Christian Council pens complaint about proposed same-sex marriage
In a letter addressed to Governor John Rankin, the BVI Christian Council has described the Marriage (Same-Sex Couple) Bill for Overseas Territories introduced in the House of Lords by Labour Party Member Lord Michael Cashman as disrespectful and nothing short of ideological colonialism.
The proposed legislation by Cashman is a Private Members’ Bill which means it has no official backing of any political parties within the United Kingdom. According to the Christian Council, Cashman who identifies as an LGBTQ activist is putting self-interest ahead of the due respect owed to the people of the Virgin Islands. The Council said the aim of the bill is to interfere with the sovereign working of the territory’s judicial and legislative branches.
“We find this to be quite troubling especially because there has been no consultation or dialogue with the people of this territory or its stakeholders on a matter of grave social and cultural importance. What is more troubling is that the Bill, as a Private Member’s Bill, is being introduced by an individual who is not resident or domiciled in this Territory, who probably has never and will never set foot here and who is likely unfamiliar with the distinct/unique cultural heritage of the Virgin Islands. This respectfully amounts to nothing short of ideological colonialism,” the letter, signed by Vice-President Rosemarie Flax, said.
Flax noted that the proposed Bill would redefine civil marriage to include same-sex couples throughout the British Caribbean, including the BVI. She noted the laws of the territory are founded on Judeo-Christian values.
“[These] values which are reflected in our marital and family laws. Only a decade ago, marriage redefinition would never have been a consideration. It is, therefore, a clear and dramatic departure from the Christian ethics reflected in our Constitution and in our laws defining marriage as a sacred union between a man and a woman,” the Vice-President said.
The Vice-President defined marriage as the foundation of human existence and family being the building block of society. In this breath, she argues that a blessing and a direct result of this union – because of the biology of men and women – are children.
“Even if no children result from this union, the sacred and sacramental significance of marriage is not lost… Not only is it a natural institution, but it is also the holy and God ordained foundation of the natural family. It is therefore self-evident that us government and the Church have a vested interest in the preservation of its natural institutions,” Flax said.
In further opposition to recognising same-sex marriage, the Christian Council’s Vice-President said marriage is a special bond that combines the physical, spiritual, psychological, and sexual differences between man and woman into a single whole.
“The often-quoted LGBT slogan that everyone should be allowed to love whomever they choose does not reflect the complexities involved in marriage redefinition, nor does it come close to grasping the true significance of marriage or its meaning,” Flax said.
She added that the redefinition of marriage in the territory would have far-reaching consequences as laws shape culture and this would result in radical changes in collective ideas, values, and standards of conduct, which in turn shape individual choices.
“Marriage redefinition is much more than merely allowing same-sex couples the right to marry. By redefining marriage as merely an emotional bond based on love, which is often fickle and transient, it is an emptying out of all the social goods associated with marriage including family-centeredness, exclusivity, and permanence,” Flax said.
“Husband and wives, mothers and fathers would be seen as wholly interchangeable social constructs, as has begun to be the case in many jurisdictions where these changes have already taken place. Gender would also no longer matter. Can we really afford this? Marriage is not simply a label,” she added.
The VP said the Christian Council does not wish to disenfranchise those with other beliefs about marriage or to interfere with their private lives. However, she said the Council merely wishes to recognise that marriage is a covenant between man, woman, and God to live as husband and wife.
“It is a family-centred bond which blesses the children that that union may produce. Persons may live as they wish but please do not force on us something that goes against our very moral fibre. We are wholly against this Bill or any amendment that will put our rights based on all the aforementioned in jeopardy. Let us not confuse the future more than it already is,” Flax said.
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Agreed! The BVI is a Christian community.
It certainly is: a drug smuggling [ex] premier, graft and corruption wherever you look, more fatherless children than anywhere else, more whore houses than Sodom and Gomorrah, machine gun killings on the streets, and a world beating level of hypocrisy.
Hilarious.
more fatherless children than anywhere else
Come again many people here have mother father grandpa grandma great grandad & great grand mother…
@Rubber Duck. Your slip is showing. We don’t want no gay marriage in the VI. Plain and simple. Go back to the UK if you want to live that kind of life.
