Church needs salvation - from itself

THE EDITOR, Sir:

The circus came to town Sunday evening. Led by the Jamaica Churches Action Uniting Society for Emancipation (CAUSE) - quite a ridiculous name just to get a sexy acronym - thousands turned out for an anti-gay rally, which the event really was, despite how the organisers try to spin it. The lead story in the Sunday Gleaner of June 29, 2014 ('No gay rule') showed just how delusional some church leaders are - some, because not all churches have decided to join the circus.

The suggestion that the Church will lead a campaign against any Government which oversees the repeal of the buggery law is laughable at best. Last week, United States (US) Vice-President Joe Biden said, "[Gay rights] are the civil rights issue of our day" and any "civilised country" should consider it a core duty to protect the LGBT community from persecution. "I don't care what your culture is. An inhumanity is an inhumanity is an inhumanity."

Added to that, President Barack Obama has ordered US diplomacy and foreign assistance to promote the rights of LGBT men and women around the world. Does the Church really know what clout is?

On what basis does the Church speak, really? It doesn't pay taxes, so it couldn't be that. Nor could it be that it is a symbol of morality, because those days are long gone. It's not as a saviour of souls, because it is more into condemning persons nowadays.

Churches seem to have lost their way long ago and now operate like businesses more than anything else. I have been told stories of people who have fallen on hard times and upon turning to their churches for help were rejected and told to take out loans or find something in their house that they can sell to come up with their tithes. So who is the Church, really?

The holier-than-thou sect loves to label Jamaica as a 'Christian' country whenever gay-rights issues arise. Jamaica is not 'Christian' any other time - not when nearly 20,000 people have been murdered since 2000 and we are not at war; not when corruption in the highest places help to place more burden on the backs of the poor; not when thousands of people, including children, vanish into thin air every year; not when robberies, rape, and other vicious attacks continue to make the lives of several Jamaicans hell. No. Jamaica is only 'Christian' when it comes to calling down brimstone and fire on gays.

Jamaica is not a theocracy, and the Church is free to hold on to its set of beliefs, but it has no right to force its beliefs on anyone else in the society. It is quite a backward proposition and is not much different from the sentencing of the Sudanese woman because she got married to a Christian, being from a 'Muslim country'.

Why should people who hate pork have the right to ban pork lovers from biting into a juicy piece of ham? Why should Sunday worshippers have the right to outlaw worshipping on Saturdays? Why should heterosexuals have a say in what gays can or cannot do in their bedrooms?

How does the retention of the buggery law impact the lives of those who seek its retention? How will its repeal affect their lives? Why don't people simply mind their own business? If you are opposed to gambling, don't place bets! If you are opposed to anal sex, don't have it. It's as simple as that.

When the dust settles, one thing is clear: Neither the Government nor the Church can stop adults from doing what they want to do with their own bodies, with or without a buggery law. The law only serves to fuel hatred for and discrimination against gays.

The Church seems to be forgetting one other fact: Not everyone subscribes to its teachings, and gays have a right to go to hell in peace! Yes, Peter Espeut. There's another fake 'right' for you. Right now, buggery is the least of Jamaica's sins.

WIDE OPEN EYES

St Andrew