THE EDITOR, Sir: The Church is busy. Last week, there were mass meetings and other expressions of dissatisfaction because persons want the ‘buggery law’ to be amended to make life less difficult for homosexuals.
Now, the Church’s target is Minister Lisa Hanna, after she expressed that it was time to revisit abortion laws. One pastor went as far as to suggest that the minister was encouraging the ‘slaughter of children’.
Father Franklyn Jackson – clearly a minority voice – stated that the Church had ‘lost its footing’. That’s not so surprising since the majority of church leaders have both feet firmly planted somewhere between earth and heaven. They would have us believe that they are here to ‘seek and to save those of us who are lost’. But is this what they are doing?
One Sunday night, some years ago, I saw a young girl and an infant at a bus shed in the Rockfort area. My inquiries revealed that she was discharged from ‘lying in’ about six hours before, but her mother said she had to find alternative accommodation. Confident of my ability to change her mother’s mind, I bundled them into my car and asked her to take me to her mother. After all, I was trained to deal with matters such as these. I failed – miserably. Her mother explained that it was against her Christian principles to accommodate her, as the child was born in sin. After half an hour, I abandoned my negotiations and started to beg. She was calm, but firm. “If ah wasn’t in di Church … maybe.
Today, I know of a house with three occupants – a mother and her two teenage daughters. The mother has a month-old baby, the older teen has a one-year-old baby, and the younger teen, who graduated ‘subjectless’ last year, is due to deliver next month. Apart from being related, here’s what I know they have in common: no skills, no job, no identifiable partner, and no idea where the next meal is coming from. My efforts to get assistance for the pregnant child have not been successful. She was six months too old for one agency, another said she didn’t qualify as she lived with her ‘family’. A different one said she would have to have the baby first. This, despite the fact that she was almost dying of hunger. Father Jackson states: “The more churches we get, the more serious crimes our people are committing.
I’ll tell you why, Father. Unwanted children born to unsuitable parents in unsatisfactory conditions do exactly that, Sir.
The majority of us tend to accept the directives and dictates of the Church. But the Church will have to be dragged, scratching and kicking out of the 15th century. We need to give Minister Hanna our full support.
Glenn Tucker