Audrey Matura-Shepherd posted: okay…
unlike my troll friends I do not have the time to be on fb everyday and
all day and surely I refuse to use my weekends hooked to fb when I have
a lovely family to spend time with and a baby girl to raise in this
world that has gone mad. So my avid readers who look forward to my
posting of this weekly column please forgive me for the tardy post, but
you are not forgotten. as to the trolls who don’t have a life, look at
the bright side I did not want to upset your weekend with my truths
about your dirty and corrupt view of our God given life! Attack as
usual, but I will not stop writing and if you attack its because like it
or not you must read what I write!!!!!! God bless you all! 

https://www.facebook.com/notes/audrey-matura-shepherd/the-message-within-the-message/673516469327611

Let us take this fallacy-filled diatribe apart, piece by piece.

“I do not know how many Belizeans know that Belize is a Christian democracy…”

Followers
of Christian Democracy are FOR human rights, equality, and are
accepting of CHANGE… I am sure Belizeans aspire to such a thing, but
‘Christians’ like Audrey and the lying liars of Belize Action certainly
do NOT act like adherents of Christian Democracy…

*
In contrast to conservatism, Christian Democracy is open to change (for
example, in the structure of society) and followers are relatively
progressive in regards to the social status quo.

* In common with liberalism, Christian Democracy places an emphasis on human rights and individual initiative.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_democracy

Alas, historically speaking, democracy has NOT been very “Christian”

Many
important Christian leaders throughout history have not only NOT
advocated democracy, but have in fact been very authoritarian. Did
Luther or Calvin ever promote democracy? How many popes lived and died
before the Vatican agreed that democracy might be a good idea after all?

Where
is democracy mentioned in the Bible or indeed in ANY early Christian
texts? Where did Jesus or Paul argue for democracy? How long was it
before ANY Christians decided that democracy might be a good idea? If
Christianity is the foundation of our democracy, why isn’t Christianity —
or indeed religion generally — referenced as such in the Constitution?
If democracy is based on Christian principles, why did early advocates
of democracy have to argue so hard, and sometimes even FIGHT against
Christians?

There is a good reason why the idea that
“democracy is based on Christian principles” is not taught: it’s a
completely false claim that has no basis in historical reality
whatsoever. To teach that democracy is based on Christianity would be
like teaching that roses are part of the animal kingdom, or that Paris
is a city in China. No reliable text or school would ever think to teach
such a thing and so misinform students.

http://atheism.about.com/od/americachristiannation/a/Democracy.htm

“…the Church is an actual partner in governance…”

FALSE: Belize is a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, its democracy is based on the Westminster model.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Belize

The
word “church” (because there are MANY churches with differing beliefs
and gods) is specifically NOT mentioned in our constitution.

“…any
group of people can claim to have a “church” such as the church of
scientology, which is a church for all intents and purpose, but it does
not affirm the supremacy of GOD, rather it affirms the supremacy of
science.”

FALSE: the Church of Scientology is most certainly NOT based on science… but rather, has its roots in SCIENCE FICTION.

Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology

Perhaps Audrey is confusing Scientology with Christian Science?

Christian
Science is a set of beliefs and practices belonging to the
metaphysical–New Thought family of new religious movements. It was
developed in the 19th century in the United States by Mary Baker Eddy
(1821–1910), and was first described in her book Science and Health
(1875), the religion’s central text along with the Bible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Science

“…when
our Constitution speaks of God, one needs to note carefully that it
uses a capital “G” because it is not referring to a pagan god, and it is
referring to a Christian God…”

FALSE! Many different religions capitalize the word God, when referring to their god.

Theists,
particularly those who come from a monotheistic religious tradition
like Judaism, Christianity, Islam, or Sikhism, always capitalize the
‘G’.

http://atheism.about.com/od/doesgodexist/a/capitalization.htm

“…if the bible says that homosexuality is an abomination…”

IF the Bible said such a thing, which in fact, it does NOT…

The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were LACK of HOSPITALITY, greed, sloth, selfishness and gluttony.

The true sin of the Sodomites as described in the Bible has nothing to do with same-sex acts per se. Rather, the
ancient Sodomites were punished by God for far greater sins: for
attempted gang rape, for mob violence, and for turning their backs on
strangers and the needy who were in their midst. In other words, the real sin of Sodom was lack of hospitality.

