Organisers of the Intimate Conviction conference series say they note with alarm “the heightened and sometimes hostile anti-LGBT rhetoric that is being generated by some religious leaders across the Caribbean” in response to current and pending challenges to regional anti-sodomy laws.
“As people of faith, we believe that Christians should show the world how to respectfully disagree. We are therefore troubled that some of the language being used by clerics who oppose decriminalization will incite violence against LGBT people,” the organisers said in a press statement.
The Intimate Conviction conference series are global dialogues about the role of the church — past, present and future — in the criminalisation of consensual same-sex intimacy.
These conferences are hosted in countries where anti-sodomy laws exist and seek to understand the church’s impact on them.
The group said they are urging all Caribbean bishops, pastors and priests to exercise restraint, even if they express their opposition to ending laws that criminalise consensual same-sex intimacy.
“In addition, we would like to invite persons, on whatever side of this debate, to join us for the next Intimate Conviction conference from April 24-26, 2020 in Barbados.”
They say that the dialogue will continue to examine the role of churches in anti-sodomy laws that started with the first conference in Jamaica in 2017.
“As Caribbean Christians, we pray that this public dialogue will help our region to achieve greater harmony and understanding and in the meantime, we urge careful and critical discussions of this very topical issue by all stakeholders.”
Organisers of the Intimate Conviction conference say that the conference series was born out of a realisation that across the Commonwealth, where most of the world’s anti-sodomy laws exist, churches have played a significant role in introducing, ending or retaining these statutes.
Thanks for this! ‘Caribbean churches urged to ‘show the world how to respectfully disagree.’ This intervention is so warranted; as our people’ appear to have a major problem in abiding to the principle of agreeing to disagree, that which ‘A People of faith, should cohesively live by.
Unlike you ELMA GABRIEL I as an individual would urge all of the Caribbean churches to hold fast to the doctrines of the age old Church, and resist the drive to whitewash its doctrines.
Reprobates, liberals and non-Christians would have the Churches abandon all that they hold true as “The Faith” and all that it represents and that would never do. The Traditional Church is forever being urged by outsiders to change its ways and modernise but whenever is wrong right?
Yet the Church knows that it has been directed thus:
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”. Jude 3 New King James Version (NKJV)
Why should we show restraint Jehovah God and his words is against such we will not go against Jehovah God ways even if these so call churches do. Who is for God stand. We are not to compromise with the world or system or any of its ways.as Christian we teach and preach the love of Jehovah to all and repentance wrong is wrong and right is right according to Jehovah words not to man or his system we are followers of Jehovah Jesus Christ we must and will always take our stand regardless to how others feel we will not be compromising with evil spirits.!!!!
We as Christian dont need your advice mr. We have our father and his words. for that mr whatever you.
I hope this means that this group of churches is not jumping on the radical train of hatred that so many Christians are now embracing. At the moment the world seems to be “on fire”. There are protests all over, The insane and totally lost Democrats with thier intel agencies and thier media in the USA are trying to overthrow thier government while the CIA has been overthrowing other governments all over the world to include Bolivia and now Iran. Christians minds have been easily taken over and they have been thrown back to the Dark Ages and encouraged to violently hate such people as Muslims, Gays, and anyone they are told to hate. Christians can reject homosexuality without taking these people rights away and treating them worse than murderers.
James H. I appreciate your respectful way of disagreeing with people. There are things you write that I disagree with and so much I do agree with. I would like to know what your opinion is on how we should approach this topic. What rights should these people have? Should there be any new laws crafted or changed or should the current laws remain? If so, how can these laws be applied? Should there be cameras in all bedrooms to insure that only married couples have sex, and in the “military” position? We all have to obey rules in society in order to get along. That also means means we have to respect eachother. I have stated that homosexuality should not be promoted in society. Obama, on the other hand believes it should be strongly encouraged. With all the turmoil in the world I believe the “respectfully disagree” attitude is a good Christian attitude. In the West, Christians are taught to hate Muslims but respect and obey Jews, even though Muhammad said Jesus is the greatest being that ever lived and most Jews believe that Jesus was the most “satanic” being that ever lived. I do not think Jesus would favor intolerance and hatred, and Christians adopting a hatred attitude to those that disagree are just giving in to temptation.