Dear Editor,

Anti-gay Christian lobbyists are incoherent propagandists. Christian Logic (at least the fundamentalist one) is an oxymoron and a paradox of modern cognitive reasoning.

When religious extremists accuse advocates for LGBT equality of lies and deception because societies refuse to be entertained by their rhetoric about their Bible saying being gay is a “sin”, then it proves people are no longer falling for stories of talking snakes (magic) and men walking on water (magic) written by old men thousands of years ago.

It is quite logical that if the Bible is the ultimate source of “objective morality” everything that is viewed as wrong or right should come from it. Is Biblical morality even moral? Take for instance the Bible’s silence on condemning owning another human being or marrying and having sex with children. The Christian sky God was so busy condemning homosexuality and women grabbing the testicles of a man attacking their husband to defend him (Deuteronomy 25: 11,12) that he left us “insignificant ants” to figure out and draft laws to prevent and end slavery and child marriage by ourselves. God is such a loving god. Since anti-gay Christians base their logic around the concept of “sin”, there is no doubt they will always be incoherent. According to them, people are not gay because of their attractions to the same sex (even though the word “homosexuality” was created in 1869 to mean this), but by what they call the “homosexual lifestyle”. One wonders what would be the sexual orientation of a Roman Catholic priest since they are all celibate and do not have sex with women. Are they asexual since they don’t behave “heterosexually”? In the anti-gay Christian world view, everyone is heterosexual and somewhat attracted to the opposite sex, but Satan causes some to “sin” by committing “sodomy”.

It is quite logical that if the Bible is the ultimate source of “objective morality” everything that is viewed as wrong or right should come from it. Is Biblical morality even moral? Take for instance the Bible’s silence on condemning owning another human being or marrying and having sex with children. The Christian sky God was so busy condemning homosexuality and women grabbing the testicles of a man attacking their husband to defend him (Deuteronomy 25: 11,12) that he left us “insignificant ants” to figure out and draft laws to prevent and end slavery and child marriage by ourselves. God is such a loving god. Since anti-gay Christians base their logic around the concept of “sin”, there is no doubt they will always be incoherent. According to them, people are not gay because of their attractions to the same sex (even though the word “homosexuality” was created in 1869 to mean this), but by what they call the “homosexual lifestyle”. One wonders what would be the sexual orientation of a Roman Catholic priest since they are all celibate and do not have sex with women. Are they asexual since they don’t behave “heterosexually”? In the anti-gay Christian world view, everyone is heterosexual and somewhat attracted to the opposite sex, but Satan causes some to “sin” by committing “sodomy”.

This argument has been used to justify pseudo-scientific “ex-gay therapy” which is used when gay men are unable to change their attractions from failed attempts and are made to feel better when their Christian friends comfort them by saying they aren’t gay anymore if they marry a woman. Popular former so-called “ex-gays” such as John Smid and Maurice Tomlinson (Jamaican), who were big pushers of the “ex-gay” myth in America and Jamaica, have recently come forward to tell the other side of the story.

Of course, BIG all powerful “Love March Movement” doesn’t want you to hear about that! It’s quite funny to hear the Christian Brethren Assemblies Jamaica (CBAJ) cite so-called “science” fed to them by their Christian church brothers in America about “ex-gays”. They quoted Robert Spitzer’s study in their position paper on homosexuality (gays are that important now!) which claimed to find “evidence” that gays and lesbians can “change”. Sadly for the church group, Robert Spitzer last year agreed with the critics of his study that his study was extremely flawed and he officially distanced himself from his own work and condemned anti-gay activists who use it to push their agenda. Of course, this didn’t stop the homosexuality obsessed Christians from continuing to use it. Despite using a study proven to be flawed by its own author, they claim we are the “factphobic” ones.

As a libertarian politically, I firmly believe in freedom of speech, association, conscience and religion for all people, even for the Christians who once preached that inter-racial marriage was “unnatural” and a “sin” in the southern United States not too long ago. However, anti-gay Christians are seeking pity and they deserve none. They claim gays want dominance because persons such as Lillian Ladelle were fired for refusing to marry a gay couple as part of her job but are completely silent when their Christian counterparts in America travel to Uganda to fuel legislation designed to not only silence groups advocating for gay rights and charge anyone who doesn’t report a gay person within 24 hours to the police but sentence gay people to death.

The “rights” of Christians must take centre stage while silence continues about the upcoming Ugandan legislation in February to kill gay people. Tacit support? After all, the Ugandans are doing exactly as the Bible (moral book) commands. Right? The buggery law will be repealed whether or not the anti-gay Christian lobby likes it. It is still quite possible to challenge and work around any legislation designed to prevent it from reaching court, as was discussed in a previous newspaper article. Oppression always loses. It is inevitable. The buggery law issue isn’t about putting the “child molesting homosexuals”, as a local Christian group claimed in their position paper, under control so that they won’t deny Christians their freedoms but ensuring that gay Jamaicans are no longer viewed and treated like criminals in their own country. This is about everyday Jamaicans who want the same chance as everyone else to pursue health and happiness, earn a living, be safe in their communities, serve their country, and take care of the ones they love. We are Jamaicans, we stand for equality, fairness and truth.

Matthew Thomas

matl1990@yahoo.com