The
biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah begins when two angels, disguised
as travelers, arrive at the gates of Sodom. They meet Lot, a relative
newcomer to the city, who insists that they spend the night in his
house. The other men of Sodom learn about the two strangers in their
midst. In contrast to Lot’s gracious hospitality, which includes
preparing a feast for his guests, the men surround Lot’s house and
demand that he turn over his guests so that they may “yada” them
(Genesis 19:5). 


Anti-gay Christians
have interpreted this Hebrew word narrowly to mean “to have sex with”
and thus have interpreted the sin of Sodom as nothing more than engaging
in same-sex acts, as opposed to “rape” or “molestation.”

It is clear that the real sin of Sodom is turning one’s back upon the strangers and the neediest in our midst. Rather
than welcoming traveling sojourners into their homes and feeding them,
the men of Sodom wanted to gang rape them and exert their power over
them.

The bottom line is that nowhere in the Bible does Jesus Christ ever condemn LGBT people.
However, Jesus does expressly condemn people who turn their backs on
strangers and on those who are the neediest among us. In the Gospel
according to Matthew, Jesus says that whoever fails to welcome such
people has failed to welcome Jesus himself (Matthew 25:43). In my
view, the anti-gay religious leaders, politicians, and “family values”
advocates who turn their backs on LGBT people should spend far less time
obsessing about LGBT people and far more time thinking about the true
sin of Sodom: lack of hospitality.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-patrick-s-cheng-phd/what-was-the-real-sin-of_b_543996.html

“…this
Independence Day address by Hon. Dean Oliver Barrow, was very telling
of how far this worldly and secular administration would go to seek to
establish their superiority or supremacy over the “supremacy of God”.

FALSE! Our Prime Minister said nothing even remotely indicating superiority over God… in fact, just the opposite:

TRUTH:
“Government will therefore fully respect the right of the churches to
propagate their understanding of the morality, or immorality, of
homosexuality. But what Government cannot do is to shirk its duty to
ensure that all citizens, without exception, enjoy the full protection
of the law.  After all, the Belize Constitution that affirms the
supremacy of God also affirms fundamental rights and the dignity of the
individual human being.”

“For a lawyer who supposed
to know the Constitution and constitutional law, one would expect the PM
to know that as the Constitution stands whether you are homosexual or
not, or have any other sexual preference, you are already accorded all
the same right like any of a different sexual orientation. Thus, to
accord a special group of people special rights based on whom they chose
to have sex with skews this delicate balance, while creating a new
category of man-made rights that cannot be implemented equally.  For it
to truly be equal rights, then heterosexuals will need to equally be
accorded some special right based on their choice to have sex with
someone of the opposite sex, because homosexuals are being treated as
special for having sex with persons of the same sex.”

FALSE!

What
is it about some people that they need to feel superior to someone…
anyone? There are men who need women to be inferior, Christians who need
non-Christians to be inferior, religious believers who need
nonbelievers and atheists to be inferior, citizens who need foreigners
to be inferior… and heterosexuals who need gays to be inferior. Why
can’t those who are different be equal in their differences?

Complaints
about “special” rights for gays often rely upon contrasts between
homosexuality and characteristics like gender and race. Gender and race
cannot be chosen, so it’s reasonable to bar discrimination because of
them. Homosexuality, they claim, is a lifestyle choice which does not
merit the same protection. That most research shows homosexuality to not be a choice is irrelevant — in part because they define homosexuality as same-sex sexual behavior, not as same-sex attraction.

Even if homosexuality were chosen, though, the “special” rights argument would apply equally to religion. Religion
is arguably as much about behavior and lifestyle as homosexuality, if
not more so. Thus, a principle argument used by the Christian Right here
would deny anti-discrimination protections to religious believers.

When
interracial couples fought for the right to marry each other, were they
asking for equal rights or special rights? They wanted the same rights
as other couples, but conservatives insisted they really wanted special
rights. After all, no one was allowed to marry members of another race,
so all were treated equally. Right?

It is a profound
insult to tell people that their wish to enjoy the same basic rights is
really a desire to have “special” rights unavailable to others. It’s
possible that some Christians do consider housing, jobs, and medical
care to be “unusual demands” – at least, when it comes to gays.

http://atheism.about.com/od/gaymarriage/a/SpecialRights.htm

“Ironically,
under his own government’s Gender Policy, true discrimination is
practiced because the policy advocates for rights of  “men having sex
with men” but accords no such rights to “women having sex with women”.

