(Trinidad Express) Rev Anthony Clarke of the Shouter Baptist faith said yesterday a drift from spiritual values has led to a breakdown in society and the blurring of lines between genders.
Shouter Baptists do not condone the wearing of men’s clothes by women, nor certain styles adopted by men that include earrings, body piercing, tattoos and gold teeth, Clarke said.
He was at the time addressing the tenth Annual Thanksgiving Service and Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day celebration at La Joya Complex in St Joseph.
Clarke said while some Baptist women may be seen wearing pants in everyday life, the faith frowns upon and forbids women from wearing them to worship.
He asked how women could be spiritual when they are wearing pants as it touches their private parts.
“That makes you feel sexy all the time, so how can you be spiritual?” he asked.
That this type of attire is appropriate and desirable has been foisted on modern women, he said, and is in essence a grand design of Satan worship.
He added:”Today we see men and boys trying to change their masculine look by wearing several earrings, make-up and golden tooth smiles. Women and girls removing their hair, some are wearing male suits and ties and on the other extreme, piercing their entire face, excessive amount of hand rings and toe rings and more dramatic tattoo marks on their bodies, in the name of style.”
This “deviant” behaviour contributes to the proliferation of lesbians and homosexuals seen in the population today, he said. Clarke said women have worn dresses for thousands of years but a wedge has been placed between them and their faith, leading them to view this type of dressing as impractical.
“As a result, women, in their surge to become equal to men and supported by the United Nations recent declaration of Women’s Day on Friday 9th March, 2012, there is a continued erosion of self-esteem and confidence of men in the society,” Clarke said.
“This has led to an increase in the divorce rate and the falling away of the family unit as we once know it.”
Clarke has also called on “all family-oriented” citizens to reject the Draft National Gender Policy and Action Plan and the Action Plan of the Beijing, China, Conference in 1995.
He is also asking that the Ministry of Multiculturalism and Gender Affairs be re-named the Ministry of Cultural and Family Affairs.
Clarke said he is free to speak his mind and adhere to his faith, as his Baptist organisation has no affiliations with anyone else. He said, however, that his group continues to support the People’s National Movement (PNM), although it is “not a PNM organisation”.
“Out of the lot of them, the PNM is the best, they have proven that with their track record,” Clarke said, adding that there are now too many “mad people” in the government.
