Dear Editor, William Framhein is the interim secretary of Cook Islands Christian Movement Inc (CICMI) that wants to undo the legislation that decriminalised homosexuality.

Now this writer is confused. Is there more than one person named William Framhein in the Cook Islands? I ask because there is a William Framhein in Maraerenga that owns the internet provider Kukinet. Now, if one of William’s Kukinet customers type “porn” into a search engine he or she gets ‘The Full Monty’ so to speak. Straight porn and Gay porn.
The convicted paedophile Yawea Teophilo as described by the Chief Justice, and further explained by Teophilo’s own lawyer, showed his child victims pornography on his phone as one way of showing them what he wanted done to his private parts.

So, Mr Framhein, whose sign at the front of his business quotes Bible verses and proclaims, “Jesus is I am”, when are you installing filters in your servers to take out all the homosexual porn? Seems that if you don’t, you can hardly ask Parliament to make it a crime again – might you be liable for prosecution by allowing gay porn to be found on your service?
Not for a minute, of course, is this writer suggesting that you might also filter out Straight porn. After all, our paedophile community, minority that it may be, has their own constitutional rights. It would be so inconvenient and unfair if they have to resort to printed porn?

(Name and address supplied)

William Framhein is the interim secretary of Cook Islands Christian Movement Inc and is quoted as saying, “I didn’t like it, this big historic move by government to legalise homosexual activity in the country”. William is incorrect of course, what Parliament did is to decriminalise homosexual relationships. Thank you so very much William for making it your business as to what two consenting adults get up to in the privacy of the family bedroom. But before you have a say about other people’s bedrooms, would you mind looking a little closer to home?
William says he is a member of Avarua CICC Ekalesia and that he wants his church to withdraw from the Religious Advisory Committee and wrote to the Church asking that they withdraw from the RAC.

This writer is curious. Has William written to the Church asking if any member, or Oro Metua, has ever been aware of a fellow member who has beaten his wife, raped his wife, raped his child, and that member or Oro Metua failed, within five minutes, to phone the Police and report a crime? Most such acts happen in the family bedroom. Maybe William is only offended if a man rapes a son or nephew and not so much if the rape is heterosexual?
This writer humbly suggests William works to clean up the bedrooms of the members of CIIC Avarua before poking his nose into the bedrooms of loving couples who are not beaters or rapists.

(Names and addresses supplied)

William Framhein replies – Kia orana Editor. Thank you for sharing the anonymous letter with me in respect of the Cook Islands Christian Movement Inc (CICMI) and for sharing their concerns. Thank you for also giving us the opportunity to respond to those letters.

Firstly, I want to clarify that there is indeed only one William Framhein, who is both the interim secretary of the Cook Islands Christian Movement Inc (CICMI) and the owner of Kuk I Net.

In respect of internet content filtering, I acknowledge the concerns your letter writer raises about the availability of pornography websites on the internet. As an owner of Kuk I Net, we are committed to ensuring that our services are used responsibly and in accordance with community standards. We also have a Fair Usage Policy on our website which explains what happens when a user connects with suspect websites. Our Network Operational Centre advises us when a user connects with websites which can affect the service on our Network. There are robust content filtering measures to address these concerns.

As for the legislative changes made in 2023 which legalised homosexual activity, according to scriptures those activities are an abomination to Gods law Old Testament 1. **Leviticus 18:22**: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” 2. **Leviticus 20:13**: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”  New Testament 1. **Romans 1:26-27**: “For this reason God gave them up to dishonourable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” 2. **1 Corinthians 6:9-10**: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revellers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Regarding the issues of domestic violence and other abuses within the church I attend, I share your concern and commitment to addressing these serious matters. I can refer you to the following sentencing case Police v Uea [2007] CKHC 32; CR387-390.06,16,19,70-71,146-148,155,191.07 (9 November 2007), a former CICC Orometua, and there is also the case of a former student of Takamoa Theological College who was expelled and eventually processed through the Court, Police v Tangatapoto [2021] CKHC 6; CR 102-103 of 2020 (26 March 2021).

I appreciate your suggestion to focus on addressing issues within our own community before looking outward. This is a valuable reminder that we must always strive to lead by example and uphold the highest standards of integrity and compassion. We are guided by the Holy Spirit.

The Cook Islands Christian Movement Inc is dedicated to promoting a safe and supportive environment for all members of our community. We are actively working to ensure that any instances of abuse are reported and dealt with appropriately, in accordance with the law.

Thank you once again for your letter and for bringing these important issues to my attention. I am committed to working together with all members of our community to create a more just and compassionate society.

Meitaki maata

William Framhein