Sodom & Gomorrah, Lot, Daughters & Abuse

In the continuing series of Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April on this and sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica I have taken a more biblical approach this year to looking at some of the current issues. Some of the biblical texts being examined are often not preached or are avoided by the pulpit. The rapid succession of rather disturbing allegations and indeed convictions of pastors for sexual assault and rape of congregants and even children as a recent case showed is disturbing to say the least. In one case which was dealt with rather quickly given our court system, the little brother of the female victim witnessed the ordeal as the pastor lured them in his car and used snacks to try to divert his attention after taking the children supposedly without the mother’s permission to his home under the guise of caregiver for the time he had them; the pastor then tried to convince the little boy not to spill the beans but he did tell his mother. That little one is to praised for exposing the freakish pastor; I can only imagine the little one rehashing the awful sequence of events. The mother took the needed action by reporting it and the bastard of a Pentecostal pastor was arrested, tried and found guilty where he got a twenty years sentence, however the mother who obviously thought she did the right thing has been threatened, vilified and told to leave the church much to her dismay and by extension forced to leave her home by other congregants as she is said to have disrupted the church as some seem not to believe the allegations. The awful remarks outside the courtroom were enough. Isolated by people of the church when the very church is supposed to be a place of welcome and to throw out their own after she did the right thing is telling of the mindset.

Just a basic media scan since the rapid succession of accusations of pastoral abuse to include the popular televangelists and stations such as The Breath of Change, TBC hardly any discourse has come on the subject save and except for generalised commentary and the usual antigay narrative from the latter radio station. It just goes to show what we are up against with some of the churches who are more in using their power to condemn instead of embracing others and becoming so drunk with said power that we have the current issues. Of note twice convicted and antigay Reverend Al Miller who has been making a comeback slowly on television hardly has said a word but of course he was also been selective on sins and especially on homosexuality.

two of the accused Pastors from the Moravian Church (Gleaner photo)

The two other ongoing major matters involving the two Moravian pastors in court and carry over from older cases seem to be stalling where one of the Moravian matters is to be moved to the circuit court in another parish as there are jurisdiction concerns while the other can’t seem to move from the preliminary hearing stage. Even in those cases a similar obsessive supportive narrative from die hard congregants who can see no wrong in their leader which is another matter I may need to do a post on. What is even more egregious even frightening and somewhat deceptive by some is there is hardly any serious condemnation not to create outcasts but towards healing coming from places one would have expected. Coughed up press releases well after the height of the accusations is so hypocritical it is not funny, the stridency is another matter as if we were talking about homosexuality those church organizations and misguided antigay outfits would have been all over it like white on rice. The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS for example are the chief hypocrites involved, they did put out a weak press release similarly to the Umbrella group of churches but the consistency is not there. Instead a generalised strategy is used to obviously deflect the spotlight on long suspected clerical and pastoral abuse yet it is the same church overall that condemns everything else. This blog has carried previous arrests and convictions of clerical and pastoral abuse yet not a word comes from the cherry picking fanatics and all this happens while more sensible religious leaders say virtually nothing either as they are afraid or try to avoid being shouted out of the room by outfits like JCHS, Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and the never Lovemarch.

Marches and stands condemning national sex crimes and other atrocities are commendable but where is the introspection, where are these groups on crime for example? Church groups trying in the late stage of the game presenting themselves as bastions of piety is so hypocritical. Now let us look at the Lot incest story with Lot and his daughters. The usual frame of reference from Genesis 19: 13 -38 in the liturgy or sermon is that the angels went to the Sodom & Gomorrah to supposedly find the pure in heart after the reported ‘wickedness’ there namely homosexuality for most pastors locally. But the first notion in the story of the somewhat abuse of females was when the soldiers came to Lot’s house he offered his daughters thinking the guards wanted sex; Genesis 19:8 (also see Judges 19-24) is clear:

“Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes; only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they came under the shadow of my roof.”

Women were seen a just incubators for sperm seen as all of nascent life and or for servitude or social commodities in the social pecking order. No abuse occurred however and the soldiers were struck with blindness. The story continues to when the angels usher Lot, his wife and his two daughters with specific instructions to include not to look back. She breaks the rules and is turned into a pillar of salt suggesting the materialistic element of it all as losing all that wealth may have been too much. Lot is left with the girls and they make their way to a cave. There endeth the justification for the destruction of Sodom for ‘homosexuality’ even as the city was seen as ‘wicked’ and in the minds of some theologians doomed for destruction long before the two angels arrived. Bear in mind that these are supposed to be the same angels who came to prophecy to Abraham that his wife Sarah who was barren will become pregnant and Abraham was said to be in negotiations with God as to the fate of the cities. 

here is the Genesis chapter in question in full:

"1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;

25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord:

28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

35 And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

37 And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day."

ENDS

I am convinced that many pastors do not go on to the rest of the story in fear of losing the ‘fire breathing’ element of the sermon which may make the pastor appear too soft on male homosexuality in particular wherein the daughters are accused of making their father drunk pursuant to incest as they believed that there was no other male in the bloodline so they had an obligation but to have sex with Lot so to continue the generations, given the procreation supportive early Judaism.

Evidently Lot was not too drunk to have gained a strong enough erection as an older man and the girl’s father to impregnate them but the girls are blamed for the incest as he did not know what was happening, his inebriation as the text is presented which may be a function of translation from the Hebrew to Greek/Latin to English in context and which also raises the business of the ‘rape’ of a man. There is a section of the text that effectively tries to paint Lot as a participant but a victim in a sense but without knowledge, often times than not the narrative places the shame on the daughters while exonerating Lot, in other words Lot cannot be blamed. Lot has been seen as opportunistic in his orientation, capitalistic in his motives and privatistic with his ethics at the expense of everything else including his offering of his daughters to the soldiers for them to rape her in lieu of been arrested or worse.

The incest ended up having long term implications for the early Jewish people and their arrangements, the narrative says very little in terms of Lot as the shame that eventually attended the subsequent two nations of Moab or Moabites and Ammon and Ammonites came about and that the father had sex with his daughters versus the divine grace of the people of Hadrian or early Jewish people who feel they are more the chosen ones as opposed to the descendants of Lot. The latter saw themselves as the legitimate people of God and that rift went on for a long time to come; it may even have an impact on present day challenges between Israel and the Palestinians.