The
facts are: women were so lowly in social status back when the Belize
criminal codes was written that only the MALE genitalia was considered
important, and the only type of activity worthy of note, therefore
lesbians and bisexual women’s acts are NOT a crime in Belize.

“…the PM decided to defend moral corruption under the guise of equal rights…”

FALSE!  (As well as insulting, and ridiculous)

Homosexuality is not ‘moral corruption’ except in the eyes of far-right religious extremists.

Reasonable
people understand that gayness is not a ‘lifestyle choice’ but rather
the way people are born.  Scientific research backs this up, as same-sex
behavior is found in MANY different species in the animal kingdom.

1,500 animal species practice homosexuality

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/10/23/20718.aspx

I
grasp the fact that some religious people desperately NEED for gayness
to be a choice, so they can condemn gays from the pulpit, the media and
the streets… and so they can continue to discriminate against gays…
but the ‘choice’ issue is a STRAW MAN argument, based on a false
premise, drawn from junk science .

“The corruption
in our midst is a national issue needing serious attention, but instead
the sexual preference of a few got the attention.  I wish this
government would just be honest and tell the nation how many of them in
power and office have this personal sexual preference thus the energy
that is expended to advance this agenda, while the rape our children is
not even given half the attention nor money.  


Here we see yet another typical false accusation, that progressive people who believe in equality for ALL adult tax-paying citizens must be secret homosexuals or bisexuals.

The
REAL questions are, WHO is stalling the much-needed REFORMS to our
criminal code? Who objects so vociferously to the new Gender Policy? Who
doesn’t want to make the crime of sexual assault on children to be
re-written so it is gender-neutral?

Yeah, that would
be the SAME people who want to keep Section 53 as it is, with the excuse
that they need it to prosecute men who sexually assault boys, because
that circumstance was not provided for back when the criminal codes was
written.


It’s as if sexually abused children do not have equal rights as grown adults sodomizing each other do…. Outrageous!

Back
in the real world, people who stand for equal rights for consenting
adults comprehend the fact that the churches (with their vigils, marches
and media falsehoods about gays being a danger to children) are
seriously CONFUSED about terminology… constantly conflating consenting
ADULTS with animals and children, (neither of which are able to legally
consent to ANYTHING.)

THE FACTS ARE AS FOLLOWS: 

The
last four cases of minors being sexually abused in Belize were
committed by CHRISTIAN PASTORS, men who are HETEROSEXUAL IN THEIR ADULT
RELATIONSHIPS.

This behavior is termed ‘regressive’ molestation.

Regressive
child molesters are attracted to other adults, but “regress” to
focusing on children when confronted with stressful situations.
Researchers found that the majority of regressed offenders were
heterosexual in their adult relationships.

The Child
Molestation Research and Prevention Institute notes that 90% of child
molesters target children in their network of family and friends. Most
child molesters, therefore, are not gay people lingering outside schools
waiting to snatch children from the playground, as much religious-right
rhetoric suggests.

Falsely depicting gay men as a
threat to children may be the single most potent weapon for stoking
public fears about homosexuality — and for winning elections and
referenda, as Anita Bryant found out during her successful 1977 campaign
to overturn a Dade County, Fla., ordinance barring discrimination
against gay people. Discredited psychologist Paul Cameron, the most
ubiquitous purveyor of anti-gay junk science, has been a major promoter
of this myth. Despite having been debunked repeatedly and very publicly,
Cameron’s work is still widely relied upon by anti-gay organizations.

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/10-myths

JULIO CESAR GARCIA – BAPTIST PREACHER, Frank’s Eddy, Cayo District:

…an
eleven year old reported that on two occasions, the pastor of the
Baptist Church in the village had abused her. The physical contact
occurred in the church and also at his residence. This morning, Julio
Cesar Garcia, the Honduran pastor who has been in the village for merely
three months, was charged with two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge.
After the case was broadcast on Tuesday, two other young school girls
are alleging that Garcia acted inappropriately towards them. – http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/78126

JASON NEAL – Christian Pastor, Roaring Creek, Cayo District:

