Pastor Wycliffe Smith, who headed the delegation, said the group was guided by the word of God and had not been politically motivated or manipulated by anyone to champion these issues. He said the churches were following the rule of God by loving the sinner, but hating the sin. "We are not saying it is right to do it hidden or in the closet," he said. Smith said homosexuals were coming to the island every day via the airport and the harbour and there also were many who live here. His contention is that these people should not impose their way of life and should curb public displays of affection. "As a Christian nation, we love you [homosexuals], but we don't love your lifestyle," he said. He also acknowledged that there were people living on the island who needed to adhere to a dress code and a code of conduct.
He added that the churches, like Jesus Christ, loved homosexuals, lesbians, murderers and fornicators, but not the sins. "Man's legislation doesn't make these evils right," he said. Some of those "evils" include legalising same sex marriages, abortion and euthanasia, which are already legal in the Netherlands. Other "evils" affecting society are gambling and the proliferation of adult entertainment clubs.
Smith raised concern that the Netherlands would want to impose its legislation on same sex marriages, abortion, and euthanasia in St. Maarten as had been done in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. He said the democratic deficit in the kingdom must be addressed and legislation must not be forced on St. Maarten because it is small in size. He also said corruption in the "high and low places" of society was rampant and "the brush-off of 'everybody is doing it'" needed to be stopped. Policies that allow gambling and labour exploitation must be reviewed and remedied.
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