{"id":7788,"date":"2013-10-06T23:08:40","date_gmt":"2013-10-07T03:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=7788"},"modified":"2013-10-06T23:08:40","modified_gmt":"2013-10-07T03:08:40","slug":"local-churches-we-wont-marry-gays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=7788","title":{"rendered":"Local Churches: We won\u2019t marry gays"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Richardson Dhalai
\nOctober 07, 2013 – newsday.co.tt<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Bible\"<\/a>Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris yesterday stated that the Church would not be drawn into any debate on whether it would sanction same sex marriages.<\/p>\n

He said the Roman Catholic Church\u2019s position on gay marriages \u201cvery clear,\u201d and according to the Archbishop, there was a difference between \u201cloving the sinner and hating the sin\u201d.
\n
\nThe Archbishop was asked to respond to an exclusive story in the Sunday Newsday which reported that two Trinidadian gay men recently married each other in the United States where such marriages are legal.<\/p>\n

They returned to Trinidad where such marriages are not legal and held a lavish reception at an upscale venue where, it is reported, they again exchanged vows. It is not the first time that a gay couple has gotten married in Trinidad and Tobago, but such unions are clearly on the rise, the report noted.<\/p>\n

In a telephone interview yesterday, Harris, when asked whether the Church would perform same sex marriages should they become legal in Trinidad and Tobago, said, \u201cThe Church cannot do that.\u201d \u201cGod looks at the person and loves the person, but the Church is very, very clear on the issue of same sex marriages and the Church will not be drawn into that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha general secretary, Satnarine Maharaj, said according to the Hindu marriage ordinance, marriage was defined as being \u201cbetween a male and a female.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that there are people who are born with tendencies towards the other gender but that does not mean we must bend the laws to extend to the wider community,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cwe don\u2019t change the laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have homosexuals here but we won\u2019t change the laws to get them married,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked whether Maha Sabha would allow same sex marriages should it become legal in Trinidad and Tobago, he said, \u201cI don\u2019t think it will happen here but we are not supportive of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also commenting on the issue was Inter Religious Organisation president, Bro. Harrypersad Maharaj who also dismissed the possibility that the legalisation of same sex marriages would be approved locally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it will be approved in Trinidad and Tobago,\u201d Maharaj said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a religious organisation standpoint, most, if not all, would stand on the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman and not a man and a man or a woman and a woman,\u201d he said, adding \u201cno religious organisation would approve of same sex marriages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, executive director of the Coalition Advocation for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation\u2019s, (CAISO) Colin Robinson said its membership was instead focusing on \u201cmore pressing\u201d issues as \u201cbullying, violence, homelessness and job discrimination\u201d rather than same sex marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cOthers think it\u2019s just a lightning rod, a polarising issue that religious leaders exploit to draw new people to their emptying pews or obscure preachers use to create a platform for themselves, peddle fear and divide instead of heal the nation, and one a sensationalistic media is only too happy to use to sell ads,\u2019 Robinson stated. \u201cOne thing is clear: it brings out the crazies, and prevents the nation from moving forward on the things about tolerance and sexual diversity and inclusion that we agree on,\u201d Robinson added. <\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.newsday.co.tt\/news\/0,184650.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Richardson Dhalai October 07, 2013 – newsday.co.tt Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris yesterday stated that the Church would not be drawn into any debate on whether it would sanction same sex marriages. He said the Roman Catholic Church\u2019s position on gay marriages \u201cvery clear,\u201d and according to the Archbishop, there was a difference between … Continue reading Local Churches: We won\u2019t marry gays<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[291,1,178,12],"tags":[878,879,359,880,877],"class_list":["post-7788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gender","category-general-tt","category-media","category-religion","tag-churches","tag-joseph-harris","tag-newsday","tag-roman-catholic-archbishop","tag-same-sex-marriages"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7789,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7788\/revisions\/7789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}