Vigil to pray away gay on the cusp of UNIBAM case
On the eve of the landmark trial of Caleb Orozco against the Attorney General, hundreds gathered at the steps of the Supreme Court. Emotions were running high among the faithful; they all had different views but they mostly want to leave section fifty-three of the Criminal Code as it stands. Mike Rudon has a report.
Mike Rudon, Reporting
The pre-trial church vigil held outside the Supreme Court on Monday night was a joyous, spiritual, passionate gathering…hundreds of Christians gathered in God’s name, singing songs of praise and love. They came from all over to send one message – God is good, gay is bad. In fact, the gay agenda, so to speak, is actually the devil’s agenda.
Ian Taylor
Ian Taylor, Catholic Priest, Trinidad
“We believe that this whole agenda; the gay agenda, is really against life and the devil is a destroying—the scripture describes him as such. He is a destroyer. He destroys life. And so Jesus says I give life. I am the truth, the way and the life. I come so that they may be life. The devil destroys life. The devil though these is putting forward, promoting his agenda to end the life as we know it on this planet.”
Scott Stirm
Scott Stirm, Pastor
“But we’re saying no way. That is why we are here tonight. We are taking a strong stand. We are going to be light in the darkness and I am sure that you will agree together with me that light is stronger than darkness.”
And in this group of Christians there were different reasons for standing up and striking out at homosexuality on the eve of the case of Caleb Orozco versus the Attorney General. One point of view is that the case should be taken before the House of Representatives and not the court for a decision.
Louis Wade, Belize Action
“We believe that this particular discussion should not be in the court house. It really should be in the house of parliament where elected leaders, political leaders, who have a touch of what is on the heart and mind of the people are able to debate, are able to discuss—in a public fashion where radio and television is—are able to debate an issue of moral, spiritual and social implications.”
Zelda Hill
Some believe that Section 53 protects our children against molesters and should be left as it is.
Zelda Hill, Christian
“We have heard just now that in most cases this law has been used to protect children because many times offenders might want to hurt children; this law has been used against them. So if this law is removed, what will take the place whenever people commit these kind of crimes against children.”
Peter Lacey
Peter Lacey, Christian
“To me, section fifty-three is not infringing to me on the homosexual rights. To me we are protecting our children from being targets.”
Others believe that the nation faces a real threat if Section 53 is altered in any way, and there is danger of a ripple homosexual effect.
David Smith, Christian
David Smith
“Just to hear that they will be going in the schools and all the agenda that they have for schools, it will be just confusing for the kids. Also for pastors and leaders, it will threaten their authority as pastors. Okay if they don’t want to marry same sex relationship, they will go to jail. I believe that is very threatening.”
Peter Lacey
“When this thing get passed, we wah see homosexuals di kiss right in front of you and you won’t be able to tell them anything because that is now a part of the law and then it is going to have a ripple effect. I am telling you. Human beings; you give them an inch; they are going to take a mile. This thing is going to lead down the road to same sex marriage.”
Still others spoke of the wrath of God, who they claim is a God of justice and doesn’t approve of homosexuality.
Ian Taylor
“If any male sleeps with a male as a woman that is an abomination. And the book of Jude said that Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns that practiced sexual promiscuity and unnatural acts that they are at the moment undergoing a fire of eternal punish. And we know the story in Genesis nineteen of Sodom and Gomorrah; that they were burnt to the ground for the practice of sodomy. So god is the one who makes the judgment because god makes the laws.”
Althea Garbutt
Althea Garbutt, Christian
“God is a god of justice. God is god of mercy and kindness and love. He is all of those things, but he is also a god of justice. And that is a part of god the world noh want. It is just like a parent. I love my children and when my children behave out of order, the hand of justice comes down. Another part of the word, the bible says that he has a special lake of fire. I mean it is the word of god. God tells you directly what will happen. He says no homosexuals, no lesbians, no liars; he name the list right down the line who will not inherit my kingdom.”
But even as there is talk of a lake of fire and homosexuality being an abomination, as far as these Christians are concerned while they hate the sin, they are full of love for the sinners, even if it is tough love…very tough love.
Louis Wade
Louis Wade
“Even as I was taking an hour to drive up here, I was asking myself are we doing this because of hate or are we doing this because of love. And the analogy I will give is a person that is on drugs. That you need to do an intervention to try to help them to save their own lives. And that is really how we see it that it is an act and a move of love.”
Althea Garbutt
“I don’t hate the homosexuals. I love them; I noh like the sin. I noh like what they are doing and it is just like any other sin. Dah like the sin of adultery, like the sin of stealing and stuff like that—it is a sin.”
Zelda Hill
“It’s not hate. It is love in which we speak when we say we are against this. It is love; not hate.”
Peter Lacey
“Homosexuals are in our society. They are our friends, they are our neighbors, they are our co-workers. We are not here to discriminate against them; we are here to show them love. But we are also here and sometimes love is about tough love.”
And even as they sing the tune ‘they’ll know we are Christians by our love,’ for Caleb Orozco and homosexuals in Belize, it’s sounding more and more like ‘love hurts.’ Mike Rudon for News Five.