If you don’t want to marry someone of the same gender nobody is forcing you.
Why are you so bothered what other people do?
You are having freedom to believe what you want but can you just let other people live.
It’s so sad that people can hate so much on other peoples love life even though it does not affect them at all.
All love is not the same. If homosexuals want to be together then fine but that’s not marriage. I love my dog and my grandma but it ain’t right I marry either of them.
But it does affect other people. It devalues and degrades marriage I. The opinion of many who are entitled to that opinion. Imagine, for example, there were people who believed it was ok for people to have sex with their grandmas. That doesn’t affect anyone but them but I. Your world that would be perfectly fine?
You forget – you live in the British Virgin Islands. Stop stealing public funds, trafficking cocaine, committing adulterous acts and touching under aged children. We did not give you permission to live that kind of life..
My opinion on that is not the point.
As it happens I have no problem with it. I live by a simple rule
If there is no victim there is no crime.
And you love living in such a Country.?
Too bad those speaking on behalf of the “Christian Counsel” aren’t really christians and wouldn’t know christian ethics if it walked up to them and slapped them in the face. Where was this counsel when women and girls were being beaten, raped, denied help from police and courts. Why weren’t they writing to the Governor or any arm of government when these things were happening. They all need to go back in the dark hole they crawled out of and continue to keep their traps shut. And when same sex couples or any person of the LGBTQ persuasion sit in their churches and put their money in the plate they don’t speak out against taking the “tainted” money, so why they speaking now about how these people choose to live their lives? It’s okay to tithe but not ok to do anything else. Shame on the Christian Counsel. They aren’t christian and they surely cannot counsel.
I wonder what the “Bishop ” has to say about this.
Thanks for that joke. Best one I’ve heard all week LMAO!!!! Where was this so called council all along???
one day christian when they go sit down in church is what them is. Full time hypocrites
The BVI is a Christian community? Really. It’s a community of thieves and racists. Being against same sex marriage is proof of that. The UK really needs to take over and send this lot back to their native Nigeria, Senegal and the rest of the poorest countries in the world.
And where are they going to send you?.. cause you nor them belong here.. All because some people are against putting stuff where sh….. is stored and exits????? to H..l. with you and them.. idgaf about what yall want to do but your comment was unnecessary asf .
You are the epitome of the scum of the earth and trash personified! Who are you to come to our country speaking foolishness about “send this lot back to their native Nigeria, Senegal and the rest of the poorest countries in the world”? You are an envious bully. Take your backside home!!! Yes, go back where YOU came from. WE DON’T WANT OR NEED YOU HERE!!! We BVIslanders need to take our home back by creating a robust system to vet these depraved immigrants that try to enter our BVI. We also need to pass legislation akin to other Caribbean islands that grants a maximum amount of time to remain in the territory for employment. Moreover, we need to ask God to destroy these envious enemies from among us. They are only lying in wait hoping to overthrow us. Not all immigrants are bad people but it is apparent that we host some of the vilest.
@This gone to far: Like I always say. There are some wolves in sheep clothing amongst us, black and white that hate BVIslanders.
Lol
Define Christian. I see a territory that screws expats, milk tourists for a dollar, treats people with inhumanity and no civility. Yeah that’s Christian.
Now add in drugs, smuggling, guns, crime, graft, waste, nepotism, etc. what do you have? BVI LOVE
So Christian
@Island boy – So you’re saying that the laws of the Virgin Islands should be applied unequally? Or as George Orwell said it: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
If you don’t want to let gay people marry in your church… Do that. But equality before the law – If government doesn’t want to treat all human beings equally, then they can just get out of the marriage business and leave it up to the various churches, temples, cults, sects and shrines.
I wholeheartedly agree! Not in the BVI!
@Christian Council.
You comments about ‘ideological colonialism’ is pathetic and further adds to the total lack of relevance people already think of you here. As if gays are part of the colonial agenda. Really? No doubt gay groups have their own agenda anf for that i agree.
