The National Evangelical Association of Belize today held a family values rally in Belmopan. The event has been in the planning stages since July, and it had already been postponed once. So, we expected them to show the muscle of the masses today, but Jules Vasquez found no such thing:
Jules Vasquez reporting
It wasn't exactly Jesus and the multitudes this morning on the National Assembly Stairs. But that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the speakers or the small audience of about 50. Bathed in the light of the truth but seeking some respite from the sunstroke - inducing heat.
And while we saw familiar faces such as Patrick Menzies, there seemed to be a contingent of US men of the faith - a welcome showing, on this day when NEAB needed all the help it could get:
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"This event is a disaster, it's a failure. You all have a few dozen people here. Your issue has no traction, no message doesn't attract people."
Pastor Lance Lewis, Pres. National Evangelical Assoc. of Belize
"We are not here to make a big crowd. We are here to send out a message."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Apparently if your message has no traction, you'd had more people out here. Right here you have all Christians, you are preaching to the converted, sir."
Pastor Lance Lewis
"Yes, but on TV we preach to non-converted."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Crowd-wise it's a failure. Obviously people don't want to hear this message or aren't interested in your message. It's not picking up traction."
Pastor Scott Stirm, NEAB
"And so I believe that God plus nothing is a majority and we stand firm on God's word and so Jules, nobody agreed - Noah's message had no traction. People laughed in his face and so if that's the foundation stone that you want to stand on, you de pan yuh own. We stand with God."
Standing with God, and a message as old as the Bible:
Kirk Thrimbriel, Attended Rally
"It absolutely makes the job of parenting much harder. You send your kids into the classrooms and the overall sentiment is that 'it's okay to go and use drugs, you can have you 10 grams and you can smoke it. it's not as bad as alcohol.' It's just going to make it much more difficult for us to parent our children and so we want to really challenge our political leaders. I like what Luis said earlier, to take some steps backwards. This is not a step in the right direction for us."
Pastor Lance Lewis
"We are here today because we are standing up for the family values. Our original thing was against the family, erosion in general. But now more fuel is being added to our fire because the marijuana decimalization has been passed and we think that it will have bigger effect, a more damaging effect on the family."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Our society is a society is a free fall, we have people who can't feed themselves, we have people who are trapped in a life of crime, victims to crime, afraid of crime, we have widespread alcoholism, alcohol abuse, we have domestic abuse, sexual violence, gender violence and a weed? People would say its weed you all are talking about. We have all these issues and weed you all are talking about?"
Pastor Lance Lewis
"We are not talking about weed. We are saying that weed makes it more powerful, because it's another tool to destroy the family and the family erodes the nation will collapse. There must be a family head, the man and there must be the person who leads the family in the right way. And since God is head, the man should be the head.
Jules Vasquez
"Is God A Man?"
Pastor Lance Lewis
God is God and he is a supreme being."
But the Supreme decision making body for earthly matters was meeting nearby in the Cabinet room - which explains the difficult timing on a weekday:
Pastor Lance Lewis
"Changing the time makes it's a little more difficult for some people to come and on a Tuesday morning. If it was a discussion about Saturday and some people said no, let's keep it on Tuesday because the cabinet is meeting. So they decide to do it. The cabinet is locked in their room, but we think that the message will get to them."
From their mouths certainly to God's ears, but whether it will reach Cabinet's ears is another matter completely.
The rally finished at around 11:00 - half an hour early.
