‘I would never perform a gay marriage’- VI pastor
Nevertheless, this has not prevented a prominent church leader from making it clear where he stands regarding same-sex marriages.
Last Friday, June 26, 2015 the US Supreme Court said marriage for all is a constitutional right. However, officials in the US south are resisting last week's Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage by refusing to issue licences to any couples - gay or straight.
Many opponents of gay marriage are preparing for legal challenges over religious objections to the unions.
Church will have to take a stand
Prominent church leader residing on the sister island of Virgin Gorda, Bishop Paul A. Ricketts insisted that the church has to love people in spite of their sexual orientation. “And I am one of those persons who loves people in spite of their struggles,” he said, noting that he does not see the permitting of same-sex marriage throughout the USA being bigger than any other thing that has been passed before.
“They have passed other things that run contrary to my belief system and I don’t see this bigger than anything else,” said Bishop Ricketts, even though noting that he sees it as another “thing” that is being set up for the church to be prosecuted.
“There is coming a time when all of us are going to have to take a stand. We are going to have to either listen to man, man’s law or the law of God and I would rather for man to be angry with me than for God to be upset with me because man can only hurt the flesh, God can destroy body soul and spirit.”
‘I would never perform a gay wedding’
Bishop Ricketts continued that until such time someone can prove to him otherwise from the scriptures he is holding strong to the biblical principles as he knows it. He insisted that marriage is intended for a union of a man and a woman and if at any stage in the VI it comes to the place where gay marriages become legal he would be one of the first to hand his marriage licence in.
“In my book it is a sin and if it comes to a place where they say we have to marry them I would turn in my license and would be one of the first persons to turn my license in because I don’t have to do weddings, that’s how I see it, I am not going to be forced against my faith to do anything that I don’t agree with and I believe if they have a right, I have right too, and I have a right to say no.”
He added, “But do I hate them? No, it’s the sin that is the problem. So they could pass any law they want to pass, where I am concerned is if it collides with my faith, then that law is not going to work with me.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by Bishop of the New Life Baptist Church Bishop John I. Cline. He added that as a Christian community the church is the church. “We don’t represent the US government or the UK government, we represent the government of God, we represent God and we must stand for the God position no matter what any government says.”
He said, however, that as a church they are mindful of people because in the home and other circles of church members are persons who have declared themselves gay or homosexual. “So we have to deal with those people. We don’t condemn them but we certainly do not condone the behaviour and certainly do not agree with it because it is not consistent with scripture and the laws and the moral standards of Christianity or of God.”
VI gay speaks
One of the VI’s most prominent gay men, who has been very open about his sexual orientation, shared his opinion with this news site on the topic but declined to make his name public as he said his opinion may not go down well with the gay society and he is not prepared either to put his name on blast as he holds a prominent government position.
He said that while he does not think the recent US Supreme Court ruling would have an heavy impact on the Virgin Islands, because it falls totally under the British governance, it can have somewhat of an influence. “But I don’t think it would have a big influence on the BVI because they still strong in itself.”
Use ‘Common Law Union’ not ‘Marriage’
The popular gay man said that personally he does not like the use of the word ‘marriage’ when it comes to the legal union of a man and a man and woman and woman. “My personal opinion is that I don’t like the word marriage. I think they should have chosen a different word, common law union or something else because marriage is instituted in the Bible for man and woman,” he said.
“So if they say a union between two persons I am totally 100% for it because the Bible also says about love, love your brothers. When you talk about love, you love who you love.”
He took strong offense in the manner at which some churches relate to gays. “Before the church concentrate on embracing people and reaching out and teaching people what they need to do, they shouldn’t be staying from the pulpit and condemning people. The church is not there to condemn and to judge, they are there to bring in people into the fold and teach them about the love of God, the agape love of God,” the gay man said.
He continued, “So I don’t think the church should be telling people who they should marry and what and all this little nonsense, there are other things they should be worried about.”
Gov't not ready to discuss same-sex marriage- Premier Smith
Virgin Islands News Online also spoke to Premier Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith, who pointed out that the Constitution of the Virgin Islands has a human rights section which he said gives anyone the right to visit the territory as he looked at the tourism impact of the likely influx of gay couples coming in.
“Whatever decision they make about gay marriage in the United States would not affect the visitation of anybody to the British Virgin Islands.”