I’d hasten to add that while I think the Christian Council is nothing short of a group of two faced narcissists, the quote for both GA groups and your Council can be summed up as simply this ……
“What had once began as a sincere plea for tolerance is now an absolute demand for obedience.”
All of you have an agenda with not one of you stopping to think about the greater good for us all! One people, not a fractured set of agenda driven lunatics hell bent on perverting the most basic of common grounds.
With that direct rule they would have torchure we with that bottybwoy crap.
Don’t believe this letter cause some of the clergy in BVI living that same sex lifestyle. Hypocrisy at its best!
BVI Christian Council is a set of hypocrites choosing which parst of the bible they will follow. Live and let live
The Muslim and Hindu and Rastafarian community will follow suit as well , thats 100percent of bvi population.
What about the atheists, agnostics, Satanists, Voodoo priests and obeah practitioners? U can’t have 100% of the BVI unless you get all a dem too.
The bible says Adam & Eve, not Adam & Steve.
Did you know that Adam was married before he met Eve?
Just saying
So if all Christians are born from Adam and Eve it’s no wonder you are all so retarded.
#incestcreatesfunnylookingbabies
@Island boy, What a joke there are more hypocrites than Christians
WE DONT WANT IT IN OUR BVI
You want it up your bottoms
Bigots!
Here comes monkey pox
“family-centeredness, exclusivity, and permanence”.
Might want to remind people of this in the next few sermons.
I agree! Not in the BVI!
The Christian council is completely irrelevant to most residents with half a brain. Every human deserves legal protection under law.
“Every human deserves legal protection under law.”
homosexuals go about their business no one is locking them up even if its illegal.
Funny they pass this down to over seas territories quicker than cannabis legalization which the territories have been begging for and destroying their own countries trying to eradicate a medicine, creating criminals in droves in a war on plants I mean drugs.
Its all about control the suffering of peoples not currently in power is artificial. Someone up high is in the closet pushing this agenda down on the globe with their money.
WT actual F???
Look, you cruel homophobic people who always complain you are victims of cruel racist people – just stop!
Same sex marriage is just CIVIL/LEGAL RECOGNITION OF COUPLES WHO LOVE EACH OTHER AND WANT TO SHARE THEIR LIVES AND PROPERTY IN THE SAME WAY MARRIED MAN AND WOMAN DO.
So this means that if one is sick the other can be next of kin and visit them when in hospital, or if one dies the other can own the house they bought together. Simple stuff that stops people being shut out of a system and you all who object won’t ever even notice.
If you are too ignorant to understand that marriage is an institution of law, completely separate to church,, then you should educate yourself before you start promoting hatred among your fellow man and woman.
Christian Council can sit down and shut the heck up. If it is a pillar of this community then where has it been while crime, corruption, money greed, child abuse, woman beating, sex trafficking, unsolved murders, money laundering, cartel control of our system, daylight robbery, high school fornication and all our other vices has actualy been the dominant way of life here?.
Are you disgusting set of hypocrites now claiming you have a moral position?
Who are the ‘christian council’ to be opposing any legislation for our territory, just like the man whose bill they are opposing they aren’t elected (not by the majority), so what gives them the platform to write such a letter? I am not against religion or beliefs. You have yours and I will not trouble you. Let me have mine. The world is a messed up place because too many people think it is their right to force or push their beliefs onto other people…. LIVE AND LET LIVE. If someone’s lifestyle does not affect you then why are you actively trying to involve yourself. The world is changing. Society is changing.
boom bye bye
You would think that the Council would be aware of the fact that the religious dogma that they’re touting is actually a result of “ideological colonialism”.
They’re focusing on what people do in their bedrooms instead of standing up and demanding that basic humanity in the BVI is respected; something that many persons who live in the BVI are denied everyday. Smh!
Thank you Vice President! May God give us all the strength to live for him.
A Virgin Islander to the Nth generation.
It is not a question of “Who you love” but “do you love?”
“of faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18
This is a question of civil rights: equal rights for all.
The anti other people’s rights council. How they turn gay rights into a colonial issue?
