The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

NO pastor ‘in good conscience’ could support the legalisation of numbers and a national lottery, the president of the Bahamas Christian Council said Friday.

Ranford Patterson was speaking in response to one group of pastors, including former Council president Bishop Simeon Hall, who threw their support behind the legalisation of gambling - hoping Bahamians will vote yes in the upcoming January 28 referendum.

Dr Patterson said yesterday the church leaders have a right to support whichever side they want, but he is confident their efforts will fail.

“Pastors have a right to speak,” he said. “And I am convinced the Bahamian people are going to support the agenda of the Bahamas Christian Council.

“Bahamians support the Christian Council, support the work of the church, and no pastor I believe can, in good conscience, support the legalisation of numbers in our country.”

He explained he cannot personally understand the motivations behind the pastors’ support of a yes vote, but holds no ill-will towards them for it.

“Whatever their plans are, whatever their reason or doing what they’re doing - I don’t know. But they have a right to do what they’re doing,” Dr Patterson said.

“They’re my friends. I have no problem with them. They have a right to speak. But the reality is, the council will continue to do what the council, I believe, is mandated to do. And whether they support it or not is totally irrelevant.

“We’re going to continue to do our work.”

The council has been vocal about its opposition to the legalisation of web-shops and a national lottery since the referendum was first announced and has been persistently pushing their ‘vote no’ campaign.

In addition to a commercial which is circulating on YouTube, the website www.saveourbahamas.com has already been launched and outlines seven reasons why the council believes Bahamians should vote no.

Dr Patterson said: “We have organised. We continue to meet on a regular basis. We have many of our programs ready to be rolled out. We’re going to present the other side of the story and let the Bahamian people make a decision and whatever the decision the Bahamian people make, the church is going to be there to support the country.”

Asked if the prime minister had yet invited them to voice their stance to him, as he did to the ‘vote yes’ pastors, Dr Patterson said: “Not yet. We’re still waiting.”

On Thursday, a group of four pastors - including Bishop Hall and led by Philip McPhee - were invited to meet with the prime minister to explain their beliefs.

Dr McPhee said his position, and the position of some 30 pastors from eight different denominations, was to ensure that a yes vote would benefit the entire Bahamas.

They believe as the numbers business has become inextricably a part of Bahamian life to the point where it is impossible to police or extricate it from society, it should be regulated and taxed with proceeds benefiting social programmes.

“We think it’s the best way of doing it and we think the Bahamian people will benefit and we hope that the Bahamian people will give their full support to the ‘yes’ vote,” Dr McPhee said.