On Picking up where I left off . . .
On April 7 last year, I decided that I needed to interact live in a blog comment context, to test an idea that blogs could be used in a distance education context. Soon, and for months, I was embroiled in an intense back-forth over at the Evangelical Outpost, especially on topics related to Intelligent Design. [Cf here and here for two major threads that give a flavour of what has been going on.]
Plainly, blogs are indeed a suitable tool for forum-style educational approaches, though moderation of the more unruly participants is an issue. That means that we are in a position to develop an online, networked programme of discipleship training focussed on preparing a critical mass of the church and people of the Caribbean for prophetic intelectual and cultural leadership in the emerging global world of C21. So, while I am a bit weary and sore on a few points, I have learned much that will be useful for the GLI initiative.
Thus also, now, it is time to return to my own agenda and strategy.
Therefore, over the next little while, I will be doing reflective observations on what the past nine months have taught me, linking to updated or newly created pages in my reference site, and moving ahead. I crave your prayers; inputs are also welcome.
Grace to all in this new year. AMEN
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Sunday, August 28, 2005
A KAIROSFOCUS BRIEFING NOTE
On the Troubling Case of Dr Richard Sternberg
NOTE: Over the past several months, I have been an active participant in the Evangelical Outpost Blog, in particular on themes relating to the origins of the cosmos and life in it. In the course of such, I have had several exchanges with other active commentators, including Dr Larry Lord, who has requested permission to cite my comments elsewhere. Unfortunately, on track record, I cannot trust that such citation and comments will be fair and representative of what I have had to say. I have therefore stipulated that he cite the below as a condition of any such citations. This post also appears in the web page: http://www.angelfire.com/pro/kairosfocus/resources/On_Sternberg.htm, and a recent media interview with Mr Bill O'Reilly may be found at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166831,00.html, with a revealing column at http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/klinghoffer200508160826.asp . Over the next little while I will be returning to a more active profile onthis blog as well as my main site. GEM
ON THE TROUBLING CASE OF DR RICHARD STERNBERG
Mr Richard M von Sternberg, a researcher in the Smithsonian who holds two PhDs in Biology and who advocates structuralism [cf:http://www.rsternberg.net/ ], has, on the so far uncontested findings of an OSC investigation [cf. http://www.rsternberg.net/OSC_ltr.htm], edited and published a controversial journal article by Mr Meyer that passed peer review by "renowned scientists."
Because the article cuts across the dominant NDT, the publication of such scientific "heresy" appears, in light of the OSC's findings, to have led to sustained harassment and intimidation, compounded by slanders. Such a situation, sadly, does not reflect well on the ethics of leading scientists and institutions in the USA, as is documented by the OSC report, including telling email excerpts.
It is fair comment to observe that if the evident ethical lapses involved are not properly resolved, this will likely lead to a significant public backlash; as failure to police one's profession is a betrayal of public trust.
In the case of Dr Larry Lord, a prolific commentator in the Evangelical Outpost Blog, there has been a consistent and sometimes abusive dismissal of these findings, compounded by an equally persistent failure to provide evidence that warrants the inference that the findings of the OSC, are false or materially misleading.
Dr Lord, a molecular biologist, has also repeatedly failed to materially address the underlying scientific issues when repeatedly called upon to do so, as can be seen in relevant threads in the EO, such as http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/001549.html .
The key such issue that has yet to be addressed is that the origin of life by spontaneous chemical processes, or the similar diversification observed in the Cambrian Explosion, are arguably implausible in light of the relevant statistical thermodynamics of spontaneous generation of the required information-rich, functionally specified, complex molecular systems. This case has been discussed by Thaxton, Bradley and Olsen since 1984 in their work, the Mystery of Life's Origins, which builds on earlier work by Yockey. [Cf. online chapters at http://www.ldolphin.org/mystery/ ]. This line of work has been extended inter alia by the work of Mr Dembski, Mr Behe and Mr Meyer [Cf. popular summary: http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8543 ], who are major advocates of a minority scientific paradigm, namely "Design Theory."
The 1984 work -- which is in the main based on plausibly applicable implications of the statistical thermodynamics summarised in Boltzmann's equation s = k ln w, was sufficiently impressive that Dr Dean Kenyon, eminent biologist and origin of life researcher, took occasion of writing the foreword to recant his earlier position as stated in his Biochemical Predestination, of which he was a co-author.
I invite dialogue on the above, on condition that the tone is civil and the focus is on the material issues as adverted to supra.
Grace be to you all [cf. Titus 2:11 - 14.]
[Name deleted; contact accessible through the Contact in RH column.]
