I have been spending some time analysing and assessing the shrinking biblical world view in our culture, and this has led me to a fundamental question: What will fix the anarchy that is reigning in Jamaica, land we love?

It seems to me that the secular society in which we now live is caving in. There is now greater emphasis on what the world says instead of what the word of God says. I have also observed that it has become increasingly difficult to defend and share faith in this culture. Today’s culture is hostile to biblical truth and consequently many Christians cower away from being vocal about the principles of scripture. They fear castigation, being ridiculed, criticised, or shamed. I believe Christians should be seasoning for the world, and if we don’t confront the lies that are pervasive in our culture, then there will be fulfilment of the old adage, “If you want evil to triumph, let good people say nothing.”

This generation seems to have lost its mooring. The Guinness World Records ranks Jamaica as the country with the greatest number of churches per square mile (2.75), yet it is a nation where hell has been unleashed on what was once a paradise. The poem Second Coming by W B Yates captures it well: “The falcon cannot hear the falconer. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. The blood-dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere, the ceremony of innocence is drowned. The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” If ever we are going to have an ebbing of the tide, I think we need to get back to the Bible and embrace the Judeo-Christian morals, this alone will help us live purpose-driven, God-directed lives.

Recently I read a Pew Research Report which revealed that only six per cent of Americans have a biblical world view. I am surmising that Jamaica is trending in that direction. The anarchy in the land is evidence of a greater societal problem: this post-modern culture is moving further and further away from biblical truths. I don’t want to sound too preachy, but I think it is safe for me to say that if people were more Christ-centred and if parents would go to church and carry their children to church and grow them up in Sabbath/Sunday schools where they can learn the timeless principles and truths in the scripture, then they would have greater regard for the dignity of human lives and would live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present world.

In my childhood, truth was fundamental; in this generation truth is relative/situational ethics. The evolution and revolution in academia has stymied moral values. New rationalisation has killed the humanity in mankind. The youth, especially Generation Z, are waxing cold, ruthless, and heartless. I note that, in Jamaica, in particular, most of the criminals wreaking havoc on the country are under the age of 25. They seldom, if ever, go to church. It also seems as if they have no role models in the home to give them a moral compass.

One would have thought that their last bastion of hope, the school, would serve not only to inform but also to reform and transform, but, alas, schools are now serving to deform. School curricula are saying teach them to follow their hearts, be their “authentic” selves. These concepts are fundamentally at odds with the Christian world view. God is the creator of reality. We are not even, at our best, capable of determining right from wrong, good from bad. God is the standard for these. The authority of God transcends our scholarship of self.

There are some other philosophies that are doing our society ill. We hear about cancel culture, which is distorting biblical views, and has diluted the biblical views of marriage. We hear terms like alternate lifestyle, significant others, non-traditional marriages, gayism, theybies instead of babies, and gender neutral (babies are now genderless until they are able to determine what sex they want to be).

Sin no longer locks itself in the dark, it is parading in bright daylight. Society affirms it, embraces it, teaches it, advertises it, and expects the citizens to be better. We have, indeed, sown with the wind and are reaping the whirlwind.

Social media and the media have piped evil through the tube into our homes to destroy our minds. Children, the most vulnerable, are bombarded by TikTok, Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube. No wonder the minds of our youth are warped. See why I say we need to get back to the Bible? It is only then that we will be able to withstand the kind of negative social and cultural influences that are seeking to suck our youth into the quagmire.

I believe that the Bible makes a difference in life. Parliament cant fix all these ills.They will always enact new laws, but if the original 10 are followed, society will be much better. Let’s try getting back to the Bible and see what will happen to our nation

Blpprob@aol.com