Leadership of CARICOM being called on to stand firm against international pressures

One thousand, two hundred and eighty-six (1,286) churches and civil society organizations representing hundreds of thousands from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), supported by individuals from 80 other countries across the globe are calling on the leadership of the region to stand firm against international pressures to abolish logical common-sense principles necessary for human flourishing.{{more}}

“CARICOM has recently been the target of determined efforts by the USA and transnational actors to force the region to adopt laws, policies and educational curricula that promote unhealthy behaviours, undermine the institutions of marriage and family and threaten the well-being of Caribbean societies,” a release from the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society said.

The pressures being placed on the region have included, but have not been limited to: court cases challenging the constitutionality of laws that prohibit unnatural sexual behaviours; surreptitious inclusion of offensive material into sex education curricula for 11- 12 year old children; promotion of deviant behaviours under the guise of theology; promotion of the false idea that homosexuals are denied basic human rights in Caribbean societies; ‘diversity’ training of the police force by a same-sex ‘married’ couple from Canada; punishment of CARICOM nationals for providing factual information about risky sexual behaviours, arbitrary termination of their employment plus suppression of their fundamental freedoms of conscience and expression; emergence of document ‘The World As It Should Be,’ prepared by US gay “rights” lobby group Human Rights First, detailing the blue print to coerce the Jamaican government and citizens to accept and implement special LGBT “rights.”

“Among the consequences that have occurred from adopting these illogical ideas in the USA, Canada, UK and other nations are the loss of fundamental rights. This has compounded the undermining of the greatest pro-child institution in the history of mankind: the natural family,” the release said.

The Declaration and its list of supporting signatories have been sent to the Heads of Government of CARICOM who will be meeting in Barbados from July 2 to 4 2015 for the 36th Regular Conference of Heads of Government of the CARICOM.

One of the signatories to the Declaration, the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS), notes the announcement by the UWI that UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon is scheduled to speak with hundreds of Caribbean secondary and tertiary level students and youth at a town-hall meeting during his visit to the CARICOM meeting. The meeting with the students is to be broadcast across the region through multiple electronic media.

It is known that Mr Ban has used his position to advocate for LGBT “rights” and is ”an outspoken supporter of decriminalizing consensual same-sex relationships.” The JCHS, however, expects Mr Ban Ki-moon to conduct himself in a manner consistent with his position as the UN’s chief technocrat, accountable to the 193 Member States of the United Nations, and that he will respect the laws, sovereignty and elected leadership of the CARICOM people.

At the time of going to press, citizens from 95 countries have signed in support of the CARICOM Civil Society Declaration – the English, French, Spanish and Dutch speaking Caribbean, Latin America, the Commonwealth: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and Pacific; Western and Eastern Europe; Asia and the Middle East and the USA, through an online petition platform on CitizenGO.org. The petition began on June 17, 2015 and is still ongoing and open to the public.

The CARICOM Civil Society Declaration was framed by the foundational principles underlining the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. The Heads were asked to preserve the inherent sanctity of life of all human beings without further qualification, promote genuine and fundamental human rights which are universal, and reject the creation of special categories of human ‘rights’ which lead to irreconcilable conflict and competition.

The CARICOM Civil Society Declaration is founded on reasoned arguments from public health, history, philosophy and law which effectively refute the sexual “rights” claims. In the words of Aristotle, “law is reason free of passion.”

“The Caribbean is well able to advance without embracing a sexual culture that contradicts nature and natural design,” the release said.