Pastors Fight Gay Agenda

The recent formation of that committee was in response to a call from gay rights group, Rainbow Alliance, for Cable Bahamas to add a gay lifestyle channel to its lineup.

Pastor Bethel, pastor of Grace Community Church, claimed the Alliance and its spokesperson, Erin Green, do not represent all homosexuals in the country. He added that not only do the majority of homosexuals in the country not share Ms. Green’s view, but the vast majority of them are not calling for special rights or recognition, and are certainly not interested in same-sex marriage.

"For the record, we as church leaders from time to time find ourselves counseling with homosexuals who want to come out of their sin, but who like all other sinners – adulterers, drug addicts, gossips and thieves – find themselves caught in the grip of their sin.

"What should not be lost in the dialogue is that the adulterer is not asking for a dedicated channel for how to be happy in his adultery, nor is the thief desiring programmes on how to be a thief. They both accept that their choices are sinful," Pastor Bethel said.

He called the homosexual lifestyle a "death style", and a deviant way of life where participants are more prone to injury and disease.

Pastor Bethel argued against the notion that gays are not allowed to participate in the country’s development and said the average homosexual does not share the alliance’s agenda of making homosexuality appear normal.

"We are not trying to be Communist China, or post-Christian Europe, nor to follow blindly the secular trends of the U.S. We desire to live within a Judeo-Christian rubric, so that even those who are not Christian will still enjoy the protections and respect of life that the Christian faith has brought about," he said.

"We understand Spanish-speakers living in the Bahamas requesting a Spanish channel because there is nothing of their home and culture to be found here, but this is not so with the homosexual. He lives among us within the same culture and language. We maintain that to give a tiny select group a dedicated channel like this is an endorsement of that lifestyle, which is ultimately the goal of the Rainbow Alliance, public endorsement of their cause."

Ms. Greene recently said that if any channels on Cable Bahamas’ lineup should be protested it should be the multiple channels that display pornography.

The Council said it was not aware of the number of pornography channels that appear on Cable Bahamas, but it finds them reprehensible as well.

Pastor Bethel said what is actually needed in Bahamian society is greater teaching on normal, healthy behaviour, healthy interactions between men and boys, women and girls, and restraint in sexual expression outside of marriage.