GEM of TKI
2005:08:28
On the Troubling Case of Dr Richard Sternberg
NOTE: Over the past several months, I have been an active participant in the Evangelical Outpost Blog, in particular on themes relating to the origins of the cosmos and life in it. In the course of such, I have had several exchanges with other active commentators, including Dr Larry Lord, who has requested permission to cite my comments elsewhere. Unfortunately, on track record, I cannot trust that such citation and comments will be fair and representative of what I have had to say. I have therefore stipulated that he cite the below as a condition of any such citations. This post also appears in the web page: http://www.angelfire.com/pro/kairosfocus/resources/On_Sternberg.htm, and a recent media interview with Mr Bill O'Reilly may be found at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166831,00.html, with a revealing column at http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/klinghoffer200508160826.asp . Over the next little while I will be returning to a more active profile onthis blog as well as my main site. GEM
ON THE TROUBLING CASE OF DR RICHARD STERNBERG
Mr Richard M von Sternberg, a researcher in the Smithsonian who holds two PhDs in Biology and who advocates structuralism [cf:http://www.rsternberg.net/ ], has, on the so far uncontested findings of an OSC investigation [cf. http://www.rsternberg.net/OSC_ltr.htm], edited and published a controversial journal article by Mr Meyer that passed peer review by "renowned scientists."
Because the article cuts across the dominant NDT, the publication of such scientific "heresy" appears, in light of the OSC's findings, to have led to sustained harassment and intimidation, compounded by slanders. Such a situation, sadly, does not reflect well on the ethics of leading scientists and institutions in the USA, as is documented by the OSC report, including telling email excerpts.
It is fair comment to observe that if the evident ethical lapses involved are not properly resolved, this will likely lead to a significant public backlash; as failure to police one's profession is a betrayal of public trust.
In the case of Dr Larry Lord, a prolific commentator in the Evangelical Outpost Blog, there has been a consistent and sometimes abusive dismissal of these findings, compounded by an equally persistent failure to provide evidence that warrants the inference that the findings of the OSC, are false or materially misleading.
Dr Lord, a molecular biologist, has also repeatedly failed to materially address the underlying scientific issues when repeatedly called upon to do so, as can be seen in relevant threads in the EO, such as http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/001549.html .
The key such issue that has yet to be addressed is that the origin of life by spontaneous chemical processes, or the similar diversification observed in the Cambrian Explosion, are arguably implausible in light of the relevant statistical thermodynamics of spontaneous generation of the required information-rich, functionally specified, complex molecular systems. This case has been discussed by Thaxton, Bradley and Olsen since 1984 in their work, the Mystery of Life's Origins, which builds on earlier work by Yockey. [Cf. online chapters at http://www.ldolphin.org/mystery/ ]. This line of work has been extended inter alia by the work of Mr Dembski, Mr Behe and Mr Meyer [Cf. popular summary: http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=8543 ], who are major advocates of a minority scientific paradigm, namely "Design Theory."
The 1984 work -- which is in the main based on plausibly applicable implications of the statistical thermodynamics summarised in Boltzmann's equation s = k ln w, was sufficiently impressive that Dr Dean Kenyon, eminent biologist and origin of life researcher, took occasion of writing the foreword to recant his earlier position as stated in his Biochemical Predestination, of which he was a co-author.
I invite dialogue on the above, on condition that the tone is civil and the focus is on the material issues as adverted to supra.
Grace be to you all [cf. Titus 2:11 - 14.]
[Name deleted; contact accessible through the Contact in RH column.]
GEM of TKI
2005:08:28
Friday, May 27, 2005
Right makes . . . Right
GEM 05:05:25a
GEM 05:05:25a
It has often been said that “the voice of the people is the voice of God.” However, this is just as misleading as the equally common idea that might – or, for that matter; power, or wealth – makes right. In fact, it is right that makes right. So, as we consider our rebuilding/ re-development challenges and an upcoming election cycle (thus the need for us to collectively make a wise decision on our national leadership over the next several years), let us reflect on a key incident in the career of the Apostle Paul, while he was on his way to Rome as an Appeals prisoner:
[Our ship] made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, "Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also." But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. . . . . When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along . . . When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. [Ac 27:7 – 22, as excerpted.]
The incident exposes the down side to collective decision-making:
--> The uncontrollable but partly predictable environment precipitated a crisis: buffetted by heavy head-winds, the ship was delayed until it was necessary to winter in a safe harbour, but the first harbour, Fair Havens, was not fully suitable. So, the majority wanted to move on to a hopefully better prospect, Phoenix.
--> Paul warned of the risk involved, but the owner and the kubernete spoke with the voice of wealth and technical know-how respectively: they were more than willing to go along with the crowd, and advised the Centurion in charge to run a dangerous risk in the hope of a quick and desirable advantage.
--> As a result, the lone voice of safety and caution was easily overwhelmed by the majority, backed up by wealth and technical expertise; so the decision was to go ahead if opportunity should present itself.
--> Soon, a gentle south wind seemed to offer every advantage, and it was eagerly seized. But, before long, sudden disaster struck in the form of an early winter storm, and at once the ship was reduced to sinking condition, forcing the sailors to try to see if they could keep off the sandbars off the Libyan coast, and so they were only able to drift across the stormy seas while hope of a safe landfall faded.
--> Then, at the end, it was the very same Paul whose advice and leadership had been dismissed when things were looking good, who had to stand up and give hope and counsel. Then, he had to intervene a third time, to save lives by exposing the sailors’ plot to abandon the passengers as the ship ran aground on the north coast of Malta. So, through his second intervention, the company were all saved, even though the ship and its cargo were lost.