Some more conservative Jewish review of the text suggest that the elder daughter was commended for committing the incest supposedly as she continued the bloodline, part of this linked to the aforementioned Moabites and Ammonites birthed from the encounter for example Ruth the Moabite marrying an Ammonite linking the lineage to Jesus; then came Moab, Jessie hence to David while bearing in mind an Ammonite was also married to Solomon. David had his own matter by way of Bathsheeba and affair whilst ordering the murder of her husband to get rid of the competition. Also this entire Lot incest affair occurred prior to the Levitical or holiness codes via Leviticus 18 while many patriarchs were married to blood relatives, Abraham was married to his half sister, his son Isaac was married to his first cousin (a practice still accepted in some circles and in many monarchic arrangements such as present Queen Elizabeth II is married to her Dutch cousin Phillip) yet Leviticus came later to discontinue said relationship types by way of the holiness codes. There is a criticism that Lot went to Sodom and effectively became rich there while ditching his own value systems and he sought to offer his daughters to the soldiers at the door but ended up in a kind of ‘serve him right’ payback in terms of sex and lowered participant in the whole affair.

My understanding of the incest laws here is that the man is the main accused in terms of sentences for men who go with a sister, aunt, mother, daughter but cousins seem not to be so covered directly; while as far as women are concerned as perpetrators it is in the context of the women consenting to sex with a close related male relative and not necessarily as she being the aggressor as we have come to understand the issue of rape. There is another element as well where some believe that the soldiers who came to Lot’s door to inquire of him who were the two men (the angels) in a bid to supposedly commit anal rape on them as a form of humiliation. I am still on the fence with that one but research is ongoing. There is a similar issue of incest in the rape of Tamar by her brother Amnon that also is disturbing to say the least and is often times not openly discussed or presented from the pulpit. I dealt with it in my own way on this post on sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica: Amnon rapes Tamar ........

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:
Anti gay religious voices where are they? .... Pastor charged with sexual assault 

On pastoral abuse, celibacy, cover-ups & passing the buck 2017

Levitical imperatives in the age of ‘grace’ instead of ‘law

Clerical abuse ugliness revealed as antigay religious voices barely respond

Northern Caribbean University female Cheerleader Suspended After playing male role

Church Cherry Picking on Issues again, Western Jamaica Bain Protests .........

More Pastoral Inappropriateness & Under-aged Victims... Silence from The Selective

Another St Thomas Pastor Accused of Rape ........... Where are Anti Gay Religious Groups

I Bet Deafening Silence from Religious Anti Gay Voices ...... Preacher served summons for sexual assault

Tension at Riverton SDA Church board as member accused of sexual assault is still active

Is this a joke .... Church group denies gay bias

Silent on murders, vocal about gays

Is the pope serious about confronting child abuse? .... the question of the age

Woe unto you ye Pharisees, Saducees & Scribes & your righteous hypocrisy

Impossible to be gay & Christian?

I don’t want to peep in your bedroom ... oh really now

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

Levitical imperatives in the age of ‘grace’ instead of ‘law’ & the new covenant

Anti gay pastor and restorative therapy advocate in trouble with the law again

More JCHS HIV is a Gay Disease Nonsense & Gay Themed TV Content

What was supposed to be a discussion on gay content on free-to-air on television and the blocking of some of it nearly descended into something else. Guests on the show was Diana McCaulay more known as an Environmentalist, Kay Osbourne former Television Jamaica station manager (the same who featured in the gay ad/PSA fiasco and the JFJ Sex Ed course drama) and the star of the hour Dr Wayne West of the antigay Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS. Thanks to the host of Beyond the Headlines on RJR Dionne Jackson Miller the veering off into the realm of paranoia was averted as she sought to reign in Dr Wayne West from making his HIV is gay disease case. The matter was also dealt with in the Star News publication as to the reaction to gay themes on the Disney Channel; given that Disney is a cable channel and not free-to-air so persons have a choice and can tailor their consumption by deciding which channels they want, unlike the old days of cable when cable operators offered a list of channels without an option to tailor it.

Meanwhile Dr Wayne West in his opening salvo went down the road of lung cancer instead of sticking to the script, as he tried to do a health risk comparison that nearly went off the rails, I was in stitches as he continued claiming that smoking caused cancer but people still smoke and so on and that they are 23 times likely to get it. Then came this:

“But the fact of the matter is if you are male who has intimate relationships with other males, your risk of HIV and syphilis for example in New York as studies have shown can be as high as 140 to 1 ............”

Thankfully Dionne Jackson Miller intervened most appropriately redeeming the going off the deep end journey when she asked:

“Tell me the point you’re making on this one though Dr Wayne West.” (She repeated)

But Dr Wayne West was not deterred by her efforts for a moment as he continued his clear strategy; leaving many of us by virtue of the comments that flowed on Twitter and asking what the hell does that has to do with the topic of discussion? Alternative facts I suppose.

“I think it is irresponsible to argue that there is a right to behaviour that has some high risk with disease,” he continued and tried to out shout the host but Mrs Miller as experienced as is yet again was forced to pull on the reigns.

“Hold on, I do beg your pardon ....... in relation to the specific issues though how do you balance the [West tries to interrupt] the specific issue we are talking about, about content?”

West replies:

“............Because we are showing cartoons to children and suggesting that same sex behaviour is a variant of normal like heterosexual behaviour when the health risk of same sex behaviour are so staggering.”

I don’t know how the angels in heaven did hear me laughing; Dr West continued the nonsense as Mrs Miller asked:

“When you say ‘we are showing’ though meaning what?”

He said such as Disney and he then went on to suggest someone should take a lawsuit against them although this is supposed to be a cable channel that persons can choose not to engage and also conveniently overlooking the right of freedom of choice and speech, virtues held dear by Americans. The shock of the comment was palpable as the short silence or dead airtime suggested.

The Mrs Miller intervened nicely:

“This is a cable channel, you have to choose to accept it [West says in America] no, no in Jamaica as well. It’s cable you have to choose to have it in your house.”

Even though the point was driven home so forcefully the man still insists, you could hear the pity in Mrs Miller’s cadence of speech almost to suggest why did I invite this idiot to my show?

West continued:

“I gather that our local stations FLOW did not show some series which had some same sex thing in it and I think that is a wise decision. I wish someone in the United States will take a class action suit against Disney for ...........” [Audio got muffled but the giggling was audible]

Poor Mrs Miller tried her best as before as she intervened to redeem the obviously appearing descent into madness:

“Dr West, Dr West, Dr West its cable channel, you don’t have to have it in your house; you choose to have it .............. What I’m trying to get from you Dr West in a society like ours then especially with different channels, how do you balance it because I hear your concerns about the type of content full stop, right, but given the fact that we do live in a pluralistic society and we live in a society with different kinds of channels so for example I have friends who say they don’t have cable at all in their house, it’s just free-to-air, so what do you think we need to start with?”

