President of the Bahamas National Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention Rev. William Thompson on Tuesday night urged Bahamians to "keep sex a private matter".

"No one should have to advertise what their sexual preference is," said Thompson, in his annual address delivered at the convention's 80th annual session at the William Thompson Auditorium on Jean Street. He made the statement as an aside, while speaking about the need for gender equality in The Bahamas.

"It is unfortunate that The Bahamas yet lags behind our Caribbean brothers in some social and political issues," Thompson said. "All human beings are created by almighty God. Women are equal to men in that they are both human beings. There are some things we must fix for our children and their children."

Thompson's comments came amid widespread expectation that the long-promised gender equality referendum will be delayed for a fifth time. The four referendum bills, which are intended to eliminate discriminatory language in the constitution, remain in limbo in the House of Assembly. When he last addressed the issue, Prime Minister Perry Christie said the referendum would be held by June 2015.

Last week, Chairman of the Constitutional Commission Sean McWeeney said obviously the referendum will not happen next month, but he said the commission will continue its education campaign. Christie was present on Tuesday night when Thompson raised the issue in his speech.

The prime minister has said he is committed to the referendum. However, he has been challenged in securing unanimous support on all of those bills in Parliament. In addition to gender equality, Thompson used the forum to address other national issues, including National Health Insurance (NHI).

"We commend the government once again for their efforts to present to the Bahamian people proper and affordable health care," he said. "We were pleased to sit with our denominational leaders and the minister responsible as he enunciated the government's plans to make health care available to every Bahamian."

Speaking recently, Minister of Health Dr. Perry Gomez said the current effort to implement NHI is the Progressive Liberal Party government's third attempt. He said the government cannot fail this time. Months before the 2007 general election, Parliament passed the NHI Bill. However, no regulations were ever introduced and the law was never enacted when the Ingraham administration came to office.

Yesterday, NHI featured prominently in Christie's Budget Communication to the House of Assembly. The prime minister said the government will not immediately impose any next taxes to fund NHI. In his speech, Thompson said religious leaders are hearing the discussions of those who believe that this plan will present the burden of new taxes on employers at a time when the economy is still in recovery mode.

"In light of this," he said, "we are calling on the government to carefully take another look [at] the percentage that would be assessed to the employers."

Thompson added, "The Baptist [denomination] fully endorses National Health Insurance for the people of our beloved Bahamas, especially those persons who are challenged financially to afford proper health care. I am again reminded of the scripture which says we are our brother's keeper and the strong must bear the burdens fo the weak."

The prime minister spoke to the same moral imperative in his Budget Communication yesterday.

On the campaign trail ahead of the 2012 general election, Gomez had promised that a PLP government would put in place NHI "within the first year".

The government is eyeing January 1, 2016 as the implementation date.

Crime
On the issue of crime and violence, Thompson called on the government through Parliament to legislate laws that will eliminate the granting of bail to those who are charged with serious crimes such as murder, rape and armed robbery.

"Crime stalks our land with tornadic destructiveness," he said. "Our people are fearful. Drive-by shootings, gang-style murders, armed robbery and just plain petty theft are almost the order of the day.

"I submit that the root cause of this epidemic is sin. The hearts of men have become waxed cold towards each other. The church must continue to make the teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ relevant not only to saints in the church but also to sinners on the streets and in the community."

Thompson said he is convinced that there has been a shift in how the church is to get the message of the gospel out in this present season.

"The strategies used in the past for reaching the lost and building families and communities are challenged and in some cases are no longer applicable to this present age," he said. "No. I am not suggesting that the foundation established by God has changed. What I am suggesting is how we build on the foundation needs some tweaking.

"Now, while I agree that dangerous criminals must be locked away from a law-abiding society and made to pay the full penalty of the law for their criminal acts, similarly white collar crime is quite rampant and must be aggressively pursued and rooted out."

Thompson called upon the minister of national security, the commissioner of police and civil society, stakeholders and the Christian Church "to marshall our best minds, politics aside, to evaluate, analyze and research specific questions as it relates to crime, especially the crime of murder".

"Further, we must explore and research efforts, which have been effectively used by other countries to reduce the incidence of criminal activities," he said.

Carnival
On the issue of carnival, Thompson said the church missed an opportunity to evangelize at the inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. Thompson said the time used bashing the government and the event, could have been used to plan and prepare for the carnival to come.

"The church should have spent its time putting in place training and plans to present this nation the greatest evangelical thrust ever to reach the people in these islands," Thompson said. "Tracks, media exposure, Christian literature and tapes along with counseling should have been seen to be in place during these events."

Thompson also called on the church to become a little wider in its focus, and present strategies and social programs that would be seen as integral parts of the community on a daily basis. He recommended a national forum to address all areas of human abuse affecting the Bahamian society to be led by the Christian Council.

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