When Andrew passed the law on marijuana and gambling you all said nothing. But to suppress the rights of others you come out with a big letter. I have no interest in hearing from you. By the way, did you all give back the stimulus money to the government yet?
Gays are just nas.y
SO MUCH GUNS/ DRUGS MURDER ETC GOING ON IN THE COUNTRY AND THEY ALL SLEPT THROUGH IT , LIKE THATS COOL , SO THAT AIN’T NO PROBLEM / BUT IT TOOK THOSE FAGGITS SAME SEX MARRIAGE TO WAKE THEM UP FROM THEIR SLUMBER
Did they send back the stimulus money that they didn’t apply for to the treasury yet? Can we get a statement from them on this. Please and thanks.
Give back the stimulus money. Taking it especially if you didn’t apply for it is called greed. The Bible speaks about greed and the love of money.
In my humble opinion, the idea of marriage needs to be separate from the religious noise. A marriage affords a couple some legal, modern rights in a society that all persons should be afforded under that union (Social Security Benefits, recognition of legitimate children under the law etc..). The modern-day joining of couples under the law needs to be divorced (pun intended) from the ideals of religiosity. Believers will always be small minded, as religion is personal in nature and subjective in truth, some ideas will never trickle into the bubble. We must however find a way to coexist. You cannot force a pastor to condone, participate in and bless a union that is beyond the scope of his acceptance. These people must however be afforded the same rights as those engaged in “conventional” marital arrangements. Perhaps the ceremony won’t be held in a church, or performed by an ordained minister, but there must be a provision under the law in any fair and equitable country where same sex couples enjoy the same civil liberties as any other!
I am a believer and the homosexual agenda is in contradiction to my beliefs. However, I won’t make this about religion. I won’t speak about the moral issue as I wouldn’t want to offend anyone. So let’s approach this situation from the position of physics, biology and anatomy. The human male and female forms are divinely designed to fit intricately like puzzle pieces. At the zenith of sexual intercourse the male climaxes and his sperm fertilizes the female’s egg and LIFE is reproduced. This is the physiological, biological, natural, function of human reproduction. Mankind has decided that the divine design is not desirable for his/her interests and have abandoned their natural function. Two phallus butting “heads” or two vulvas vabbing cannot reproduce life. Mankind have recklessly left what is the norm and are same sexing, crossing gendering or avoiding genders all together for the sake of fads or popularity. What a time to be alive to witness what the bible refers to as being left with a reprobate mind… Look it up, Romans 1:28
You may not like the messenger, and so even though what is good is shared you do not accept it. Wrong is wrong and the Bill tendered goes against the territory’s christian heritage. If you are a parent, are you saying you favor your child or children publicly witnessing gross sexual conduct by same sex partners? We are impacted by our community, if persons here want to partake in that lifestyle, they ought not involve the entire territory, travel to where such practice is upheld and have your heart’s desire. God is in every living person, if ever He leaves us we will self destruct, in Him we live, move and have our being. Satan is playing for keeps, do not chance him, rebuke him and he will flee. Remember many people take the broadway that leads to death and destruction. may your heart be quickened by His Holy spirit and do right.
I asked a couple big Christians what the would do Ifmoney given to you you ain’t ask for its supposed to be for Covid supplies etc,,,,here them ..well its a blessing etc.None of them ain’t see the problem,….Playing Church…denial is real…makes me sick.Down here folks JUST craven.Entitlement is fully embraced..it’s really quite psychotic.
There are a large number of churches who are not members of the BVI Christian Council. There are a large number of Christian believers that the BVI Christian Council does not represent. This small biased body does not speak for the majority of Christians living in our nation!
The article states: According to the BVICC letter signed by Vice-President Mrs Rosemarie Flax
The question needs to asked of her: Who are you actually speaking for?
Also, would you rather a gay person live the life of their choosing? without interfering with anyone who disagrees with the lifestyle? Or would you publicize the pressure that would force people to stay closeted?
How would you feel if a closeted gay man would marry one of your daughters because of society and its viewpoint?