Bizarrely this is the same man who suggested a class action lawsuit to supposedly stop Disney just moments before he then says:

“I don’t like censoring I think it’s dangerous for a democratic society ....”

Mrs Miller’s reaction represented the rest of us I imagine as I did die with laughter and some pity when she asked:

“You don’t like censoring!”

West responded:

“I don’t like to censor .... I think it’s a dangerous path to take, I think you can show various shows one o’clock or two o’clock in the morning accordingly to protect children but I really disagree with censoring information, I think it is a dangerous path follow.

What I would argue is that we must discuss these things in a sensible manner [Mrs Miller asked meaning what?] there are no rights to disease producing behaviour, that is ridiculous.”

Mrs Miller’s audible exhale was enough even as Kay Osbourne and Diana McCaulay tried to get a word in and as my laughter and no doubt others in earshot of this must have been loud at this point. Mrs Miller tried to bring some sense back into the exchange. She sought to reiterate the parameters of the discussion.

“Let me just say one thing I don’t want to spend time on this issue of men having sex with men and AIDS because Dr West I am sure you know it and it has been said to you many times it is a very nuanced discussion, it relates to access to care and discrimination and many other issues that I don’t have time to discuss in this context.”

Diana McCaulay opened with:

“I too don’t want to discuss the HIV question, that’s not what I was asked to talk about.”

She continued that it was hilarious to hear Dr West say he does not support censorship when he wants to decide what is suitable for audiences, even in a situation where persons will drive to a movie and pay to see a film. Meanwhile Miss Kay Osbourne’s remarks were not convincing to me at all, she seemed to dancing between the raindrops given her history and previous comments on homosexuality and the aforementioned hint to the gay ad/PSA court case and her decision not to air the clip which eventually led to a lawsuit. She attempted to try to strike a balance on tolerance but struggled somewhat on how it should be. She then went on to link heterosexual sex with also a disease components, that of cervical cancer and HPV. She tried to make the point that not only gay men who supposed are ‘harmed’ by disease through sexual activity.

Mrs Miller yet again had to intervene:

“Before the discussion goes entirely off the rail [laughter as Miss Osbourne tries to balance her point as she puts it] and I am now shutting the door on STDs and AIDS [laughter] let me try and get ....... we do have plenty of those discussion but in the context of what we are talking about here let me go back to Diana McCaulay”

She said she was offended by the materialism as a new religion, reality television but said her offendedness does not go to the realm of pure censorship. The point was made by Mrs Miller on the Broadcasting Commission’s guidelines as to content for free-to-air television and of course radio. Miss Osbourne said that managers of content have an enormous task to act as gatekeepers to filter some of the materials; frankly it was a laborious listening experience as she sounded as if she was searching for the words.

Then Dr Wayne West jumped off into the nihilistic arguments as usual, claiming Americans have come to accept an anything goes or no absolute morality. He claimed that if we are prepared to accept nihilism then we must be prepared to accept anything in the public square. He said that the filter therefore is up to the individual in their private space to determine what comes in a bid “protect our children from this ethos of nihilism.”

He continued that if the public square is nihilistic then the law is or will become nihilistic (the usual moral panic strategy) and it will be imposed upon children through the education curricula (referencing the HFLE fiasco and Sex Ed course uproar in 2013/4/5).

Mrs Miller brought back the Broadcasting Commission’s regulations on the table and reminded everyone that free-to-air already has strong filters. West linked the Judaeo-Christian framework to the reasons why those regulations are there and sought to suggest that the whittling away of that by itself will lead to moral decay. He claims that the framework has been rejected by the USA & Canada (homosexuality is foreign import ploy) which what causes the nihilism but Mrs Macaulay nailed it when she said that if we are to follow that framework women would be stoned for adultery and she continued that framing that there is no right or wrong in North American countries that are tolerant of diversity is simply not true. West went into the whole bit on the theocracy of Israel while leaving out the Levitical imperative and the holiness codes for a short period of time; finally he seems to have come to some enlightenment however small. He continued that a Christian world view informed those preparations of regulations.

When asked about where we are today and sections of the public objecting to gay content West said that he still does not agree with censorship in terms of speech and that it would be difficult to restrict content in other areas and then he went back on the education curricula and that perception of sneaky methods to bring in homosexuality through the back door. He claimed yet again that if society is nihilistic then homosexuality will work its way in (more moral panic drama). The usual conflation of freedom to be homosexual is directly correlated to nihilism is just plain worn out. It came up in the recent sexual offences bill debate submissions and hinted to in the affidavit in the pending constitutional challenge of the buggery law.

Television Jamaica of which RJR – Radio Jamaica Radio is a part of the recent communications group 1834 Limited already blocks and censor certain content, including some gay themes. The American series Empire continue to have its gay scenes especially those of an intimate nature blocked, despite it appears at 10pm. The daytime South African soap opera import Generations (I am a big fan) also has a gay couple but the screenplay deliberately avoid kissing scenes even after a near successful vigorous campaign to block such and demands of writing out of the story line gay themes. The show then went the route of opposite sex cheating by one of the parties in a bid to bisexualize the character but it seems not to have worked well. The gay couple still remains.

I find it ridiculous frankly that some persons are so still so fearful of just gay themes on a screen as if to suggest there is some invisible gamma ray that is going to ‘homosexualise’ all those who come into view of those themes on screen. A good question to ask of Dr West is if both parties (MSM) are HIV negative and they have anal sex without a condom or a condom but it broke what will they pass? It would be good to get the answer to that one.

Finally

Diana McCaulay ended the interview by redeeming the situation, she suggested that the fearmongering has to stop and while the speech may not be violent it can push physical violence.

More anon

Peace & tolerance

H

Annie Paul | How To Thwart The Gay Agenda

So blogger Annie Paul did this one, also see my previous entry on sister blog HERE, meanwhile Miss Paul did a relatively good job, frankly the folks at JCHS are just paranoid.

You are the head of a self-appointed coalition to foster a 'healthy society' in Jamaica. You are also a medical doctor. Or you are the head of an assembly of churches, a reverend. No, not one of those going around molesting young girls. No, no, not one of those. You are both dedicated to the policing of gender boundaries in Jamaica. Men are men and women are women, and there shall be nothing betwixt or between.