The churches say they will hold vigils throughout the trial.
Peter needs to stop before somebody throw stones at his glass house….
“What we are saying is that the section 53 is a good law and we’ve done the research on this and the sections where we have found section 53 was used – 78% of those cases were sexual abuse cases against children” – Pastor Scott Stirm (quoted from the other new channel). I would beg to ask the question of this 78% how many was catholic priests that sexually molested children? I remember this priest from my confirmation classes who had a penchant for little girls. This one little girl in particular used to cry every time she came to confirmation classes and her brother used to drag her into the rectory saying “mom says we have to come unless we are going to hell”… I guess mom was only concerned about the hell in the afterlife and not the one that her daughter was living here on earth. I want to see these so called Christians stand out in front of the court house every time a child rapist and molester is set free or given a 2 year sentence or is it only an issue when a boy child gets raped? Their moral compass is so compromised by the magnetic interference of their one directional mind. Sodomy is wrong but intolerance and hypocrisy is even worst. How can you say you are doing this to protect the children and you are only concerned about the ones that are sexually molested by these same sex monsters?
I agree that there is such a thing as tough love, love that says you can’t do that
catholic priests that molest children and found guilty go to jail..they are all as wrong as anyone else. and the church is not outside protesting at the courthouse during and after rape and molestation cases because noo ne is there trying to say its not wrong or they were born that way and trying to change the law so they wont do jail time. the legal system is allowed to do its job there. however the legal system is not perfect and yes thy do not serve as much as they should or deserve thats an imperfection in the legal system..not the church..same as with murder and other crimes..the fact is the legal system is not at the best..dont blame the church for that..for they are not in control of that.
I have a neighbor who beats up his wife, he claims it is because he loves her. The wife stays with the husband cause after all, he loves her. How sick is it for a christian to tell a man he loves him yet shows blatant hatred. For your information, the gays are already in the schools and even in your churches and many are better educated and more professional people. I need to ask my gay friends for a copy of their gay agenda cause obviously they all have a copy of this.
Eric, it is so easy to criticize and express our views. Priests, pastors, Christians, secular society and even homosexuals are only humans. Only God is perfect but in His grace, we can be better people by denying our flesh, rebuking the enemy and by walking in the Spirit. (John 8:7) When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
To me section 53 applies to all of us, from all walks of lives, to all human beings in Belize, and it should not be revised. It is for the good of Belize.
Meandy sounds like you are a …… also its regardless if they /you. Are educated individuals the fact of the matter is homosexual is nasty and a disgrace the law have been they why change would you accept decriminalizing bigamy better yet they should decriminalize murder/homicide don’t you think if the are so education they so know having sex with another man is nasty
Well said Michelle!
If as our constitution says “we acknowledge the supremacy of GOD”, and we are a Christian nation, then I ask, should we not strive to, and are we not obligated to follow his laws? Humans are not perfect and GOD knew this, that is why he inspired the authors of the Bible to set in writing GODS laws. That is why he sent his SON to die for us, to teach us about love for one another and forgiveness.
Also, how can the courts even entertain people trying to go against the Book of truth,the very same book I might add that we use in our courts when asked to swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth? As a Christian nation, we should love and pray for for those that go against Gods laws! We pray the courts will, as our constitution does, acknowledge the SUPREMACY of GOD in BELIZE.
How hypocritical it is for the gay proponents to immediately label any and all opposing view as Hatred! That’s one of the many tricks of how they try to shape public opinion in their favor, but that is just hypocrisy since in their DEMANDING that the people of Belize accept their lifestyle as a right, they throw out words like “tolerance” but are unwilling to tolerate the right of someone to oppose their lifestyle. Is this not a form of the same “hatred” they claim the “other” side has?
……Here’s what will happen: the Court of Belize does not make law – they only interpret law; and also decide on the constitutionality of laws. It is the Legislature who makes laws. So our courts will decied on this law only. However, don’t forget that Unibam and their foreign backers are well experienced in the fight to change the laws in their favor so they know that they cannot hope to have the legislature change the laws, since the majority of Belizeans would be against it. So what do they do? They try to blur the lines between a sexual act and a human right! At the end of the day, Belize is still small enough to put a stop to this and say that when it comes to morality laws, THE PEOPLE thru it’s legislature determines the way we are to live and are governed! …and that we CHOOSE as a people to affirm that the LGBT lifestyle is NOT a Human Right but rather a sexual choice; and what’s more it, is one that we will not tolerate to be institutionalized in are day to day lives!
Love the person but hate the act!
Ms Garbutt, you have the right idea, it is the sin that should not be tolerated. The people are being deceived by the devil. There is an evil spiritual attack that has set itself against the country, the christian community have to stand up and represent God in the world.
PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP. GOD IS STANDING WITH YOU.
Christianity in Belize going above and beyond to stand up for their beliefs and integrity against gays. I hope they would do the same and stand up for victims of domestic violence, murdered victims, rape victims, poverty, social injustice, etc.
Gotta love how the god squad spins this one out as wanting to protect children. Instead of going after gays start going after the men who abuse and rape women and girls because they have been taught that it is a mans world as according to the sky faery.
