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.
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.
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.
[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.
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. “)
“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.”
- How to fight homophobia: A partial success story from Jamaica (
- Jamaica: I’ll miss mom’s funeral; gay men aren’t safe there
- Jamaica: Pride is a living legacy of the LGBTI movement (October 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Pope: ‘God made you this way.’ Jamaicans: Let’s debate (May 2018, 76crimes.com)
More context:
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!