The Rev Dr Clinton Chisholm has called on Jamaicans to be more tolerant of homosexuals as a constitutional challenge to the country’s colonial era sodomy laws proceeds.

‘Since we are not in a theocracy, it should not surprise or shock us that some persons choose to think and live contrary to what we Christians regard as God’s way,’ Clinton wrote in an opinion column in Jamaica’s The Gleaner newspaper.

‘Christians must, therefore, modify, not their commitment to God’s Word or way but their attitude towards and expectations of non-Christians.’

‘It is okay to desire and even hope and pray that people in general would recognize and agree with the societal value of the biblical standards of sexual behavior, but we ought not to demand that everybody comply, and we most certainly should respect the personhood of those who exercise their God-given freedom to practice and promote homosexuality, promiscuity or whatever else that we Christians regard as deviations from God’s norms in the Bible.’

Chisholm warned Christians not to judge or look down on homosexuals or other people who did not adhere to a Christian lifestyle.

‘The homosexual does not cease being a human person by his/her homosexuality,’ Chisholm wrote.

‘Holding firmly to the view that God’s normative sexual standard is one man with one woman in the context of marriage does not [have to] entail ”looking down on” or treating as “less than” those who are sexually contrary to God’s norm.’

Chisholm, who has in the past promoted the idea that homosexuality is a curable condition, noted recent setbacks in the ex-gay movement but hinted that he remained unapologetic in that view.

‘While the closure of Exodus International and the confessions of Alan Chambers might have dealt a severe body blow to many Christians and to reparative therapy, there is a haunting, possibly near-fatal jugular vein slash to psychiatry and related disciplines in this saga,’ Chisholm wrote.

‘To that I’ll turn another time.’

Chisholm was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Jamaica in 2005 where he has been a guest lecturer since 1993.

Jamaican advocacy charity AIDS-Free World and student Javed Jaghai are challenging the country’s anti-buggery law in the country’s Supreme Court after Jaghai’s landlord evicted him over his sexual orientation.