By Mark Dawes, Staff ReporterLAST SEPTEMBER, in an interview with The Gleaner the Rev. Dr. Vivian Panton generated heated debate when he articulated his views on the relationship between God and homosexuals.
His views were revisited earlier on May 2, 2004, on the RJR Sunday afternoon programme, Religious Hardtalk, which is hosted by journalist Ian Boyne. It was an interview where Mr. Boyne was at his probing best, and the Rev. Dr. Panton acknowledged his struggle to be honest to his convictions without seeking to offend his colleagues in the Jamaica Baptist Union.
Speaking with The Gleaner last year, the Rev. Dr. Panton, who is also the head of the Police Chaplaincy Unit, said:
Gleaner: Those homosexuals that have come to you for counselling, have they changed their ways?
Panton: They can't turn around. A homosexual can't change.
Gleaner: Not even by the grace of God?.
Panton: It is the grace of God that has made them to be who they are. In counselling homosexuals my main concern is to help them to accept the fact that this is their sexuality and to appreciate themselves and to love themselves.
Gleaner: Are you not concerned about what other Ministers of the Gospel are going to say when they read your views on this?
Panton: But it is true. What else can you do? They are human beings and that is their sexuality. You can't fight yourself. You can't hate yourself. If you are going to live a full life, the important thing is to just accept the fact that this thing is and appreciate yourself and love yourself too. Don't hate yourself because you are a homosexual.
GOD HAS MADE HOMOSEXUALS
He told his radio host that when he said 'It is the grace of God that has made homosexuals to be who they are', he did not mean to convey the idea that God cannot change a homosexual. "I said it is by the grace of God that that person is who he or she is. What I intended to convey in that response was, 'why should we be concerned that that person should change (if God has made the person that way)-The power of God can change the homosexual, but why do you think this power of God should?."
The holder of a Bachelor's degree from the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI), a Master's from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctorate from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary - the Rev. Dr. Panton believes paedophilia is a learnt behaviour and as such can be cured. But he does not believe a "genuine homosexual" can be treated.
The Rev. Dr. Panton believes some people are born homosexuals and that genetic factors contribute to this reality. However, he said too that persons who are born gay, raise problems for people but not for God.
GODLY SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP
The Rev. Dr. Panton has for the last three years been giving pastoral oversight to the Hanover Street Baptist Church in Kingston while that congregation continues its search for a permanent pastor. He told the interviewer that though there are passages in the Bible that condemn homosexuality, he did not believe that the essential message of the Bible would condemn homosexuality. He argued that the letter of the Bible condemns homosexuality but not the spirit of the Bible. He told his host that homosexual partners can have a committed and Godly sexual relationship.
Asked to define 'marriage', the Rev. Dr. Panton said it involves a "commitment on the part of two persons - one man to one woman with commitment and permanence. Permanence in terms of longevity as well as in terms of quality - to my mind that is what constitutes the marriages and that is what God looks at - the intent of the individuals."
Boyne: And that is not necessarily restricted to a particular form - it is not restricted to a legal form? It does not mean that people have to go before a pastor or would have gone through the legal process to have fulfilled that?
Panton: Certainly not.
Boyne: When someone is living in a common-law union, how does a Christian see that person differently from two persons committing
fornication?
Panton: Persons committing fornication are persons who engage in sexual activity without commitment.
Quizzed as to the validity of
same-sex marriages, the Rev. Dr. Panton said he had questions in his mind concerning marriage between homosexuals. "I do not know what
the purpose of it would be unless it is simply to provide companionship - if we stay with the purpose of marriage being for procreation. If there are other purposes then fine."