You are duty-bound to police the borders of Jamaica against interlopers and unwanted immigrants. Why, even Donald Trump is taking a leaf out of your book! Those who ignore or show lack of respect for gender boundaries are not welcome in Jamaica. It is your solemn duty to make this clear to every citizen. You have to be particularly vigilant against the gay agenda, a global conspiracy involving institutions at the highest levels - the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union whose goal is to destroy the world (and, inter alia, the Jamaican family) by legalising gay marriage.

If, God forbid, gay marriage is legalised in Jamaica, it will be the beginning of the end. For all and sundry will take up with their own gender, setting up same-sex households all over the country, and soon procreation will grind to a halt. There are no examples, as yet, of this happening in countries where gay marriage has been legalised, but so what? Reality is not a shackle. Keep stressing the following point. How can we have a healthy society without children?

As for feminists. They, too, must be kept from invading Jamaica, where we like to do things in old, time-honoured ways. It is a pity that slavery was officially abolished two centuries ago. What is wrong with slavery? Nothing at all. Slaves are essential to healthy families. Women are meant to cook, clean, raise children, and provide sex for heads of households at no pay. Also, the sex part is non-negotiable, women must deliver when the subject is broached. Shop must remain open 24/7. Think open access is a new sumpn?

It's just that slavery must be gender-based. This is why it's so important to distinguish between the sexes. There can be no ambiguity about this. Men and women who break these rules must be enslaved by our cultural rules. Either they conform to these or they leave. It is for the benefit of the nation. Our good name is at stake.

Defining Rape

Also, it is to be noted that rape is a crime that can only be inflicted on women, for Jamaican law defines sexual intercourse under the Sexual Offences Act as "penetration of the vagina of one person by the penis of another person". Rape occurs when there is sexual intercourse without the consent of the woman. That is, for rape to happen, there has to be penetration of a vagina. By a penis. If a man buggers a boy or man, that is not rape. If a man thrusts his penis into your daughter's mouth without her consent, that is not rape either. Nor is penetration of one's orifices, vaginal or not, by the forced intrusion of an object, considered rape.

This actually means that homosexual men who bugger other men or boys get away with a lesser charge of grievous sexual assault, with much milder punishment compared to rape, but so what? "Anal penetration is wrong in 2017 and anal penetration will still be wrong in the year 3000."

We can't let ourselves be fooled by such tactics. Sometimes the truth is inconvenient, but let that not stand in your way. Redefinition of rape is a Trojan horse to bring in gay marriage. The gay agenda must be stopped at all costs. It's the al-Qaida of the God-fearing world, the ISIS of virtuous, law-abiding countries such as Jamaica.

What about all those women who keep turning up murdered, you ask? Like the one in the barrel in St Thomas? Ignore them, man. More than likely, they were asking for it. It's just the work of feminists. That is why we have to oust them, too. There is too much sensationalising of crimes against women, the media gives them too much space. "Men die every day. Boys are molested and sexually assaulted in every community. But what? No one cries out, protests, chastises Government or prays about it. Male lives matter, too."

Hat tip to the brilliant Nigerian satirist, Elnathan John.

- Annie Paul is a writer and critic based at the University of the West Indies and author of the blog, Active Voice (anniepaul.net). Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com or tweet @anniepaul.

Clerical abuse ugliness revealed as antigay religious voices barely respond

As the nation is almost in a tailspin given the rapid succession of cases of allegations of inappropriate sexual assault if not rape by pastors and church leaders one takes note of the fact that there is a slowness and certain less impactful response to the unfolding by certain antigay groups and voices. Strangely the accusations have now gone beyond the usual suspects in terms of denominations notably the Catholic Church, whose longstanding cover up of such matters is well known, in rapid succession the Moravians, the Seventh Day Adventists, Church of God as shown on CVM TV news last evening and also the Pentecostals as well which clearly to me suggests this was going on all along and that someone knew of all this but kept it quiet. Why would all this be happening with some accused having multiple accusations over their heads and someone not know outside of the victims given the grapevine culture in if nuh go so it go near so (if it does not go as is it is near the accusation) yet when it comes to homosexuality these churches are quick on the draw to the point of very slow responses to issues of tolerance and mass meetings to oppose the mere mention of buggery law adjustments, yet no such mass meetings for this far more egregious matter.

two of the accused Pastors from the Moravian Church (Gleaner photo)

This blog has been watching some of this ugly business of clerical abuse for some years now and I have gone to pains to point out the selectivity and or hypocritical morality, the antigay groups in particular make the rest of the church body look really stupid on many fronts as they shout over sensible Christians but if those sensible Christians do not speak up and out clearly to distant themselves and take the punches then those misguided groups will always dominate, then there is the business of a ignorant willing population who do not at least question or make their heads function to think for themselves as they gobble up the vomit they are fed and simply regurgitate the digested nonsense. Some years ago for example the leader locally of the Catholic church claimed there were no reports of any such abuse of boys as seen elsewhere to so many hundreds of years now there are rumours out there now coming through which if true can only serve to reinforce an old misconception that tends to feed a entrenched homo-paedophile construct whilst reducing the credibility of church (via denomination) and the LGBT lobbyists as well wherein the latter already has a weak hand in that department.

The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS), Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and Lovemarch (all linked) who were responsible for the mass meetings opposing buggery law reform, implying the aforementioned homo-paedophile constructs, misuse of studies to push their agendas and so on are the main voices yet they have barely come forward to call out those who are in the faith and positions of power who abuse psychologically weak and the young. Apart from Betty Ann Blaine’s Sunday Gleaner piece in the Gleaner’s In Focus section, other half hearted letters in the printed press, a typical statement sounding the rights tones from the JCHS and some other radio interviews when the news first broke not much has followed, one would have expected a stronger call seeing they claim they are Christians to such persons to give themselves up or offer prayer and or reconciliation. One bets that if the case had a male as a victim though that it would have been used to great effect to prop up the case for any sensible discourse on LGBT rights.

Apart from Reverend Clinton Chisholm who is also aligned to the JCHS in spirit at least and who has dedicated much radio time co-hosting a show to call out pastors who abuse while looking at the psychology of same from a clerical perspective or Reverend Marvia Laws who hosts the Morning Watch Show hardly anyone of the other pastors including the convicted Reverend Al Miller linked to the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and the JCHS have come out with the same stridency as when it comes to matters on homosexuality. But if they cannot or refuse to speak on corruption in any meaningful way, integrity, true tolerance then why should we expect any more as such virtuous ideals should be some of the pillars to carry out God’s mission to win souls.

