True colours? The Rev Al Miller speaks his mind

In an article in the Jamaica Gleaner Saturday edition, Rev. Al Miller "indicated that he would not be opposed to the idea of having dialogue about the issues of bigotry and intolerance within the society", it went on to say that  Rev. Miller "would have to be satisfied with the principles that would guide those discussions", the entire article may be read here: Church Head Says He Is Open To Talks On Bigotry, Intolerance

After reading the article, and seeing Rev. Miller's specific demands for such dialogue to take place I commented saying: ‎"As far as I see Al Miller will have this discussion when he will have his way. When will these people realise that Jamaica is a secular democratic society? That church and state are separate. And that you cannot dictate who and how other persons should love and tolerate based only on your religious views?"

Now, less than one month after that article, my fellow blogger at Gay Lesbian Bisexual Trans-gender & Queer Jamaica, brings to our attention Rev. Miller's remarks on his television program Word Power, that the, "gay lobby is using the guise of tolerance to get the nation to accept the “gay lifestyle”".

“Nothing is wrong with loving someone but disagreeing or disliking their lifestyle and the issue is the lifestyle we are not against...but we must recognize sin as sin,...what the gay agenda is about is wanting the society to accept the lifestyle as being right but they are using the guise of tolerance, of course we can be tolerant with the individual but we must have the right to be intolerant to a practice that is not right it is in the same vein as anyone who practices a lifestyle that is inconsistent with correct behaviour or good for a society". 

To read the entire post, and the entirety of the remarks, please visit: Rev Al Miller says gay lobby is using the guise of tolerance to get the nation to accept the “gay lifestyle”

Dear reader, I ask you to draw your own conclusion; what do you think the Rev wants? An open dialogue in which both parties can come to a consensus as to how to move forward, while respecting the rights of all? Or a dialogue in which all parties will agree that GLBTQ persons ought not to have access to their basic rights and freedoms, since it is not in accordance with traditional Christian belief?

Atheist Vs Christian Morality: My Response

 I really can't decided if this is a rant or not so, I've also placed this post on Jamaican GLBTQ Christian.


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I am not surprised to see an atheist (Dr. Elthon Lowe) questioning the society’s firm footing in “Christian morality”. This blog post however is not so much about the letter written, but the comments that followed.

The intolerance of the Christians who responded to his article is not hidden. No I do not agree with atheist thought, what I do believe is that each of us is given free will. An atheist should be free to express his or her thought of how they view Christianity, isn’t that what freedom of speech is about?

Many Christians fear that their right to freedom of speech will be curtailed if ‘certain people’ are allowed to access and exercise their rights, yet they sometimes seem so disrespectful of other opinions and the rights of others to express such, for example mrs. parker commented on Dr. Lowe’s article saying, “I am so sorry that the gleaner took up space that could have been used for other more pressing and important  things, and used it for this insignificant, stupid ideas of these people that don't know them selfI am so sorry that the gleaner took up space that could have been used for other more pressing and important  things, and used it for this insignificant, stupid ideas of these people that don't know them self”.

What is it with many Christians? If you are speaking something that they don’t agree with they tell you to keep it to yourself because ‘the rest of us don’t want to hear it’, for example a commenter Machowan  says, “I would hope the good doctor is not insinuating that we as christians are forcing our belief or values on him. We are fortunate enough to live in a country where we are free to believe or not to believe in any God at all. I will bet my bottom dollar you did not feel this way before you enter certain educational institution. Some of us tend to be cocky when we think we are a notch or two above the rest. You don't believe in the Father of creation, then keep that to your self, because you have no gospel to preach. Unless you are trying to convince yourself.” How does that stimulate conversation, how does that allow evangelism, how does that speak of the spirit of Christ in the Christian? It doesn’t.

No I’m not saying do not respond to his assertions, I am not saying do not contradict him, neither am I saying do not speak about your beliefs. I am saying encourage dialogue, have a conversation. I have met atheists, and agnostics some have rejected Christianity because it doesn’t make logical sense, some have rejected it because they have been beaten over the head with a stick to accept Christianity and some have seen the injustice and ruthlessness that Christianity can create. What happened to Love? No, not turning a blind eye and allowing that person to destroy themselves; rather, lovingly minister to such persons, reach out to them with compassion, sometimes if you listened to why they believe what they do, you overly righteous Christians would possibly learn something new, and learn a different way of evangelizing.

No I am not on the side of Dr. Lowe, I do not believe that we should, “Return morality to the human world into the hands of humans who can create and sustain it”; my gosh if morality were solely dependent on humanity’s thought’s there would still be injustice and in my opinion even chaos, for who’s version of morality would we follow? Morality can be influenced by religious (not only Christian) thought; it should be guided by our desire to protect those who may be harmed because of their inability to choose. My morality based on my religious belief should not be pushed down your throat, neither should someone else’s.

An interesting and almost borderline intolerant conversation rages on the website of the article and can be read here: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110904/letters/letters2.html


You can also read this post on: Jamaican GLBTQ Christian