Premier Smith further said that as far as the VI is concerned, the territory only recognises marriage between a man and a woman and any differing views are not likely to reach the House of Assembly any time soon.
“There are no immediate plans for further discussions…. Of course the initiation for the discussions on those things can come from various sources. It can come from the people in the country, the community which is the preferable place for it to come from,” said Premier Smith.
He also noted that the discussion can come from the level of the House of Assembly but at the moment there are no immediate plans for such discussions.
Several other members of the HoA, including Hons Julian Fraser RA (R3), Andrew A. Fahie (R1), Melvin 'Mitch' Turnbull (R2) and Marlon A. Penn (R8), were approached for their take on the issue but declined to comment. Efforts to reach Hons Ronnie W. Skelton, Alvera Maduro-Caines (R6), Kedrick D. Pickering (R7), Mark H. Vanterpool (R4) and Delores Christopher (R5) were not successful.
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59 Responses to “‘I would never perform a gay marriage’- VI pastor”
who would ask a meat head to marry them? A dude would marry anyone if the price was right, Jam>>>> have a price for everything, after all they have to pay for the upkeep of houses in Africa and Jamaica. ..its so interesting how these so called "christians" treat the Bible like a bag of trail mix, picking and choosing what they want to adhere to. The worst sin of all is hypocrisy and these two men....hmm, thats all I'm going to say.
#Capleton
You can overcome: Isaiah 41:10 "fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Peace and Love
So this is my view, let them live as they please just don't force it on those that do not agree with your way of life(Give me a choice so I can decide if I wana see a Gay couple on TV etc. disclaimer ) and don't tell me its normal.
"don't tell me its normal" What is normal?
Firstly, there are numerous reasons why a person would be gay. Mental trauma and biological factors are only two of them.
There is no gene that determines homosexuality but there have studies that show certain factors such as the environment in the womb may influence a person's sexuality. Also, things like birth order and the gender of your older siblings may influence your sexuality. As a male, for example, the more older brothers you have, the more likely you are to be gay. Because females have no Y chromosome, the female body produces antibodies that attack male foetus more aggressively than it would a female foetus. Each time a woman carries a son, her immunity to the Y chromosome builds. This may lead to lower testosterone levels in the womb (which is instrumental in male development) and higher oestrogen levels which would lead to a male child with more feminine traits. In other words, seeing that no one can really control hormones in the womb, you can very well be born gay.
Yep, they were made gay by the God on whom's behalf these pastors claim to not only speak but proclaim abominations. Honestly, the vitriol I have witnessed by some Christians on this matter disgusts me to my core. I believe that everyone should have the right to religious freedom, to believe what they want to believe and follow it freely. What I am against is one group (no matter how large they may be) speaking on behalf of every person. I don't think preachers should be forced to violate their beliefs but what's done outside the church shouldn't be the churches business. The government doesn't attend services and tell pastors what to do so why should the reverse be allowed?
I personally believe that if you believe in God you should leave it to him. Let God speak for himself on judgement day.
Also, why does John Cline insist on lending his voice as the Christians voice? Of all people, really?
"You are most often times born with the HOMOSEXUAL gene trait because of chemical inbalance i.e. someone born with Downs Syndrome or retardation, some due to VACCINATION(best believe it)."
Your grammar is awful here but I'm going to assume that you're insinuating that homosexuality can be caused by being mentally disabled or having received vaccines. I have my peeves about anti-vaccinations but I'll stay the course. There have been no study that indicate a correlation between mental disorders and sexuality or vaccination and sexuality. In fact your implication is downright offensive; to imply that either all gay people are mentally disabled or all mentally disabled people are too incompetent to grasp the concept of sexuality and discover it for themselves.
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"Gov't not ready to discuss same-sex marriage"
Well start getting ready because the world we're moving towards, intolerance is not tolerated and ignorance and unpreparedness are not valid excuses. Decide or someone else will decide for you. If you don't do it Dr. Smith, the next generation will do it for you and history will paint your govern-ship as feeble and bigoted.
Me: "I must obey God not men - Acts 5: 29! That's my right!"
What then is instituted in the Bible for man and man or woman and woman? So, it sounds like you can't associate the word marriage with people of the same sex and that appears to mean that you know what you are doing is wrong.
Do you know what the Bible says about those who practice sin wilfully? Read Hebrews 10:26 - there is no longer any sacrifice that will take away sins if we purposely go on sinning after the truth has been made known to us.