Imagine you are dropped out of a plane after midnight and you parachute into a field. Your mission is to get to a designated location three miles away. The landscape is flat and featureless; there is no moon and the sky is overcast, so no stars are visible. How will you find your direction? What will guide you to your destination? In such a situation, with no outside help, only your compass can put you on the right path.

In what many perceive as dark and dangerous times, the nation needs a compass.

Jamaica’s problems of business, industry, government, and society are revealing serious dishonesty, severe corruption, lack of integrity, and a grave lack of reverence for life. These are primary issues affecting growth and development. This is troubling! For we cannot point to one nation of the world that has been overwhelmed by these issues — as we are — while enjoying progress and prosperity as a nation.

It is necessary, therefore, to realign our moral compass. Moral here speaks simply to a defined belief code and related behavioural practices held in common by all, and not something mystical or religious, which only few may feel inclined to embrace.

Although skilful financial analysts and political intellectuals abound in our land, the serious challenges we face in the above mentioned areas are stifling investor confidence and growth. The root problem is moral; yet not much attention is given to it in school and in the overall process of preparation for life and work.

On this realisation I am not alone. Even a noted opinion leader such as Ian Boyne has spoken and written about the need for a moral realignment. “I have,” Ian once said, “frequently chastised our intelligentsia” for their lack of “explicit focus on values and mores…We have not spent time in developing … the moral sentiments.”

I believe it should by now be evident to all that Jamaica will not progress or prosper if the ‘moral sentiments’ are not strongly addressed — no matter who is in Jamaica House. We may as well discard Vision 2030 Jamaica if our political and civil service leaders are not willing to awaken to this reality. It’s undeniable, it’s incontrovertible that in the tremendous crisis we face on every level, the root is a moral problem.

Crime, particularly murder and corruption, tops the list of the greatest problems facing the nation.. These two monsters, and all the other related issues that surround them, scream out: It’s a moral root problem!

This means the nation is facing a major moral crisis. Morality informs values, which determine character, and influences personality. Both character and personality guide behaviour and reveal who we really are. What is reflected daily on the streets, in business places, in our schools, churches, communities, and Houses of Parliament is a reflection of who we are. If we don’t like it, let’s fix it!

Do we like what we see and hear? That which is reflected on the daily newscasts, on the airwaves, as local music and talk radio, what we observe in human interactions and responses around us, are we OK with it? Is it who we are as a people and what we want our children to become — bearing in mind children live what they learn by observation?

The solution is moral

If we have a moral problem, we need a moral solution. Moral problems, being in the invisible realm, are spiritual problems. Therefore, the solution has to be found in the spiritual realm and by those entrusted with spiritual matters. The Church, being a major player in this area, must urgently engage in significant ways to help find solutions. The Church cannot afford to remain silent, absent, or reticent in coming forward in this hour of great national crisis.

Moral values suggest the presence of a good God and an evil force. Mankind will always have to choose, but the right thing must first be taught to give the best chance to choose rightly.

Our children and youth, especially those in our inner cities and lower-income brackets, are socialised in an environment that bombards them with negative influences. These pressures are to be found in the lewd music, donmanship, gang culture, weak family structures, the denigration of women, abuses of every kind, filthy language and movies, and the dehumanising speech that destroys the good concept of self. Youngsters have little or no protective factors in their environment to counter these overwhelming negatives. These realities heighten the need for strong alternative voices of moral direction to show that there is a better way of thinking and living.

The absence of a clear and readily seen moral compass for our children and youth will only increase the numbers of dysfunctional adults, which in turn will multiply our social dilemma. Our society must decide on critical standards and values (morals) to which all must be committed, especially our opinion leaders — politicians, pastors, popular musicians, media practitioners, lawyers, mothers, and fathers.

We are not a nation ashamed of our godly heritage. Our nation was founded on Christian values taught in our homes, schools, and practised in society. It is the gradual removal of those values that is creating the present social mayhem. How come? We have allowed foreign agents to exploit us, forcing their failed negative values (which are destroying their societies) on our people.

What’s the message?

The crisis is by no means irreversible. The nation is ripe for change, but the fruit must be picked now. An active Church, joining hands with the Government and a supportive business community, is vital to bring about transformation in our nation.

The battle must be fought and won in this realm. The nation cannot afford to continue to send mixed and confusing signals. Values and standards must be clear with known consequences for contrary conduct. With our current high murder rate, the banner of the sanctity of human life must be hoisted high and the message reinforced from every angle. Tough and immediate consequences must follow any violation. I believe that our current high murder rate is symbiotically connected to the low value placed on human life by our society in general.

We must make the message clear: We value human life! Our social construct should reinforce and affirm this message. People cannot be greater or do differently than what they believe. The Scripture says: “As a man thinketh, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

Strong leadership now!

Strong and decisive leadership is needed at this time. This is not about religion or politics, or about denominational or political posturing. It is about helping a nation find its soul and to identify and inculcate the requisite moral values essential to building a people of good character who can make the nation great.

It’s time we demand leadership with guts — politically and pastorally! Weak governmental leadership, driven by economics over morality, power over principles; and weak, sleeping Church leadership over the last 30 years, concerned more with positioning and reputation, are responsible for the decline. The crisis now demands an insightful, militant, aggressive Church driven only by love and a desire to restore positive values so as to produce a people of sound character who can build the new, great Jamaica.

I encourage the Government to seriously consider putting our schools back in the hands of the Church, especially at the primary level. Lay a good, solid moral foundation on which our children can build their academic and social lives. This is the kind of revolutionary decision-making that is needed from our new-era prime minister and his team. The moral compass must be found and used to give hope for the future.

When China decisively enacted their one-child policy in 1979 to limit population growth, many castigated Deng Xiaoping for such a militant step, but he knew that something drastic had to be done to curtail China’s population boom! One generation later (40 years) he seems to have made the right decision; for they are now an economic super power. Is our new-era prime minister that kind of decisive leader? What’s more, are we a people who would allow him to make the tough decisions that would create the necessary change in our context?

Do you remember when Lee Kuan Yew began the transformation of a stagnant British crown colony into the Asian Tiger called Singapore? He forged a system of meritocratic governance and crushed corrupt government. Many criticised his leadership as authoritarian, but Singapore is undoubtedly one of the world’s most ordered societies with highly effective governance systems.

So I ask again: Is our new-era prime minister that kind of decisive leader? And, if he is, are we a people who would allow him to make the tough decisions that would create the necessary change in our context?

The decline of the USA

It is interesting to watch what is taking place in the politics of the USA. They have chosen over the years to remove prayer and the Christian value system from schools. Some believe that there is a clear correlation between the societal decline (and the rise in social ills) in the USA and the removal of Christian values from critical public schools.

In many places they want no mention of Jesus and all He represents in the public sphere. Yet they want a president and leaders of high moral standing. How is this possible without values and morals? Are the American people expecting good character in adults without good values in childhood? They want to hold people accountable and disqualify them from service today for immoral acts that they did 30 to 40 years ago. The concepts of reform and forgiveness are seemingly lost on them. There is no room for error but, at the same time, they remove from schools the very moral principles that are meant to teach people wrong from right. The US appears confused and misguided. Seems they have lost their moral compass.

Let us choose not to lose our moral compass, for it is the real guide to the prosperity we seek. Who will lead us in this moral renaissance?

Rev Al Miller is pastor of Fellowship Tabernacle. Send comments to the Observer or pastormilleroffice@gmail.com.