A
pastor, thirty-seven year old Jason Neal of the New Jerusalem Christian
Mission has been charged with two counts of indecent aggravated assault
of a minor. The boy, reported to police that in June of this year he
was asleep at Neal’s house and when he woke up, Neal was touching his
private parts. The minor also told police that in July his pastor again
touched him inappropriately.  – http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/62329

BRYAN SEARS – Christian Missionary, Sarteneja, Corozal District:

A
Christian Missionary who was trusted and accepted in the community,
forcibly sodomised three teenaged boys from the village. It came to
light on Saturday – and a doctor has since confirmed that they were
sodomised. The man accused of the crime is Brian Sears – a missionary
who had been in the community for three years – and that’s what makes
the already hideous offence even more disturbing, that he used the cover
of Christianity to gain the community’s confidence and prey on three
brothers. – http://7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=20774

NORMAN WILLACY – Baptist Pastor, School Principal and spiritual family counselor:

There
is a serious allegation being made against the principal of a high
school in Belmopan. A parent of a teen has alleged that the principal
had sex with her daughter on the school compound and that the sexual
relationship has been ongoing for a year. – http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/74738

ALL
FOUR OF THE MEN listed above are MARRIED TO WOMEN, and heterosexual in
their ADULT relationships. Three of them have children. They are NOT gay
or bisexual, they are REGRESSIVE child molesters.

Now,
technically, one might claim that Norman Willacy’s victim was above the
age of consent, but that completely denies the REALITY of his position
of power, his role as family counselor, and the VAST age difference
between the perpetrator and victim.

 Where I came from,
the age of consent matches the age at which a person can vote, own a
business, sign contracts, buy and sell land, and other rights and
privileges of ADULTHOOD, which is age 18.

Willacy did
not get charged with unlawful carnal knowledge of a minor only due to
the fact that Belize’s criminal code FAILS to take into account the
perpetrator’s position of POWER over the victim (teacher, employer,
pastor, etc.)

In my view, Willacy got off on a
technicality, as the computer messages which were used as evidence
against him were only dated after the child turned 16… I am certain
the abusive “affair” BEGAN before that time, but earlier messages had
been deleted by the victim, so there was no proof as to his crimes.  

It seems clear that the REAL danger to children in Belize is from STRAIGHT CHRISTIAN PASTORS and PREACHERS.

“I
wish this government would just be honest and tell the nation how many
of them in power and office have this personal sexual preference thus
the energy that is expended to advance this agenda, while the rape our
children is not even given half the attention nor money.”

*I*
wish that Audrey Matura-Shepherd and the rest of the holy-roller
contingent (Patrick Menzies, Scott Stirm, Louis Wade, Richard Smith,
etc.) would JUST BE HONEST, and TELL THE NATION how many of the
CHRISTIAN preachers, pastors and missionaries are CHILD SEXUAL
PREDATORS, instead of trying to pray the gay away, shuffling molesting
pastors to other churches, and FAILING or delaying the reporting of
sexual crimes against children to the proper authorities.

Andrea Polanco: “Was it taken to the police though?”
Richard Smith: “At that time it wasn’t taken specifically to the police.”
Andrea Polanco: “Any specific reason why?”
Richard
Smith: “Well the reason for that is because the victim per se was one;
concern that when he goes to jail the wife and kids. And so you cannot
go and report if nobody won’t gonna and testify if nobody about it. So
those were some of the procedures and that really held us back. We can’t
go to court if the victim is not willing to testify otherwise you gonna
look bad.”

As we can clearly see here, Pastor Richard
Smith is MORE worried about how things LOOK than about the welfare of
the child victims. Smith appears more concerned about the pastor’s wife
and children, and how they would fare if the MOLESTER went to jail.

The most important line in the article from Channel 5 News is this: “Residents say that Neal was once a pastor in Hattieville, where he was accused of a similar incident.”

In
other words, the PASTORS covered up CRIMES, and moved the child
molesting preacher to another church, where he could begin assaulting
children AGAIN.

The churches in Belize need to pay attention to THEIR OWN, instead of marginalizing the gay community.

I
wish that a FRACTION of the money being spent by Belize Action and
their anti-gay allies (on marches, vigils, bus rentals, gas, media
blitzes, meetings, printing and video expenses, etc.)  would be spent to
help abused children, especially those raped and molested by church
leaders.

In closing, the message within THIS message is: May the gods and goddesses of the MAYA rain their blessings down upon Belize.