Adventist pastor: Carnival is madness

“What happens at Carnival, the lewdness and immorality, can not be God’s will. I declare that Carnival is madness. There can be no justification for people dressing and acting like that,” declared pastor Leslie Moses, president of the South Caribbean Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist.

Moses told Sunday Newsday that members from about 160 churches throughout the country converged in Arima for the event.

“This march is to affirm heterosexual marriage and the family.

We are also marching against any activity that is not in keeping with the Word of God, intemperate living including murder, crime, adultery, drug abuse and child abuse,” he said.

Moses said globally, the church had always promoted healthy living and family life. However, yesterday, the aim was to sensitise the national community to the need for “affirming the traditional views espoused by the Bible” as they believe the Bible’s teachings was best for the human race.

He explained the theme of heterosexual marriage was chosen because of the global issues involved in moving away from the biblical standard, especially in the United States, which legalised gay marriage in June 2015. “We know that the United States is a significant country in relation to the values of the world. However, even though the US Supreme Court voted in favour of gay marriage, that does not change God’s mind, nor would it change our mind,” he said. He believed people could “do as they wish in private” but laws should not be changed to accommodate that minority group.

Moses noted that because the church was against “intemperate living”, its members distanced itself from Carnival completely.

He said, if persons danced in the streets half-naked on any other day, onlookers would say they were crazy.

“They say it’s culture but it has to be that the Will and the Word of God should be there above the culture, to guide it,” he concluded.

At the rally at Larry Gomes Stadium, the marchers were met by many more church members waiting for the programme to begin.

In the special address, Pastor Steve Riley emphasised the church’s position of heterosexual marriage and the need to remain sexually pure.

There was also an interview with a young married couple who shared with the audience, benefits of abstaining from sex until marriage.