Mrs Portia Simpson Miller, we thought, impressed many Jamaicans when she opened her first address as Prime Minister last Thursday with a prayer.

It portrayed her as a sober leader who, conscious of the formidable task ahead of her, sought God's guidance for her government. We have no problem with that. And, in fact, we do not question the sincerity of Mrs Simpson Miller's supplication.

Where we must part company with the prime minister, however, is in her stated intention to instruct her Cabinet ministers to appoint pastors to every state board, either as chairmen or members.

Her reason, she told worshippers at the Kencot Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kingston last Saturday, is "to ensure probity".

The prime minister, we submit, is treading on dangerous ground. For what she is suggesting here is that pastors, because of their vocation, are deserving of more trust than other people in Jamaica. And, if we are to accept her argument, what Mrs Simpson Miller is actually saying is that she intends to give pastors special privileges, simply because they are men of the cloth.

We need not rehash the many cases of unscrupulous pastors that have been reported in the Press to demonstrate the absurdity of Mrs Simpson Miller's argument. And, even if all pastors were without fault, what guarantee is there that their presence on state boards would ensure the probity that the prime minister wants?

Mrs Simpson Miller, it appears, was either playing to the gallery or was not fully aware of the implications of her statement, because the following day she went even further at the Rehoboth Apostolic Church in Portmore when she told the congregation that she was appointed by God and, as such, Christians have a duty to support her.

We would remind Prime Minister Simpson Miller that leaders or governments who believe that God is either authorising or ordering any cause, usually trample on people's rights. For they are normally intolerant of opposing views and are wont to force their beliefs on people they regard as infidels.
History is replete with such examples.

We don't believe that this is the kind of government that Mrs Simpson Miller intends to lead. We therefore advise her to rethink.

Executive Class

Gardens with Gravel

Death to the Mullet!