After a murder or two in our land, our people become obsessed with talk of crime and our nation being in crisis. Ministers of government and the gospel, the media, the police and just plain common folk, who are ordinarily reasonable human beings, all seem at a loss for a solution to the crime wave. In our paralysis we turn to our base animal instinct and cry out for revenge through hanging and dehumanising treatment of the perpetrators of crime. We even applauded when a robber was shot and killed in a recent robbery attempt in the Marathon Mall. Oh, how Christian we are!
Something must be done to immediately address the situation is the cry. At least if we start hanging those criminals snuffing out their lives by way of state murders, they would no longer commit crime, say the righteous followers of Christ. Some even go to great lengths to use the Bible to rationalize vengeful killing. Kill in the name of God and the state, and all will be well.
On the other hand a voice or two have been consistently saying that the way to greater peace and security for our land will only be achieved by families and communities etching in the minds and hearts of the people those values that make us more human. We say start with just two of those values – honesty and respect, and the others like justice, loyalty, hard work, fidelity and the rest would follow.
For a long time we have survived on vices, especially those of dishonesty and disrespect, and have pretended to have a normal Christian society. Now we are beginning to reap the results of the seeds we have been sowing through the years. Dishonesty and disrespect have now become hallmarks of our society, well embedded in the psyche of the nation. Let’s look at what we mean from some personal neighbourhood experiences.
One day our son was in his room reading when he heard footsteps outside his bedroom window. Looking out he saw a woman with a brown paper bag helping herself to some limes from a tree in our yard. She lied about getting permission to pick some, but on being challenged she told our son where to go, for she had already got “stick up” for those limes.
On another occasion some children asked to retrieve a basketball that had gone over our six-foot fence and landed under a low-bearing coconut tree. My wife gave permission, as I watched from a distance. Sure enough the boys started to help themselves to coconuts.
We’ve experienced a woman and a young girl helping themselves to pigeon peas, a young boy helping himself to limes, and when asked what he was doing, he said that his mother had sent him “for some sour”. A neighbourhood Rasta was asked the same as he helped himself to coconuts after leaping over a six-foot fence, following his successful theft. “Jah put them there for we,” was his retort.
On several occasions some other neighbours have helped themselves to bunches of coconuts. When confronted they became very hostile and defensive. “How you know I tief your coconuts? You ain’ see me”, even though the evidence still lay before them just on their side of the fence.
On two occasions we were visited by a well-built, dark young man dressed in camouflage pants but well greased on his upper body. On his second visit, he attempted to grab our daughter who ran screaming with him in pursuit. When he saw me he darted back through the sliding door, which he had left open after entry through a window.
On several other occasions we suffered entry into our home, from which we lost jewellery, electronic equipment and even a crucifix. The fruit trees in our yard have had frequent visitors, and our adjoining lot has been a dumpsite for neighbours and beer-drinking passers-by.
Yes, the foregoing are only a few examples of dishonesty and disrespect which we have experienced; and we count ourselves lucky, for we still have our lives for which to be thankful. Others out there have probably experienced worse horror stories and probably more frequent.
What is the answer to this horrible state of affairs? We suggest that we start with – the preaching and practice of the two last Commandments of the ten given to Moses, which simply ask that we respect others and their property. If we simply worked on being honest and respectful in our homes, in our schools, in our government and in our churches, in a consistent way for the next five or six years, we would indeed experience a dramatic turnaround in crime in our land. We doubt, however, that the challenge will be as easily taken as the challenge to be dishonest and disrespectful has.
Viewpoints, The Bahama Journal
