Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell said yesterday he will continue to stand for the rights of all people, despite the "character assassination" launched against him.

Mitchell, who was addressing St. Mark's Native Baptist Church's congregation, said in the last week he found out who his friends are and who his enemies are.

"The important point is that with God's help I am still standing, and will continue to stand for the rights of all people," he said.

"It also shows how no matter how big you are, you can still be the subject of character assassination and from quarters that you would least expect.

"I am to travel shortly after this statement with the [prime minister] to a CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in St. Vincent, but it was important for me to be here, to show my face and to show that I am not hiding.

"I am full faced and I am unbowed."

In his speech, Mitchell also urged tolerance and spoke of the general rights of all people.

In a recent sermon, Bahamas Faith Ministries International President Dr. Myles Munroe said Prime Minister Perry Christie should consider replacing Mitchell because he does not "represent the majority of the convictions of the Bahamian people".

Munroe said Mitchell should keep his personal convictions to himself.

"I find it very amusing that people would consider a disagreement as a criticism," Munroe said. "I find it amusing that people consider a person's conviction as an attack.

"I find it very amusing that people consider your belief system as ignorant." Mitchell told The Tribune last Monday that, "ignorance is a strange thing", in reference to Munroe's call for the prime minister to replace him.

In the House of Assembly last week, Mitchell defended his position and said when he spoke in Trinidad, he did so as the foreign affairs minister.

He has said he does not want to get into a back and forth with Munroe.

Yesterday, Mitchell said before becoming the member of Parliament for Fox Hill, his predecessor, the late George Mackey, reminded him of the need to reverse the prejudice against Fox Hillians by the "people in town".

"When I took this assignment, George Mackey made me promise that I would always protect the dignity of the people of the Fox Hill village," he said.

"That was an easy assignment because I simply believe that all people are entitled to the rights and privileges of this society. "No one should be judged by anything other than the content of [his or her] character."

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