Clergymen say US ruling on same-sex marriage unfortunate

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Two clergymen today decried a ruling by the US Supreme Court legalising same-sex marriages, calling it unfortunate and said it will eventually lead to social ills.

“As far as I am concerned, marriage coming out of the Biblical context is gender-specific relation of two persons from the opposite sex,” Rev Rennard White, the president of the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches, told OBSERVER ONLINE.

“If it is anything else it is an arrangement, not a marriage, but in fact a misnomer. It was never a part of the divine mandate. From a Biblical perspective there is no such acknowledgement of this type of arrangement,” White said.

News broke earlier today that the United States Supreme Court in a 5 to 4 ruling declared that same-sex couples have the right to marry anywhere in the US.  Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia allowed same sex marriages, but 14 states maintained bans against it.

The ruling sparked mixed reactions from both US citizens and members of the Diaspora, with many individuals taking to various social media sites to share their views.

Meanwhile, Bishop C Everton Thomas, head of the Emmanuel Group of Churches in Jamaica, shared the same sentiment as White.

Thomas described the ruling as unfortunate and said it did not come as a surprise to him. He added that the ruling may lead to other problems eventually.

“I believe there will be social ills that we will see, maybe not now, but in time,” Thomas explained.