(Please don't stone me)
So much has been happening in the Jamaican news over the last couple of days that I am somewhat at a loss as to where to begin. Quite a stir was created when a local media house carried a report concerning the content of a certain text which caused offence and outrage (at least to the parents of those who use the book, many of who heard the news report and obviously the Minister of Education since the book has been ordered removed and rewritten). I unfortunately missed the original news report but was made aware of it by the hullabaloo created by some of my colleagues and the questions my 10th grade students threw at me as they sought my opinion. I was then brought up to speed by a follow-up news report that indicated the text contained acknowledgement of homosexual relations in a manner that was far too explicit for this homophobic nation.
I smile at the outrage because the response brought to my mind the Jamaican saying "play wid puppy 'im tun 'roun lick yuh mout'" which basically means if one allows small things to go uncorrected or allows seemingly insignificant things to remain unchecked, one will get results one finds to be less than favourable. When a former Jamaican Prime Minister had explicitly stated that he did not want any person of homosexual persuasion to be a part of his Cabinet, he was lambasted by many as narrow in his thinking. Perhaps in a bid to avoid similar responses, the current Prime Minister had very boldly acknowledged that she took no issue with homosexuals actively serving in her Cabinet as members of the government, going as far as to state that the government will examine existing legislation concerning homosexual acts. Incidentally, there has been much talk recently about having buggery laws repealed and Jamaica has even come under some fire by international communities with respect to our legal and social positions concerning homosexuality... woii wat ha hatoclaps (this is excitingly dramatic).
In my estimation the response to this text has been anti-climatic and merely comes on the heels of rapidly declining morals that pervade this nation, to be added to the other nine days' wonders that cause a stir before it is placed into the file thirteens of most of the public minds. My response may sound pessimistic but the reality is not enough persons expressed outrage because of a moral recognition of wrong or right, rather a feeling brought about by current preferences. Many of the mainstream texts used in schools acknowledge Common Law unions as another form of marriage. Such arrangements are so common place that only very strict Christians seem to take issue with them. Visiting relationships are acknowledged and accepted, I shrug my shoulders and ask what then is the basis of the outrage? This "Christian" nation that calls fire and brimstone on gays is the same one that accords similar rights of possession to couples who split after a period of time in a Common Law union as those in a marital union. Didn't the God who spoke against homosexuality also speak against fornication, adultery, all sexual perversion?
More than anything I believe this is a wake up call to those of us who are genuine Christians, not to lambaste any specific group but to remind ourselves that the God we serve absolutely loves people but absolutely hates sin. Some sinners are not worse than others, all have fallen short, all have been found wanting and in need of God's forgiveness. More than anything my prayer is to be loving and not judgemental, after all it's God's grace that has changed me. Love however is NOT tantamount to ignoring sin because one thinks a certain sin is not as bad as... Our take on sin cannot be based on what is currently socially popular. Jamaica may not have embraced it yet but I will not play ostrich. Homosexuality is out there, it is globally popular and many socially and financially influential people practise or endorse the practise of this behaviour, so what are we going to do about it? We must be firm in our stance against it, not with impractical outbursts "fi bun dem" (destroy them), but with conviction stemming from the foundation of God's Word. Years ago many tried to conceal their decision to engage in sexual relations with the man/woman to whom they were not yet married. Now, one is thought ignorant, naive, foolish, if one decides to marry without first "trying out" and testing for sexual compatibility. Social morals change, it is a fact! Convictions then have to be based on more that what is currently socially acceptable.