The previously mentioned CVM TV news clip on the latest case was a little balanced to digest as a leader of the church spoke on camera and advised the accused to turn himself to the police while declaring his denomination does not support sexual assault of any kind. But the JCHS via its frontman Dr Wayne West is busy supporting Donald Trump’s presidency linked to some antigay suggestions and supposedly addressing the now legal gay marriage while ignoring the fact Supreme Court rulings are not overturned so much. Other ultra conservative radio stations such as the TBC have been avoiding any prolonged discussion on the issue and have also barely called out such church leaders and pastors who commit sexual offences.

The Seventh Day Adventists have since put out a statement claiming they are distancing themselves from the accusation thrown at one of their own which is the typical knee-jerk reactions similarly to the Jamaica Council of Churches, JCC (also known as PNP at Prayer) who seem more concerned about Jamaica’s position on Israel given last night’s statement and the Umbrella Group of Churches also churn out releases from the press release conveyor belt. Bearing in mind the SDA has been also strident in opposing any LGBT push by way of a still standing position statement that they refer to from time to time. 

Homosexuality

Oct 17, 2012 |

The Seventh -day Adventist Church recognizes that every human being is valuable in the sight of God, and we seek to minister to all men and women in the spirit of Jesus. We also believe that by God's grace and through the encouragement of the community of faith, an individual may live in harmony with the principles of God's Word.

Seventh- day Adventists believe that sexual intimacy belongs only within the marital relationship of a man and a woman. 

This was the design established by God at creation. The Scriptures declare: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Gen 2:24, NIV). Throughout Scripture this heterosexual pattern is affirmed. The Bible makes no accommodation for homosexual activity or relationships.  Sexual acts outside the circle of a heterosexual marriage are forbidden (Lev 18:5-23, 26; Lev 20:7 21; Rom 1:24 27; 1 Cor 6:9 11). Jesus Christ reaffirmed the divine creation intent: 

"'Haven't you read,' he replied, 'that at the beginning the Creator "made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?" So they are no longer two, but one'" (Matt 19:4 6, NIV). For these reasons Seventh-day Adventists are opposed to homosexual practices and relationships.

Jesus affirmed the dignity of all human beings and reached out compassionately to persons and families suffering the consequences of sin. He offered caring ministry and words of solace to struggling people, while differentiating His love for sinners from His clear teaching about sinful practices. As His disciples, Seventh-day Adventists endeavor to follow the Lord's instruction and example, living a life of Christ-like compassion and faithfulness.

This statement was voted during the Annual Council of the General Conference Executive Committee on Sunday, October 3, 1999 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Revised by the General Conference Executive Committee, October 17, 2012.

Yet rumours have always abound from ever since I know myself to understand things that many especially in the upper echelons of leadership do fool around with not only young victims but adult women an indeed in homosexual liaisons and again the (if it nuh go suh it go near so) closeness to truth but unproven rumours obtain. One can recall the cheerleading fiasco some time ago at the Northern Caribbean University involving a young lady who in routine played the part of a man as the original actor could not make it and the other males were too heavy to place in the choreographer but it ended up with a backlash from the associated leaders tried to pressure the young lady in question to leave the institution and punished her for speaking out, she eventually left the place to pursue her education elsewhere while the NCU was condemned for fearmongering and selectivity.

It is understandable that victims who have been suffering in silence for years seeing the major Moravian pastor’s case that sparked this new wave of incoming many are coming out to make reports which is good but persons cannot be forced to come out as some misguided activists seem to want to suggest that they should merely call their names, the naming of folks such as that is one thing then there is defamation to think about as an ongoing matter in the sea of them shows us; when the appropriate channels were not employed before launching the online campaigns such as #saytheirnames.

Sad that what common sense should obtain has in its place misguided rhetoric and theocratic mumbo jumbo when children are being abused, church sisters taken advantage of while consenting LGBT adults cannot live in peace because of some fanatics.

The Gleaner had some of this as well, Trust Betrayed - Policemen, Pastors Main 'High-Profile' Sex Predators, CISOCA Head Tells Committee - a point in fairness Betty Ann Blaine has been saying this for years and indeed others including LGBT voices, The head of the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), Enid Ross-Stewart, told a committee of the nation's Parliament yesterday that pastors and policemen - two groups in which the nation places great trust - are among the main 'high-profile' perpetrators of sex offences against children.

This revelation, according to a senior Christian pastor, is another example of the breakdown of values in Jamaica.

The disclosure comes as public spotlight remains on the church community following the recent arrests and charge of three pastors from the Moravian Church in Jamaica for alleged sex offences.

"We have constantly arrested high-profile members of the society, and, in particular, the Church. The Church and policemen are really our two highest, high-profile persons. The Church and police. Yes, my colleagues," Ross-Stewart, a superintendent of police, yesterday told a resurrected joint-select committee of Parliament that is reviewing Jamaica's sex laws.

For Gender Affairs Minister Olivia Grange, "it's distressing but not surprising".

Ross-Stewart did not give much data on the number of cops and gospel preachers implicated in the sex offences, and the Reverend Garnet Roper, president of the Jamaica Theological Seminary, says that the data are necessary.

But he said that the abuse of children requires attention. "Sexual abuse of minors is a deeply entrenched social and psychological problem. It reflects a deterioration in the family structure; it reflects a deterioration in the psychology of men." But, he said that the police should not "cherry-pick" cases to pursue.

The CISOCA head said that last year, her office received 1,094 reports of alleged sexual intercourse involving underage persons. Of that number, 664 reports came from Kingston. Most of the perpetrators were adult men.

However, she lamented that the conviction rate was among the lowest compared with other categories of sex offences. "We have a very high rate of arrest and conviction for rape. But the under-16 sex - the young girls, really - they are into the sex, for whatever reason, and so they mislead the police. The rape, they tell you everything about it because they feel they were properly abused, but the under-16 sex, they really do not."

She also said that there was a lack of supporting mechanisms and coordination among government agencies to respond to the situation. Under-reporting and family members being complicit in the abuses were also noted as hindrances.

Yesterday, the United Nations Country Team presented 11 recommendations for how to improve the four laws under review. On the age of consent, the UN team, led by Mark Connolly, said that it did not see the need to modify the age of consent, which is at 16 years.

"Raising the age of consent may not necessarily have a preventive or deterring effect on perpetrators and victims as the current situation proves, among other reasons, because the enforcement presents numerous difficulties."

The UN has also sided with the Office of the Children's Advocate for the decriminalisation of "sexual experimentation" among underage children, especially those who are close in age.

