27th July 2015
Rev Dr Wycherley Gumbs
Chairman
Anguilla Christian Council
Dear Rev Gumbs,
Re: Domestic Violence Bill
I write to you with a degree of urgency on the matter relating to the Domestic Violence Bill and formally to solicit the position of the Anguilla Christian Council on this matter.
As I am sure you already know, from the very first time this Domestic Violence Bill was gazetted I took on a keen interest on this Bill because of the serious and grave consequences which this Bill can wreak on the Christian principles of our country. While the Bill seeks a laudable goal of providing a more expeditious process of handling of cases of domestic abuse, what it also does is to promote and violate our standards of marriage.
To date, the Anguilla Christian Council has remained decidedly quiet on the issues that are engaged under this Bill, and in particular those that attack one of fundamental precepts of the Christian religion, namely marriage; under this Bill same-sex marriages, marriages of other cultures, religions and customs which could include bigamous or polygamous marriages, marriages of under-aged children or other circumstances which in Anguilla’s culture could be deemed exploitation – are all engaged, embraced and given status under this current legislation.
Notwithstanding this monumental shift in Anguilla’s culture, mores and Christian principles and despite all the media attention, supported by senior attorneys who have ventilated on the legal ramifications, the Church as a body has remained silent.
In fact, up to Saturday, 25th July, a senior pastor of the Evangelical Association professed to be unaware that the legislation had already had its First Reading in the House of Assembly and claimed also to being unaware as to the effects of the legislation on our fundamental precepts of marriage.
This is unacceptable that the Church can be so out of step with what is happening in our Society when instead it ought to be the vanguard voicing against the moral degradation that is occurring in our Society.
Regrettably, I do not intend to allow this Organization to shirk its moral duty and so I trust that by this correspondence the conscience of this Organization will be pierced to act and to stand for God’s Truth.
We have seen that this Christian Council has the willpower to stand up as a body and address the media when it feels that it has been offended or when it feels that it can set the temperature on more mundane matters of the ensuring of a hiatus of political meetings during the Lenten Season. Therefore it becomes even more startling that there has been no position of the Christian Council on such a fundamental matter that has been around since 2011.
In the premises and given that the House of Assembly may be meeting this Friday, 31st July 2015, where certain legislators have already made public utterances that the Bill will be given its Second and Third Reading, I would be grateful to receive the position of the Christian Council in writing on or before Wednesday, 29th July 2015.
I look forward to your prompt response.
Yours sincerely,
Elkin Richardson
c.c. Media Houses
Editor’s Note:
A similar letter was sent to Mrs. Evalie Bradley Local Preacher in the Methodist Church, Mr. Curtis Richardson and Pastor Lucien Mc Donna Chaplin of the HOA Association and the president of the Anguilla Evangelical Association.
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
