The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell said something that 99.9 per cent of parliamentarians, both past and present, would have never dared to say in a public forum. While paying homage in the House of Assembly to the late South African President Nelson Mandela, Mitchell decided to use that opportunity to voice his support for gay rights in The Bahamas by taking grave exception to those who oppose his position on the matter by alluding to Mandela’s effort in pushing for legislation to end discrimination against homosexuals in South Africa.

Mitchell seems to be saying that those who criticize his pro-gay views but are now heaping praises on Mandela, who himself was pro-gay, are being hypocritical because they have chosen to take issue with him. In defence of these critics, whoever they are, it just might be that they were not aware of Mandela’s views on gay rights.

There are many things about Mandela that most Bahamians are not aware of.

For instance, many of them don’t know that Mandela was the head of a violent terrorist organization called the Umkhonto we Sizwe, which had committed many acts of terrorism in the 1960s, including murder.

To Mandela and his fellow African National Congress comrade the late Oliver Tambo, violence was a means to an end against the white Apartheid government of South Africa.

This deeply troubling aspect of Mandela’s life is well documented and is available for all to see. For those who question the veracity of my claims, all one has to do is to remove their Mandela blinders and objectively examine the data which is available on the Internet from credible sources.

In mentioning Mandela and gay rights in the same breath, Mitchell appears to be saying that because the late anti-apartheid icon supported gay rights, his (Mitchell) position has been duly vindicated, because of Mandela’s immense international appeal and stature.

But the Bible condemns this destructive sexual lifestyle. Leviticus 18:22 says, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination” (NASB). I have a gut feeling, however, that what the Bible has to say about human sexuality means very little to Mitchell, based on his statement in the House of Assembly.

I always thought that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was the party of the church. Yet we have a PLP MP standing up in the House of Assembly and openly voicing his support for gay rights in this country and no one in his party stood up in order to take issue with what he said. Members of the Christian community really need to start taking a hard, long look at these political candidates before they vote.

We are putting people in the House of Assembly who don’t share our Judeo-Christian values. But somehow I am beginning to suspect that many churchgoers really don’t care about biblical values. What is important to them is that their party wins the general election.

And if that means supporting an individual who openly opposes what God says in His Word, then so be it. I am disappointed that the Bahamas Christian Council hasn’t screamed bloody Mary on this matter.

As an evangelical Christian, I stand diametrically opposed to gay rights and the gay lifestyle because it is a violation of the Word of God.

There are dire consequences for engaging in this abnormal lifestyle. I read on the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC website that gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men or MSM are more severely affected by HIV than any other group in the United States.

The CDC website also noted that among all MSM, black/African American MSM bear the greatest disproportionate burden of HIV.

From 2008 to 2010, HIV infections among young black/African American MSM increased by 20 per cent, as per the CDC website.

Furthermore, the CDC pointed out that in 2010, MSM accounted for 63 per cent of estimated new HIV infections in the United States and 78 per cent of infections among all newly infected men. Considering the untold misery and devastation the gay lifestyle is having on the gay community in the United States, why would an elected government official in this country openly endorse this lifestyle?

Our leaders are supposed to be trying to protect us. Not pushing an agenda that will hurt their people. Mitchell was wrong to openly support gay rights in the House of Assembly.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama,

December 19, 2013.