Prayer indeed

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

Anti gay religious voices where are they? .... Pastor charged with sexual assault 

Northern Caribbean University female Cheerleader Suspended After playing male role

Church Cherry Picking on Issues again, Western Jamaica Bain Protests .........

More Pastoral Inappropriateness & Under-aged Victims... Silence from The Selective 

Another St Thomas Pastor Accused of Rape ........... Where are Anti Gay Religious Groups

I Bet Deafening Silence from Religious Anti Gay Voices ...... Preacher served summons for sexual assault 

Tension at Riverton SDA Church board as member accused of sexual assault is still active

Is this a joke .... Church group denies gay bias

Silent on murders, vocal about gays 

Is the pope serious about confronting child abuse? .... the question of the age

Woe unto you ye Pharisees, Saducees & Scribes & your righteous hypocrisy

Impossible to be gay & Christian? 

I don’t want to peep in your bedroom ... oh really now 

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

Levitical imperatives in the age of ‘grace’ instead of ‘law’ & the new covenant

Anti gay pastor and restorative therapy advocate in trouble with the law again

Justified underage sexual abuse in lieu of homosexual sex!

Lasmay's take on the matter

Yet again we see these seeping sentiments not surprisingly out there of men who go to females of whatever age seen as acceptable more so than homosexual sex. The ongoing furore involving the Moravian pastor allegedly caught in a compromising position with a fifteen year old girl in a car in bushes in St Ann has shown up this misplaced principle problem. Many comments on social media and even on radio with not only men but women also pushing this line that the pastor is justified to a certain extent as it was not a boy but a girl who he was with. Some have gone as far as to compare the clerical abuse in the catholic faith of mostly boys and the appearing cover up of it so another denomination’s representative who does it but with a girl is not so bad. This moral equivalence problem is as old as time itself and recorded history when it comes to religiosity, selectivity of atrocities, nitpicking if you will and the more strident and targeted attention on homosexuality.

One of the reports said:

Hampton Principal Seeks To Explain Presence At Pastor's Sexual Offence Hearing

Pastor Rupert Clarke is led from the St Elizabeth Parish Court Wednesday after appearing on a charge of having sex with a minor. Pictured in foreground is Hampton School principal Heather Murray.

The principal of the Hampton School, Heather Murray, has issued a statement defending her presence at the bail hearing of a Moravian minister of religion who is charged with having sex with a minor.

While outside the St Elizabeth Parish Court, Murray reportedly tried to block The Gleaner's photographer from taking a photograph of the Moravian minister, Rupert Clarke.

Since then, Murray has faced huge public backlash, particularly from persons on social media who claim that Murray's presence at the hearing was appalling, especially in light of her position as principal of an all-girls institution. In the statement last night, Murray sought "to set the record straight", stating that she went to the hearing in support of the minister's wife, who, she says, is a high-school friend of hers.

"We are both long-time educators who have been serving together for many years on several boards, committees, and commissions. We are both justices of the peace. Such is the closeness of our relationship that when the news broke, I was, naturally, the first person to whom she turned for solace and support. I have not left her side since because I know that my friend needs me. She reached out to me as a wife, mother, and friend," Murray explained in the release.

She further explained, "My presence at the court was to be there for my friend who needed my moral support. As a wife, mother of two daughters, and principal with responsibility for 1,220 young ladies, I have sought always to protect and defend them and the young children of Jamaica. That has not and will never change."

The police report that at about 9 o'clock on the night of December 28, a team was on patrol in a community near Santa Cruz when they observed a parked car that aroused their suspicion.

They went to investigate and reportedly found the pastor in a compromising position with a 15-year-old child.

He was immediately taken into custody and was charged. Clarke has been granted bail in the sum of $800,000. He must have one or two sureties and is to return to court on February 13.

meanwhile

Betty Ann Blaine head of the children’s’ groups came out swinging on Nationwide radio some days after the incident came to hand. She and other antigay activists have been accused of silence and selectivity on other atrocities and loud on the preservation of the buggery law. Blaine warned that predators if it proven to be so are everywhere and one cannot trust anyone these days as they can also be pastors, a point I agree with in a rare moment; however the previous cases as carried on this blog for example and on tabloid publications have seen no response as this one, I guess because this one is so prominent and has taken on a life of its own. The recent telephone directory cover fiasco and sexualised images lead in part by partner in crime Dr Wayne West of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS showed up just that and how even non LGBT persons criticised their hypocrisy. They have been shopping around to find other issues to speak on hence and now this one is the latest to try to adjust their image. They have shifted their HIV is a gay disease ploy to going after young persons and premarital sex especially in the throes of World AIDS Day 2016.

What is even appearing to be more disturbing is the public support the accused has been getting by some unexpected persons. Yes he is innocent until proven guilty and the case is in the preliminary hearing stage but when school principal of a prominent girls institution and other women allegedly from the Moravian church blocking the press from taking photos of the accused as he exited the court house is disturbing, what is she in particular and others doing there is the first question in her capacity as a public figure. I can understand support if it is prayer or visiting the trial to see proceedings but to be so militant and open about it to block the press’s access to the accused is disturbing and suggests something else. A subsequent poorly produced statement came to hand via the chairman of the particular school she is principal claiming she went to give support to the wife of the accused; yet she was not there at the time for starters and the strident defence of the accused by way of blocking the media access to the accused and claiming the media should take photos of herself and the women there, that was not addressed in the statement.

A previous case involving another pastor and his attempts buy out the female victims at a hotel comes to mind, JCHS, Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship (another older anti gay group) and other Christian fanatics who make the rest of the church body look bad were effectively silent. In fairness to Betty Ann Blaine she did speak out but in her usual style. But if the justification of heterosexual or hetero normative abuse clothed in misogyny being banded about even by so called religious minded folks where’s the condemnation by Blaine and other self righteous folks towards that side of it? In other words as long as it is opposite sex the age of the CHILD does not matter, then suppose the accused buggered the girl I wonder what would these same justifying misogynists say then; he is a gay man using a girl to get to booty!

This is not the first time this has come to light but it appears this incident has shown up the dormant feelings always there. The series of abusive incidents is only evidence of what has been obviously simmering for some time and to have them come in such close succession of each other is disturbing to say the least. Intimate partner violence is not limited to the hetero-relation cases that now obtain and same gender challenges also abound but not in such known numbers as the present visibility in mainstream media. It is simply sick to justify paedophilia in such a blatant form and to even go as far as agreeing to child marriages in the eastern parts and in Europe as the way to go as men must have women. The suggestion that women are property is just plain wrong but if our dancehall culture for example has helped to legitimise and reinforce these misogynistic postures then why are we complaining? For all intents and purposes we are the authors and finishers of our fate I imagine.

