Rosie O’Donnell’s Homosexual Cruise - The Bahamas
By Apostle Cedric Moss
Nassau, The Bahamas
For several weeks now we have been hearing about Rosie O’Donnell’s upcoming homosexual cruise with “family values” that is scheduled to make two port calls in The Bahamas. According to the published itinerary, the ship will stop at Little Stirrup Cay on July 15th from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. - and then Nassau on July 16th from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Today I offer a kingdom perspective on it, which I trust, will serve as a faithful guide for the Christian community’s response.
A Big Show Down?
There are those who hold the view that the Church should seek to stop this homosexual cruise and others like it. There are others who believe the Church should stage demonstrations to protest against this cruise and homosexuality. I disagree with both views. My disagreement is not just in the present situation… I have always held this position against protesting and seeking to stop such cruises.
I clearly recall the protests against homosexual cruise a few years ago. Some protesters got into shouting matches with passengers and physical confrontations with the Police. Clearly something is wrong with those pictures because such protests misrepresent the cause of Christ and the way of His Kingdom.
What Manner of Spirit?
I am reminded of the response of Jesus to James and John when they sought His permission to call down fire on the Samaritans just because the Samaritans did not welcome them. Jesus rebuked the brothers for “not knowing the manner of spirit they were of” and reminded them that He did not come to destroy the lives of men, but to save them (see Luke 9:51-56). Those who are minded to physically protest and confront this cruise- and other groups they oppose should be guided by these words of Christ. If not, they should be guided by common sense: Such protests are counterproductive and do more harm than good.
Their only result is to cause persons who are trapped in and blinded by the sin of homosexuality to be further alienated from Christ and His ambassadors who are supposed to be bearers of good news and not inflammatory rhetoric. So I would urge all in the Christian community to recognize the manner of spirit we are of, and pray for Rosie O’Donnell and those who will be accompanying her to hear and respond to the Gospel.
Hospitality and Honesty
We are a tourist destination, and as such - should be hospitable to all those who wish to visit our shores- and abide by our laws and cultural standards of public conduct. However, in addition to hospitality- we need to demonstrate honesty, and the Ministry of Tourism or the relevant arm of government should appropriately and clearly advise the cruise organizers of our cultural standards of public conduct to be passed on to passengers. The sad thing is that many will object to such honest communication because they believe some homosexual tourists will choose to not come to The Bahamas.
I am not speculating about this objection. I have previously mentioned the need for this kind of honest communication to homosexual tourists, and some who oppose homosexuality disagreed simply because they fear the possibility of losing homosexual tourists and the money they spend. In other words, they prefer that we continue to engage in national hypocrisy and keep quiet about our cultural norm against homosexuality because we might have to pay a financial price. It leads me to wonder if their greed exceeds their conviction against homosexuality. Clearly the strongest one will win.
Our Real Battle
Many years ago I learnt a very helpful lesson: You always have more battles to fight than you have bullets available; so you must choose your battles wisely. Violating this rule of engagement means you might win unimportant battles, but you will lose important ones. Bearing this in mind, the matter of homosexual cruises and land groups who come to visit our shores for a few hours or days is an unimportant battle, and fighting them is a waste of bullets…our time, efforts and energies. Our real battle is to wisely engage our efforts to ensure that when our constitution is amended, citizens of The Bahamas are given an opportunity to decide whether or not they wish to encode in Our constitution the clear definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, and the Prohibition of all forms of legal accommodations for same sex unions.
This battle should in no Way seek to infringe on the current freedoms, which our constitution gives to same sex couples to associate and relate to each other however they choose. It should only seek to enshrine the boundaries of marriage in The Bahamas from any possible legal infringement.
Apostle Cedric Moss serves as Senior Pastor at Kingdom Life World Outreach Centre.
