and Mrs. Malahoo Forte should not be called upon to do so.

Miller needs to be reminded that his present legal vice that he is to face in the rescheduled court case and judgement in the St Andrew Parish court is being watched by many, even as the commission of enquiry report on the Tivoli incursion in 2011 was tabled in the house on June 16, 2016 by the Justice Minister Delroy Chuck. Report aside Reverend Miller was effectively accused of aiding the very man who is the centre of the said Tivoli commission enquiry report that found that fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke may have been tipped off but the commissioners cannot find evidence as to how.

Yet this was the man who was found in the company of Reverend Miller supposedly on his way to the very United States Embassy that is the centre of the present flag furore. It seems Miller would like us to forget or think we have but it is not lost on us and many are awaiting the ruling by the judge who is said to be ill. The case is said to be ready in July. How comes one can aid a fugitive in one breath then speak with such piety the next?

I have suggested before that had he been in another jurisdiction he may have been slapped with a charge of treason; aiding a known fugitive under the guise of assisting him to surrender to the US via their Embassy with immunity from local authorities the moment he enters the gates of Hope Road. Going against the state apparatus however we may feel about them and this notion that maybe Dudus would have been killed if he were caught by them. I do not belief that as knowing how international that matter had gotten it would be foolhardy to harm him in the face of US surveillance and intense global media interest since the incursion was announced inadvertently by the authorities.

The Tivoli commission has noted in the report that the authorities should have effectively kept the state of emergency either quiet or not announce it so early thus giving Dudus and others time to evade capture; which implicates in my eyes Reverend Miller and his closeness to Prime Minister Golding then.

According to the recently released commission report in chapter 7 it read in part:

"Rev. Miller was head of the National Transformation Programme in the Office of the Prime Minister which worked with inner-city youth."

7.27. With regard to Rev. Miller, CoP Ellington said that Miller reported to him Coke’s response to his suggestion of a peaceful surrender. Miller is alleged to have said –

“I saw the man and the man said to me if it was the PNP in office, they would know how to deal with this. Tell Bruce Golding to find a way to deal with it. I am not going anywhere and, if they want me, they have to come for me and they have to come good.”

7.40. So far as Rev. Miller was concerned, Mr. Golding said that Rev. Miller was a friend and he was involved in a social transformation project within the Office of the Prime Minister. Mr. Golding made clear the following:

“He was not my agent to have Coke surrender. I did not ask him to intervene. He took steps on his own initiative.”

Miller has reportedly said he is siding with Malahoo Forte on her controversial tweet on the half mast rainblow flag at their Hope Road premises which is seen a US soil legally or diplomatically; let us also bear in mind she has effectively retreated on the matter since (someone may have spoken to the goodly lady and knocked some sense into her), the attorney general she insisted that her post had been misinterpreted when she spoke to the Observer.

the tweet that started it all 

“The second part of my tweet has been misconstrued. The horrible act of terror which resulted in so many deaths can never be condoned. I condemn it unreservedly and repeat my expression of deep sorrow and sympathy for the victims and their families,” she said, adding that “the incident provides another opportunity for deep reflection and introspection”.

“Among the multiple issues are gun control, radicalisation, treatment of differences – be they religious, sexual orientation or otherwise. These are tough issues to handle.

“Here in Jamaica we have so much work ahead of us to reorder our society. We need everyone on board.

Personally, I respect and celebrate our differences as people and see them as reflective of our humanity. Professionally, I’m sworn to uphold and defend the constitution and laws of Jamaica. In both spheres I remain a sincere advocate for fair and proper treatment of everyone. And I will never condone the use of violence to deal with our differences,” she said.
Her peers had described her comment as “insensitive” and “unwise”.

Miller was said to have spoken to the then Prime Minister Bruce ‘Not in my cabinet’ Golding sometime prior to the incursion which may suggest culpability in aiding Coke to escape via the car with Coke semi crossed dressed in the now infamous wig, glasses and a dress with some light makeup. They very drag culture aesthetic of male homosexuals who are also involved in female impersonation and not transgenderism.

In chapter 12 of the aforementioned Tivoli commission report Miller was named again despite he did not testify before it as he had the other case answering to in court.

The report read in part:

CoP Ellington Re: Bishop Blair and Rev. Miller

12.8. CoP Ellington testified that Mr. Golding asked him to speak with Bishop Blair and Rev. Al Miller concerning the possibility of Coke’s surrender prior to 24 May.

