Talk 'bout what you love (Observer)

WELCOME back, family, friends and fans. I can't believe a whole week has swept by us and here we are once again.

Some of you must tire of reading about my total ignorance of current affairs with my BlackBerry being my main information source, but that's just how things cook up in Elva Land so bear on with me for a few minutes.

Some righteous individuals decided to advocate for a public ban on an alleged commercial the JIS has plans to air or is airing on television depicting a homosexual couple. Whether this is so or not I have no idea. My beef is neither with the JIS nor the sanctimonious saver of the world who drafted the mail, but with individuals on my messenger service who took it upon themselves (some of them who sin more than Satan himself) to forward it to me. I am not a homosexual advocate nor am I saying the lifestyle is moral or justifiable, since only God can judge us, but I was not in favour of the tone of the broadcast which suggested that we needed to stand up for our rights as Jamaicans and call for a ban of the ad, since it was going to plunge us as a nation into the pit of hell. Now the last time I checked, the motto said 'Out of many, one people," so go figure.

That is what I got from the broadcast and remember, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, so maybe I interpreted it wrong.

A Bible verse was also cited which alluded to such persons being stoned in the book of Leviticus. What struck me as funny is, from my Sunday school memory, the stoning punishment was rampant throughout the books of the Old Testament, being applicable to men who stole; coveted their neighbour's wife or that woman at the well who was engaging in the world's oldest profession. How come none of those other ungodly 'abominations' were listed in the broadcast? It just didn't seem fair. The way I see it, sin is sin and he who is without sin, and only he, can cast stones. Based on the Bible and its teachings that I grew up on, homosexuality is against God's law, but I don't see it as the main contender for what is destroying the fibre of our beautiful little island.

Are homosexuals or a homosexual lifestyle responsible for the national debt; garrison in-fighting; corruption in high and low places; the increasing crime rate; the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar; Air Jamaica's sale; bad mind?... well, you get the picture.

I think we should strive to fix the major problems our country faces by acting less selfishly; insisting our children get an education; demanding better services from our elected officials; and taking pride in ourselves as Jamaicans -- gay or straight. Send out a BB broadcast about that if you dare! Since I'm on a roll here, let me add that homosexuality has always been around, hence the town of Sodom; it is nothing new. What is new is the emphasis we have placed on it in this country over the last two decades.

When I was growing up, there were persons living among us known as 'Maama man' or the female version 'Man Royal'. They went about their business just like everyone else, they weren't the centre of attention and dancehall/reggae music and our culture focused and fostered man to woman relationships. Nowadays, as a member of the female species, I have to wait for an allotted segment to 'bruk out' at a party, because all night long the music being played is about men, whether bad man, gunman or gay man.

And they do appreciatively hog the video light, sometimes bouncing away the true divas, because they are the feature act. My granny used to say "shoemaker talk bout shoes". Shouldn't our social commentators, be they selectors, artistes or BB broadcasters promote that which they know and love? This homophobic obsession is probably what led to the JIS' alleged acknowledgement. I can't blame them if that is the case; since they must be royalty the way we focus on the lifestyle of that group. Kudos everyone, if a so it really go, mission accomplished!

Correct me if I'm wrong but is there a separate hell for homosexuals? Last time I checked all sinners whether thieves, murderers, liars, drunkards, overeaters and fornicators are going the same place come Judgment Day to spend an eternity together, so we might as well start living good with each other from now or get right with God, obey ALL his commandments in order to enter Heaven and avoid the bangarang.

Well, that's my time, I've officially run out of allotted space to prattle on, so I'll end here. Hope you got the point.

Tweet me @ElvaJamaica or send comments via email
"mailto:elvachatalot@yahoo.com" elvachatalot@yahoo.com.