Christian Council still opposed to Bahamas Carnival

Christian Council still opposed to Bahamas Carnival
Bahamas Christian Council President, Bishop Delton Fernander.

As preparations are being made for the fourth installment of  Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival (BJC) this weekend, President of the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) Delton Fernander said the council remains adamantly opposed to the event, although it is happy taxpayers are no longer footing the bill.

“The council’s position has not changed,” Fernander told Eyewitness News yesterday.

“We thought that our work was done. The government did not endorse it (BJC) and it was passed on to a private entity. We are still adamantly opposed to the vulgarity of carnival.

“We do not agree with the way carnival causes or society to denigrate themselves to the sweets of the world that really involves a lot of liquor and improper behavior.”

Under the former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) administration, the council was led by Bishop Ranford Patterson, who led a vigorous campaign against the event. At the time, Patterson said, the group had concerns over the “immodest” costumes for women.

While applauding the government for seeking ways to boost revenue, Patterson expressed that it appeared as if the sexuality of Bahamian women was “being overtly exploited for monetary gain”.

The council leader urged the government to “be careful of the gates they are opening” to increase the country’s revenue, saying, once open, they will be hard to close.

While the former administration argued that the event was created to spur economic growth and was even credited for an increase in employment overall, Fernander said, the argument of bolstering the economy will always exist.

“Are we going to sell our souls?” he asked.

“We have  to be careful, in the pursuit of money. Are we willing  to deal with the after effects… that we would have gained this whole world and lose our moral positioning?”

Fernander added that the council has not planned any events for this weekend stating that it will not “compete with the sins of the world”.

“We won’t fight, wrestle, downgrade anyone or tell people to do better,” he said.

About Genea Noel

Genea Noel is the news director and weeknight TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. She began working at Eyewitness News in 2018 as the newsroom editor and was subsequently promoted during her tenure. As a household name who graces the screens of thousands of Bahamian homes each night, Genea has racked up an impressive five Bahamas Press Club awards, including “The Cyril Stevenson Award for Outstanding Political Journalism” (2020), “Best Studio Live Producer” (2020) and “Best Newscast” (2018).