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Minor breakthrough for Jamaica’s powerful Adventists

Minor breakthrough for Jamaica’s powerful Adventists

Members of Jamaica’s powerful, popular, fundamentalist Seventh Day Adventists have started to realize that LGBT people deserve courtesy, not scorn.

Pastor Omar Oliphant (Photo courtesy of Spectrum Magazine)
Pastor Omar Oliphant: “We hold that all people, no matter what their sexual orientation, are children of God.” (Photo courtesy of Spectrum Magazine)

By Maurice Tomlinson

Seventh Day Adventists are the largest Christian group in Jamaica and count the country’s Governor General, Prime Minister, Speaker of the House and other senior government officials among their membership.

This powerful fundamentalist and anti-LGBT denomination also operates a university, Northern Caribbean University. 

During a recent event for the university a pastor favorably cited the lyrics of one of Jamaica’s most popular “murder-music” songs that calls for the shooting death of gays.

Pastor Omar Oliphant said of singer Buju Banton, ""I hear that dem releasing Buju Banton in December, and I can't wait for his return, because him have a song weh seh boom bye-bye ... yuh know I can't say di words," )
Pastor Omar Oliphant said of singer Buju Banton, “I hear that dem releasing Buju Banton in December, and I can’t wait for his return, because him have a song weh seh boom bye-bye … yuh know I can’t say di words.”

[Editor’s note: Buju Banton’s lyrics calling for the killing of a gay man (batty bwoy) begin “World is in trouble anytime Buju Banton come. Batty bwoy get up an run. At gunshot me head back. Hear I tell him now, crew, Boom bye bye Inna batty bwoy head.”]

The incident was condemned by a writer to the Jamaica Gleaner (“Will NCU, Adventist Church condemn pastor’s remarks?”). The university posted a lame response (“NCU steers clear of uncivil conduct”) where they still defended the pastor and took issue with, among other things, “alternative sexual practices, evolution” etc.

See Also
High Court Justice Esco Henry of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

That response was condemned by the popular Jamaica Gleaner newspaper (“Editorial | The pastor’s invocation of Buju”: “The church’s interpretation of Christian values may not include an acceptance of gay love. But neither do we expect it to include hatred of people because of who they choose to love nor inciting violence if that love is between persons of the same sex. “)

Yesterday the pastor offered a much fuller apology that would have been unthinkable a few years ago:
We hold that all people, no matter what their sexual orientation, are children of God. We do not condone singling out any group for scorn and derision, let alone abuse or violence.
I don’t think that this statement can be read to mean that J’can Adventists now support recognizing the full human rights of LGBT+ people, but rather there maybe an appreciation for a “live and let live” approach.  Even the current Prime Minister recently stated that unlike his predecessor (another Adventist) he would accept a gay person in his cabinet.  
 
The times they are a’changing!
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View Comment (1)
  • My husband and I know genuine lesbian and gay Christians. Many are good friends and all are making this world a better place. Kudos to the Seventh Day Adventists for opening their hearts to God’s LGBTI children!

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