Many Bahamian attorneys make the guys at Enron, Worldcom and Haliburton seem lovable.
A glaring example of the shiftiness and greed of the Bahamas legal community was highlighted on television last night when ZNS featured a segment on a contribution to the hurricane relief fund by a local law firm.
Now, don’t get me wrong, ANY contribution to the government’s hurricane relief fund is wonderful. ﾠAnd I commend the law firm for contributing.
But, it was mentioned, more than once, that this particular firm was the first ﾠBahamian law firm (and apparently the only one so far) to contribute to the hurricane fund. I found that a little unsettling considering how many law firms there are in Nassau alone.
Another unsettling aspect was that the contribution was accompanied by a 2.5 minute “commercial” for the law firm, which kind of diminishes their generosity, considering that an actual commercial might have cost a few thousand dollars anyway.
Also, the amount could have been for three times what it was, considering the money the firm takes in annually.
But it appears to be par for the course, as I’ve seen dozens of people parade through the Minister of Finance’s office reaping their publicity for their contributions. ﾠ
Oddly enough, some of the largest donors have been people and companies who didn’t use their contribution as a PR tool. Which is really the way it should be. Didn’t Jesus admonish the Pharisees (the lawyers of his day) for their manner of tithing, saying it should be done with a clean heart? They were tithing on garden plants and not showing justice, mercy and faithfulness. He exhorted them to tithe but to also display righteousness in their daily lives, something that more Bahamian attorneys might want to think about.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law; justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matt. 23:23-28)