12.9. CoP Ellington said that Rev. Miller visited him sometime prior to 24 May and told him that he (Rev. Miller) had been in contact with Coke but Coke was reluctant to surrender to the custody of the police owing to concerns about his personal safety. CoP Ellington sent a message of plea and assurance via Rev. Miller to Coke as follows:

“I said, please tell Christopher Coke that I am appealing to him to surrender peacefully and I will ensure his safety whilst he is in custody of the State because that is my responsibility.”

12.10. According to CoP Ellington, a few days later, Rev. Miller made the following report to the Commissioner:

“I saw the man and the man said to me if it was PNP in office, them woulda know how fi deal with this. Tell Bruce Golding fi find a way to deal with it. I am not going anywhere and, if they want me, they have to come fi me and they have to come good.”

Communications after 24 May

12.11. According to CoP Ellington, about 27 May, Rev. Miller attended on him and told him that he was instrumental in getting Coke’s brother and sister to surrender to the police pursuant to an appeal by the JCF for them to surrender. Rev. Miller apparently continued efforts to find Coke and have him surrender.

CoP Ellington told us – “I thanked him for his continued effort and support, wished him good luck and that was it.” Mr. Golding

12.12. Under cross-examination by Ms. Martin, Mr. Golding said that, after the hostilities subsided, he had a brief conversation with Rev. Miller who thought that he might be able to influence Coke to surrender. Mr. Golding’s recall of the meeting is this –

“He spoke with me and indicated that he had already commenced an initiative because he indicated that he was in contact with persons in the Police High Command and he was also in contact with officials in the U.S. Embassy. I welcomed that initiative because anything that could be done to secure Coke being taken into custody, the warrant having been issued there was too much turmoil created.

And there was still anxiety about the fact that he was still at large. I welcomed any initiative and I was quietly, guardedly optimistic that, based on the fact that he had been able to take in Coke’s sister and brother to the police, he might have been able to do similarly with Coke himself.”

How can Miller be now grandstanding on this issue when he is conflicted on many fronts and such accusations of aiding a fugitive? Such a serious accusation by the way should not have even been on the breath of anyone, let alone a court case complete with supposed evidence. I guess he could not feel to be left out of the avalanche of support mostly from antigay voices and his public image has been tarnished ever since his arrest(s); the missing gun matter seems to have fizzled which also had many questioning how can a pastor have a gun in the first place and then how it got missing as well? He has stoked the fires of homo-negativity for years and especially so via his on again off again televangelist Word Power show on Saturday mornings.

Then we hear more nonsense since this flag controversy where another Reverend in the form of former Minister of Education turned opposition spokesperson on same Ronnie Thwaites claiming on CVM TV that the flying of a rainbow flag at the US Embassy is effectively grooming children into “a particular lifestyle that is different from the judaeo Christian norm which is in fact the foundation of our constitutional order and I believe of our personal and national health...... ”

In other words polite speak for HIV is a gay disease resulting from anal sex. I am not stupid as the goodly Reverend thinks some of us are and continue to pray on the public’s ignorance. So the hardened positions continue, will there ever be movement towards true tolerance anytime soon with the kind of continued paranoia and fear of openness of LGBT people and that a flag is so frightening in this round of it. See more on that here: Ronnie Thwaites’ rubbish on flying rainbow flags grooms children into “particular lifestyle”

Then ascribing motive of whether such flags are flown in US Embassy in Saudi Arabia and or ‘double standards as opposed to Jamaica and that the US would not do it; while ignoring the fact that it is a different jurisdiction and that the death penalty under Sharia law and that homosexuality is NOT illegal in Jamaica but buggery despite the gender of the receptive partner(s) involved. Double standards are needed in such delicate diplomatic relations especially with states like the Saudis.

Peace & tolerance

H

Also see my previous entry on sister blog GLBTQJA Wordpress: REVEREND AL MILLER’S OWN MORAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST & ANTI GAY CAMPAIGN and also see his shameful or shameless defiant retort that he would have helped Dudus again to escape the law: I'd Carry 'Dudus' Again - Miller and Rev Al Miller - the gay lobby is not asking for buggery decriminalization because of discrimination but to force homosexuality on the nation .......







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