Bigotry is always ugly, but even more so when it comes from religious organizations. People look to the gospel for guidance and understanding, not vitriolic hatred. People are not born as bigots and racists. These traits are learned usually from parents, teachers, and, in this case, religious organizations.
Caribbean Cause’s hateful manifesto (that appeared in the Curaçao Chronicle recently) is no less insidious than Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf in short form. Have the signatories from these Caribbean churches forgotten the history of religious and social persecution of people over the millennia? Have they forgotten that their island ancestors were without civil rights as well? Apparently so. Theirs is a vicious attack on LGBT people simply because a flag representing inclusiveness is flying over US embassies and consulates in their countries and around the world.
It is not altogether surprising, however, given that the majority of churches supporting this hateful assault on human rights are Evangelic and Pentecostal denominations, which are famous for their “fire and brimstone” approach to administering the gospel. There are hundreds of positive Bible topics to choose from, yet these churches tend to focus on attacking what they consider to be immoral, with homosexuality a long-time favourite.
Hate-mongering organizations such as Caribbean Cause are to Christianity what ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al-Qaeda are to Islam: extremists who are not truly representative of a particular religion or most of the people who adhere to it. As such, they are experts at reinterpreting religious text to fit their needs, then broadcast the distorted bile to receptive parishioners. It’s a tactic that perpetuates a cycle of misinformation and intolerance towards people unjustly considered to be outside their own narrow-minded definition of normal. These religious zealots represent the dark ages of church tyranny and brutality. Their views and actions are based on fear and ignorance, not legitimate science.
Their fanatical assertion that LGBT Marxists and the US government are subverting the fundamental freedoms, rights, or conscience of citizens worldwide is simply absurd. And it is truly shameful that holding high a symbol of diversity, equality, and inclusiveness would lead to demonizing LGBT people and be used as a pretence for criticizing US foreign policy as “cultural imperialism”. It’s good the US and most countries of the free world respect the rights of LGBT people. It says something about who they are as a society.
Sadly, a few Caribbean island nations still have oppressive and antiquated anti-gay laws reflecting historically passed-down intolerance – something that ends only when the cycle of prejudice is broken. Using religion as a moral justification for discrimination devalues not only religion itself but also the efforts of all those who fought and continue to fight for civil rights and social equality for all people.
Gunsor Buther
Curaçao
