Some say let the Bible be the guide, while others say stop the hypocrisy and face reality.
These are just some of the views shared by Nation online readers in response to the recent comment made by Anglican minister Reverend Charles Morris that there is nothing wrong with premarital sex.
This comment has sparked much debate and some public outcry and just yesterday Anglican Bishop Dr John Holder has distanced the church from the controversial statement. Ministers across denominations and faiths have also cried out against the comment, saying it was especially confusing for young people who are struggling to make the right decisions.
Barbadians here and abroad were also vocal posted some of their views on the Nation’s Facebook page.
Michelle Husbands: “The entire debate is nonsensical. God said it is a sin and that is the end of the argument. Regardless of the verdict, man will continue to do as he pleases. Why is it that the majority of people who seem to be up in arms over Reverend Morris’ statement are those who are actually unmarried and having sex? Stop being a hypocrite. While premarital sex is wrong (based on the word of God) sex is also one of those areas that we as humans we often “struggle” with.
Patrick Porter: “Read the Bible. Most people have pre-marital sex and that is a fact. However, it does not say that it is right. In today’s world there is too much premarital sex, which leads to unwanted children who are then neglected and forgotten. Men seem to think that it is their right to have sex with any woman they want and walk away from their responsibility. As a man with a family I totally disagree with this thought. You do it, you are responsible for that child for the rest of their life,like it or lump it, that is your part to play. Wake you and take that responsiblity, without the man around the boys get into trouble and then everyone wonders why. Girls there is a word you can use it is called No.”
One reader, writing under Brownsuga Jozi said: “We need to stop being so hypocritical and start dealing with reality. The reality is premarital sex will continue to happen whether Rev Morris says it’s ok or not. I personally do not see anything wrong with it because like he said I am not buying shoes without trying it on neither am I buying a car and not test driving it. Our young people will continue to have sex whether we like it or not. We need to come to this reality and change the message that is being sent. We should be telling them that we really don’t want them having sex so young but if they are going to do it they should be using condoms to protect themselves and that is the message that we need to start sending before we lose this generation. Hypocrisy will get us no place in the fight against AIDS and other STDS”.
Dev Bruce: “Well I believe in a person’s right to make their own choices. You can advise me on what you believe to be right, but remember no man has the monopoly on truth. So at the end of the day it’s my decision to make. Society is not static and will always be in transition. Yesterday’s deviance will be today’s normality. Individual liberty should be paramount. Thankfully there is separation between church and state”.
Shandy Grant: “No man is perfect and for them to sit discussion an issue like that shows that they are fake because it is something that was happening not only now but decades before and everyone has to answer for themselves when that time comes. You so called men of God are too judgemental.”
Jewel Hall: “We are too hypocrtitical”.
Jacqueline Cumberbatch: “Of course it’s a sin. The Bible said no fornicators shall enter the kingdom of God. If it wasn’t a sin why would the Lord say to marry and become as one”.
Kimberley Riley: “Who can argue that premarital sex is wrong? Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” and in Ephesians 5:5 it clearly says that no fornicator has any inheritance in the kingdom of God. I, myself was guilty of fornication but just because we do it and it’s common to do it doesn’t make it right. Adultery seems to be quite common these days too so are we soon going to hear that it’s ok as well?”
Lisa Taylor: “I believe there is a God. The one and only we all call upon when we are in trouble. Let’s face it , humans seek spirituality when they see no way out but saying that , I believe the Bible is just another man’s interpretation and at the end of the day filled with a lot of one’s own views of how life should be. We have to remember the Book was written a long time ago and things that are right and fair now certainly were not then and vise versa. But it is good to see and hear how our pastors read the same Bible and get total different meanings from the scripture”.
Teresa Douglas: “Fornication is not premarital sex. Sex is defined as the union of two persons in marriage… e.g. Adam knew Eve his wife” (“to know,” Hebrew yada, being a euphemism for sexual intercourse) making sex and marriage the same. A couple is married in the eyes of God and the Law when the physical union is consummated through sexual intercourse, when the couple is legally married and after they have participated in a formal or religious wedding ceremony.
“The priest took what should have a teaching moment and ruined it. He could have taken the opportunity to teach what God really says marriage is but alas he went down the whole ‘pig in a bag route’. Couldnt you have found a more tasteful way of saying the same thing? “To hear Bajans uproaring over this issue is interesting as this is not a society that values marriage so infinitely that we hold marriage to the fire as the standard for all young people. If that was the case more of our older women who had children out of wedlock would hold it as the standard for their sons and daughters and the tradition would continue. We want to kill the priest for his views but laughed when the church places abstinence programmes as the solution to the spread of HIV saying it cannot work as you cannot tell the young people not to have sex. Things to make you go hmmmm.”