Sadly the dons have simply adopted the sentiments and the old ‘buss breast’ phenomenon is ongoing, this is where young girls are watched as they go into pre-pubescent growth and development and as their breasts become apparent these thugs would literally summon them or force parents to send them to use them as sexual abuse and it is seen as justified.

The dancehall artist Zebra for example who is serving time for raping and sodomising a female victim who was his then female companion’s daughter of a previous relationship; and who was found guilty for buggery and rape and got thirty years, I wonder what would the sycophantic and misguided folks justifying hetero-normative adult minor inappropriate relations would think? But memory usually fades and historical perspectives are usually left out as persons reside in ignorance in blind opposition.

The ideal situation would be the woman’s head should have been served on a platter via the board but the board seems impotent to act accordingly, had this been a boys school perhaps with a male victim there would have been loud calls for the heads of the accused and possibly the school board though so they hetero coupling comment seems justified in the minds of some. I wonder if there a legal implications in as far as touching the camera by an intervening party when the media is carrying out its proper duties. The man is already charged so they have a right to access of him and not to be obstructed. As for the business of cheating here albeit with a minor the poor wife in whose behest this misguided principal was supposed to support, she may even have to consider divorce given the aftermath of this and ability to hold her head high especially as someone so mature.

Going to the courthouse is not the issue it’s what she did there.

Let us see where the trial leads and we are waiting for the sensible justification by the female school principal as to her public involvement by appearing to support the accused with such a serious allegation hanging over his head. One would have expected either absence from the situation as a public person (as principal) or also give most public support of the fifteen year old ‘victim’ in this matter. When pastors are seeming to be tolerated in the face of weird accusations is disturbing and the ready use of ‘easy sins’ yet have a leave me and my sins or cover ups is just as dangerous but have strength for others such as homosexuals then the ‘church’ has a lot of work to do.

Let the chips fall where they may.

Peace & tolerance

H

So Rev Chisholm departs from his JCHS colleagues on the Phonebook kerfuffle

As I live and breathe I never thought I would see a departure by partner in crime to the antigay establishment of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, JCHS although he hardly names them in a letter to the Observer on the issue entitled "Yellow Pages teacup storm" also see my take on the issue on sister blog GLBTQ Jamaica "Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society gets worked up over a phonebook!"

The selectivity on issues by this one group supposedly in the name of a healthy society is so hypocritical it's not funny. But first let us see what the goodly Reverend had to say:

Dear Editor,

If you have a problem with the front cover of your copy of the current Jamaican Yellow Pages telephone directory (dancehall scene) why not just flip it over to the back cover (ska/rocksteady scene), or better still just tear off the flipping front cover.

This is a simple solution to a simple problem in my view. The cover is almost literally a flat (two-dimensional) cardboard photo and that disturbs or turns on some of us? Give me a break!

Now, though I am trained in music and philosophy, and have been a Christian for 49 years, I would not venture to do any kind of research at a live dancehall session because I personally could not “plead the blood of Jesus” fervently enough to keep all sections of my anatomy calm. Even then, my possible response to the visual stimuli in that setting would be essentially saying much more about me than about the gyrating female bodies I would be viewing.

Apropos this stimulus/response issue, two illustrations have been brought to my attention in recent months. One, squeeze a peeled orange as hard and as long as you can and you will never ever get lime juice from the effort. This is because of the internal make-up of orange which determines its response to squeezing. If a skimpily clad lady, or one who is not exactly small-breasted or of a small derriere, turns me on sexually that response is essentially because of my internal make-up.

The other illustration relates to grains of sand in an eye as opposed to in an oyster. Sand in an eye irritates and harms, but in an oyster a pearl is likely because the make-up of the eye does not allow for a response other than irritation/harm, whereas the make-up of the oyster leads to a pearl response.

Whether it is the sculpture at Emancipation Park, the current Yellow Pages ‘dancehall cover’, or whatever, let’s not forget or downplay the fact that our response to any given work of art may be more suggestive of the kind of person we are than about the aesthetico-moral calibre of the work of art.

Maybe I just need Jesus, but Church leaders need to revisit their definition (if they have one) and defence of what we regard as pornography.

This ‘controversy’ is really more like fomenting a category 5 storm in a thimble than a storm in a teacup. For the young and innocent, a thimble is a tiny sewing device.

Rev Clinton Chisholm
clintchis@yahoo.com

ENDS

one of the substitute covers

the cover that send some haywire

Wow the response is very direct and indirect as I hinted above but his point on the response to artwork is interesting though and is worth exploring to really see what he says makes sense. Meanwhile it was noticeable that Dr Wayne West the head of the JCHS made an appearance on Love 101FM's Moment of Hope show on Sunday morning last talking about HIV/AIDS and prevalence rates in teens while carefully staying clear of the Phonebook issue. Even his responses to the questions asked were markedly different as the usual combative style was not there.

Has something happened since this phonebook fiasco behind the scenes hence a change of strategy and Chisholm's public difference to the matter? a response most strange to me.

Yet to be seen if ever but duly noted.

Peace & tolerance

H

also see:

JCHS gets worked up over a phonebook and Leighton Levy's take: Nothing wrong with Yellow Pages cover

International Day of Tolerance 2016 ........... more thoughts

Also see part one: HERE

November 16 is observed as International Day of Tolerance as part of the United Nations thrust on tolerance to cover racism, sexism, and homophobia indeed bi and transphobia as well. Locally we have everything from now gun totting and losing men of the cloth with double convictions as pious Reverends declaring that LGBT advocacy pressing for tolerance rebutting that said calls are a farce to force homosexuality on Jamaica or tolerance does not mean acceptance, complete with near hero worship support from blind followers who swallow and hang on every word they get without questioning the integrity of said persons, namely Reverend Al Miller and to an equal extent Dr Wayne West. Stoking such strong intolerance in the name of correctness and indeed God is so hypocritical while promoting prosperity gospel, theocracy, maintenance of old laws of buggery and conflating male homosexuality with paedophilia and yet still being selective on other supposed societal ills to include clerical abuse of boys, psychologically weak church sisters yet no response to aforementioned in any serious way. 

Trump's wife (his third) posing nude for GQ and this is the woman who is bring dignity as first lady to the presidency?