Let he who be without sin try and cast the first stone….bet it hits you right back in the head.
oh ok so everyone out there was wit out sin??? A sin is a sin is a sin! Bunch of hypocrites, I bet 98 percent of the so call christians out there hve kids with several different men and are not married/ how about the so call priests that molests the children? How about sex before marriage, sex with a married man or woman, people plzzzzzzzzzzzz u who is wit out sin throw the first stone! so if i lie its less a sin than killing a man? A sin is a sin is a sin, ignorance…
So all of the above just want to add to the list of sins? Seriously? So 1 sin is ok and the other not?
The poll should be open to those living in Belize only. This is a decision for Belizeans to decide what they want for their country, not for the world to decide what they want for us.
The Section 53 Poll should be open only to those living in Belize. This is a decision for Belizeans to decide what they want with their country and not for the rest of the world to decide what they want for us!
We are all sinners, so you all just shut up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so gay people are people who have been deceived by the devil? maybe we can pray for them until they are straight!!!!!
backward, closed minded, caveman thinking!!!!
Agree with bmnj best statement in here period.
come on people the same people you are criticizing are the same people that pray to the Almighty when a hurricane is coming our way and God always spares us because of their prayers now you all are forgetting that? what is immoral is immoral, enough is enough. i remember when a hurricane was coming inside the shelter people like you were asking the Christians to please pray to God and they did joined into prayers later, ha this is what we should call ignorant people
If the church wants to act as a guardian of the law and wants us to abide the Bible. They should fervently protest against corruption, injustices…etc and other issues that are actually far more pressing than this one. They should not be picking their battles. According to the bible sin is sin, so corruption, hurting our bodies with drugs alcohol, greed, food are sin as well.
@acting as guardians…so you think nobody ever prays for this country regarding crime and corruption..? With all the other crimes such as rape, murder, etc, they are being done anyway, if there’s a law or not..So why does anybody want this law out..? It may be broken, however if its removed, we are creating a hands off situation with TONS of side affects that nobody has any clue about, and believe you me, Belize will be under a curse? By the way, how can my statements now be defined as “hateful”..Whom did I undermine?
We should all remember the National Prayer, which @Young Gial quoted in a post on an earlier news item today.
I haven’t read anything hypocritical among these posts from those who want to keep sodomy illiegal. Christians actually do oppose all sin, and pray for our leaders to follow God’s commands. The fact that people fail doesn’t make Christians hypocrites, it just underscores the necessity of seeking to let more of God into our lives, not less.
I agree with BmnJ. The so called Christians in Belize need to stop being hypocrites and stand up against all so called sins, social injustice etc. Why aren’t they gathering at the court house to ensure that heartless murderers in Belizeare prosecuted and sent to jail for killing innocent. Why are they not protesting to take back the Belizean streets and communities from crime and criminals. Homosexuals have always been deeply embedded in our society. Everyone have a right to love who they way want and have consensual sex with who they want. It is none of your business who your fellow citizen is sleeping with. mind your own business Christians. If you dedicate to your church the same time and enery you use to focus on this issue, you will find that your church is full of gays lesbians, drugs users, drug dealers, child molestors etc.being gay and lesbian does not infringe on the rights and freedom of your fellow. Adulterers, drug dealers and child molesters all inringe upon the rights of law abiding citizens.
“They’ll know we are Christians by our love…” “It’s not hate. It is love in which we speak when we say we are against this.” – OH, DON’T YOU FEEL THE LOVE? “Belize will be under a curse…” “deceived by the devil…” “…an evil spiritual attack…” “…the gay agenda is the devil’s agenda…” “…danger of a ripple homosexual effect…” “…homosexual is nasty and a disgrace…” – That’s LOVE? – “Love the person but hate the act!” – It’s pretty simple, don’t like it? don’t do it… why does anyone worry about what consenting adults do in private? – Oh, how SCARY… somebody will KISS in front of them, and they “won’t be able to tell them anything ” – People will be prevented from expressing their distaste… and superior morality?!? – I’m certain those same superior people have LITTLE to say to men who don’t support their babies; men who leave their wives for a nex’one gyal; men who batter and abuse their wives and children; those BDF and constables we read about in the news who get young girls pregnant; government officials caught with underage girls; teachers and pastors having relations with young students and children in their flocks… I CALL ON THESE FOLKS WHO WOULD PRAY AWAY THE GAY to do something about the REAL problems in Belize, like Jesus said… feed the hungry… help the poor, sick, and needy.
Being gay is a personal preference and lifestyle which sick perverted people CHOOSE to live and practice. Please it has been scientifically proven! Now they want others to accept their perverted lifestyle. I agree that consenting adult can engage in sexual activity with whomever they choose to in the privacy of their own bedrooms but don’t announce it to the world. Stay in ur damn closets and leave the rest of Belize out of it! What happens in the privacy of ur bedroom is nobody’s business! ……In conclusion, to all the LGBT or watever it is that u call urself A difference of opinion does not mean I hate you it simply means I disagree with u and i am disgusted by ur lifestyle!