Dear Reader,

By now I believe that everyone knows that I am an unapologetic, unwavering, unmovable Christian, and by definition that means a disciple of Jesus Christ. As I serve the Lord, I find Him to be faithful and true, and I continue to be delighted in Him as I hope He is in me.

Over the last few months I have been paying very close attention to the renewed debate regarding the Church and horse racing on Sunday, and quite frankly, I am disappointed. Not only am I disappointed with the lack of empirical evidence concerning the hazards of extending the gambling calendar, but I am particularly disappointed with the response from some of the country’s notable clergymen as well as the vast majority of those who have been completely silent on the matter.

Of the handful of churchmen who proceeded to put pen to paper and have written publicly, several have left we wondering if they are servants of God or worshippers of themselves, their oversized egos, or whichever secular interests they may be promoting. Instead of holding firm to the values and principles espoused in God’s word about the dignity of work (as opposed to games of chance), the sanctity of families and the vulnerability and manipulation of the poor, they have used their considerable influence to ridicule and rubbish the church and to advance half-baked arguments about individual liberties and what they see as the nuances of morality.

Several of them have made the point that morality cannot be legislated, and while there may be some truth to that, I beg to disagree. In countries like Singapore, morality is in fact legislated. In other words, the law is used to distinguish and calibrate right from wrong, and something as seemingly frivolous as spitting on the street, is unlawful in that country.

What cannot be legislated is a person’s heart, and the late Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr understood that and phrased it this way – “Morality (and he was speaking about the heart) cannot be legislated, but behaviour can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.” As far as Sunday horse racing is concerned, legislation may not be able to stop a man’s heart from yearning for more gambling opportunities, but it can certainly decree that in a country where most Christians worship on Sundays and on a day traditionally dedicated to family life, that Sunday gambling is prohibited.

Unless of course, those men of the cloth and their cohorts have decided amongt themselves that Jamaica is no longer a Christian country. Actually, I have been hearing more of that coming from certain quarters within the church, and I am astounded by that type of propaganda.

Anybody in doubt as to whether or not Jamaica is a Christian country should simplytake a head count on Saturdays and Sundays to see how many people are attending church. Add to that the inestimable number of Jamaicans who don’t attend church, but who will tell you that they believe in Jesus Christ. In fact, I don’t think that there is any other place on the planet where the name of Jesus Christ, if called more often than it is in Jamaica – even when somebody “buck dem toe” or use the name in exclamation: “Jesus Christ!”

Jamaica’s Christian brand is emblazoned and embedded in our National Anthem which we recite daily. It is a source of pride for us that our anthem is a prayer that starts with the words, “Eternal Father, bless our land”, and across the length and breadth of the country that prayer, along with others, are a part of the powerful Christian ethos of our nation.

I have yet to hear of another country where at the start of a major football game or a track and field event at a national stadium, prayers are offered. Devotion is an integral part of Jamaica’s school curriculum, as well as the first item on the agenda at any and every meeting, whether secular or sacred, and with more churches per square mile than any other place on the planet, the country’s Christian brand is unchallengeable.

The question is not whether Jamaica is a Christian country. The question is, are Jamaicans sincere Christians? And that I admit would make for a vibrant debate. Let me hasten to say, however, that the prerequisite for that type of discourse is the ability for self-examination and self-regeneration. I would be the first to admit that we have been bad Christians, or else the country could not be in the state it is in. If we were true to God and to our national pledge to fight relentlessly for “justice, brotherhood and peace”, Jamaica would be the paradise God intended it to be. But Christians have been silent, complicit and divisive, and some, having contributed to the “nonfeasance”, are now disowning our Christian tradition and practices.

It is one thing for the atheists and the agnostics to ridicule God, who, by the way, is not perturbed since only He has the power of life and death in His hands. He simply reminds us that “only a fool in his heart says there is no God”. However, when some of those playing the fool are men of the cloth, you have to wonder who they really serve.

Actually, it may just be God’s time to separate the sheep from the goats.

With love,

bab2609@yahoo.com