What’s Become of the Church-State Commission?

Scott Stirm

The Church State Commission, first described as a “morality commission,” was announced in the aftermath of August’s Section Fifty-Three decision. Chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber, it was set up to address heavy issues under public morality, as well as to improve on the relationship between government and the churches. Key items on the agenda include amendments to the National Gender Policy. But these moral issues have taken a back seat to the fight to fix the economy and stop crime, which Director of Belize Action Scott Stirm says is painfully familiar to him and fellow Christian activists.

Pastor Scott Stirm, Director, Belize Action

“We did have a meeting with the Church State commission at the beginning of December, which was to finalize the gender policy issue; they were supposed to get back to us a week later – we have not heard back from them. And so, we have seen this happen too many times before; it is very, very frustrating. There is a process that is being dragged out, and then we get a United Nations vote like this from the country of Belize. Incidentally, the country of Jamaica, in the Caribbean, voted no against the LGBT thing and in favour of the African Resolution, because they recognize: there is no international legal basis for the enforcing of what it is they are wanting to pursue.”