Then to openly support Donald Trump’s racist sounding, misogynistic thrust in a misguided belief that he is antigay as he appeals to conservative values is just shocking; and having the vacant seat on the US Supreme Court with a said conservative judge to supposedly numb the alleged activist court judgement; namely gay marriage judgements. The extremes some fanatics will go to is just disturbing then they pat themselves on the back and mirroring on social media and reside in vain holiness while ignoring God’s basic principles of forgiveness, non-judgementalism and respect essentially. As long as ignorance is preyed upon to reshape so called values then this sort of madness indeed acquiescence by others will continue. Some of these groups and pastors try to present some balance mostly hypocritically by infusing some conflict of interest in their arguments even as they celebrate Trump’s win, they claim his business interests may cloud his presidency in terms of his announced handing over of his Trump businesses to a blind trust and to his children to run, they ignore however that the law in the US says that such release of possible conflicts of interest with public officials must be done by way of said businesses by operated by some independent committee or management devoid of direct intervention by the absentee owner or management. I am not surprised said pious individuals see what they want to see as long as it suits their interests.

Fearmongering & victimhood ploys

While they celebrate the Trump win mostly openly and praising God in thanks for it, a misogynist and such, I concur that God can use certain situations for his will but these modern day Pharisees are more interested in self aggrandizement and imperialism than anything else. The even more bizarre belief that Trump has given his life to Christ and even being likened to Sirus but they conveniently ignored the liberal positions on abortion, same sex marriage and that trump will bring America bring back “righteousness” then if Trump gave his life to God why is it that he was able to win an election with the awful philosophies he has subscribed to? The victimhood card is also being used most deceptively framed as protecting ‘religious freedom’ or freedom of speech and there is some expectations for Trump to right size the situation while removing things like the transgender laws or the upcoming the Supreme Court case on same according to a pastor from the New Redeemer Church in the USA. The said pastor one Ralph Chitum says he believes also that public policy and the church should be one, in other words good old fashion theocracy. 

also see: BREXIT & LGBTQ Asylum concerns part 2: the Trumpage

But like in most circumstances these days truth is so hard to find let alone decipher as one repeats crap long enough it becomes believable; hence the magnitude of the charges are what makes them convincing sadly.

One would have expected a more sensible discourse in an age of LGBTQI visibility thanks to social media, readily available information (facts not dribble) and the ability to fact check same but instead homophobes hang o for dear life; it very difficult to set something aside when one does not see that what they are doing is plain wrong. The longstanding ‘HIV is a gay disease’ narrative and sub text that says gay men who practice anal sex deserve AIDS and no interventions to curb such infections as it is our fault for its spread in the general population continues unabated. These voices do not see the crime out there or at least with the same anti gay stridency they have for LGBT matters and homosexuals, they find all the strength for that in a narrow focus. They claim they want family or the threat to family by LGBT thrusts to be defeated but ignore the overflowing populations in prisons or the mismatch of numbers of churches per square miles in Jamaica often used to justify their values impositions while per square inch increasingly on city streets and towns homeless, abandoned or street children they pass them or offer very limited tokenism gestures framed as social outreach and kindness.

The selectivity hypocrisy continues

The recent unfortunate murder of the Jamaica College student on a bus showed the hypocrisy of these groups and where they choose to turn up. Ironically when students in more lower economically situated students are killed or attacked sometimes even on campus as an invasion incident only a day ago occurred not a sound from these groups, pastors and such but the Jamaica College matter as it was an uptown matter had all asunder crawling out of the woodwork dressed in black in protest, when the Haille Selassie students since this year were attacked and a shooting incident went down, deafening silence. I guess only schools above Half Way Tree are of import since the student phone robbery crime menace has been creeping uptown and are now at the doorsteps on the powerful. Who cares about the nigga kids and their challenges as they have nowhere going it seems but let this had been a Campion or other such ‘traditional’ high schools impacted.

The selectivity gets more bizarre with respects to the dignity that ought to attend to the first lady as tradition for example has shown over successive presidents; to have a President now on his third wife with alleged nude photos of her circulating but that does not seem to stir any disgust or concern; so long a Trump gets rid of gay marriage by any means necessary and preserve abortion laws, all else is unimportant. Then what about the stanza of our anthem: “Teach us true respect for all ........ Strengthen us the weak to cherish, give us vision lest we perish” indeed we are perishing with the well supported divisiveness. Intolerance is not manifest with fanatics but is still an issue in dancehall, and John public’s continued homo-negativity. 

patronizing the LGBT voting block?

some of the stuff out there

There is the egregious intolerance from within the ‘LGBT community’ is deeply disturbing after all these years, the snobbery, indeed institutional bigotry and classism that still carries through. As November is also observed on this and sister blogs GLBTQ Jamaica as Homeless Awareness Month the sheer isolation, scorn by some and condemnation that often comes to the populations although their behaviour can be unbecoming, however when privileged persons can suggest that whatever violence and homophobia alongside police pressure comes then they the homeless MSM/trans deserve it as they give the rest of ‘LGBT community’ a bad name but leave out the rehabilitation component, the very NGOs and allies have simply treated such groups as lepers and only use them when it suits them for statistics for HIV prevention and well written reports. Yes they are needed for evidenced based advocacy but where is the real care and concern? as careers and image management take priority and are propped up as groups and individuals jostle for social media attention with portrayed altered or bettered versions of themselves and agencies, funding flows like water and yet no clear interest to change the situation as it worsens.

It is indeed a sad state of affairs when after some forty plus years of some kind of organized LGBT advocacy from Gay Freedom Movement to present, to include the HIV years in the 1990s and slow periods yet with all the hard and anecdotal evidence of stigma driven displacement and homelessness there is no proper response to same. The fundamental question as to why this is so is yet to be properly and honestly answered. Nationally the class divide is still a challenge as the snobbery, political manipulation of certain inner city communities to gain state power, the skewed rivalry still to death to defend political parties and sheer intolerance of positions and views.

Where is the true tolerance anymore, where has it gone more than just for show for likes and social media mirroring and crowd gathering while powerful and notarized elites continue to thrive in their privileged state? I have to concur with former JLP spokesman (although he is antigay) that Trump is going to become the very thing he has demonized; as the reality hits him, trade deals he wants to change will be problematic and so on he will have to adjust. He cannot have his cake and eat it too.

Hope remains while company is true; there is a lot of work to be done for understanding and towards a better world.

Peace & indeed tolerance

H

Also see:

Mr Trump has a steep learning curve indeed