Plainly, this incident exposes the downside of democracy, of technical advice, and of looking to the wealthy and powerful for wise counsel: for, in a world of self-interested sinners the majority, the wealthy, the technically expert and the powerful are often tempted to act in their own perceived interests, rather than on what is wise and right. Sometimes, they get away with it, but that simply makes them less willing to listen to sensible advice the next time around. Sooner or later, such self-interested, reckless action leads to disaster. For, it is what is right that is right, regardless of who proposes or supports or opposes it. As David counselled: “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it . . .” Ps 127:1a.
So, now, let’s reflect on our own circumstances as we work to rebuild Montserrat; then let’s talk, let’s pray and let’s act.
AMEN
Sunday, April 24, 2005
A useful source on Rastafarianism
GEM 05:04:24
GEM 05:04:24
A couple of weeks back, on the Let’s Talk ZJB radio talk show here in Montserrat, a caller in the 9 pm call-in segment raised several typical Rastafarian talking points:
1] The inappropriately “white” Jesus of older Sunday School art [NB: he was a Semite, and so probably looked much like a Bedouin Arab does; cf. http://www.bibarch.com/News/News-Genetic-Brothers.htm and http://www.barzan.com/kevin_brook.htm on Abraham’s family and – given that the Kurds inhabit the region where the Northern Kingdom was exiled in 722 BC – perhaps some of the “lost tribes”];
2] His alleged status as a Nazirite [NB: this is based on an error, cf. Num. 6:1 – 7 with Matt. 11:16 – 19; for, Jesus of NazARETH drank wine, strictly forbidden to NazIRITES];
3] Christian failure to teach from the whole Bible (instead focussing on certain NT books and texts, especially from the writings of Paul; cf. http://www.angelfire.com/pro/kairosfocus/resources/PAUL_AND_CHRIST.htm );
4] The demand that Rastafarian thought be given an equally credible seat at the dialogue table [cf. http://www.angelfire.com/pro/kairosfocus/resources/straight_or_spin.htm ].
The resulting, subtly strained, on-air discussion set me to thinking. For in fact, while the questions the caller raised are significant, normally the church in the Caribbean does not devote much thought or effort to what is after all a regionally rooted, commonly encountered challenge to the orthoodox Christian faith; one that especially appeals to disaffected young men who are looking for roots in an African cultural identity. Indeed, while in fact several scholarly studies have been done and can be found in various libraries, I know of no handy reference on Rastafarianism and the issues it raises that is suitable for use by -- and commonly available to – Christians and others across the region who often encounter this sect and its teachings.
Why is that so?
On reflection, and with a bit of shame, I have to admit that, partly, this reflects the facts that (1) by and large, Caribbean Evangelicals are not long on scholarship, and (2) perhaps partly as a result, we do not really take Rastafarianism and the concerns and issues it reflects and projects seriously. Indeed, Rastas are quite commonly viewed as just a bunch of Ganja-smoking, half-baked, ill-educated -- or even half-mad -- malcontents. And, where we move beyond such ill-judged contempt and sweeping dismissals, the focus tends to be on the need for rootedness in Africa and the plight of the Black Man, so the serious theological and historical issues that lurk just below the surface of their claims are simply set to one side.
Neither response is acceptable, if we are to “truth it in love” as Paul counsels in Eph. 5:14 - 15.
Rastafarianism did in fact arise in Jamaica in the 1930’s as a movement of protest in a world where the black man was – and to a greater extent than we are willing to admit, still is – the principal victim of the global world and its trading system that began to emerge in the 1490’s when the Portuguese rounded Cape Horn and sailed on to India, and when one of their former captains, Columbus, sailed across the Atlantic and reached the Caribbean. That painful, and yet unfinished history has to be fully addressed, including the under-reported but pivotal and often painful role of the dissenting churches, black missionaries and church leaders such as George Liele, Sam Sharpe and George William Gordon in our liberation struggles. [Cf. http://www.angelfire.com/pro/kairosfocus/resources/Carib_liberty.htm ]
But equally, while we must appreciate the contribution of Rastafarians such as Bob Marley to the emergence of a comfortable black consciousness, if Christians are to retain street credibility, we must fully and fairly address the theological, historical and philosophical issues and concerns that the movement raises.
For instance, first and foremost, Rastafarianism is about viewing the last Emperor of Ethiopia as the biblical Messiah and God incarnate, so a proper response must begin with a brief and objective look at his history such as we may find at the Wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie_of_Ethiopia . There, we will see that Haile Selassie’s life-story is partly inspiring, but partly tragically spoiled with the incompetence and corruption that so often taints those who hold absolute political power. We will also learn that Tafari Makkonen (his birth name; “Ras” means “duke”) was a life-long member of the Orthodox Christian Church of Ethiopia, and that he sent Christian missionaries to gently correct and guide the Rastas to a sounder faith in Christ when he realised (on an April 1966 state visit to Jamaica) that there was a sect in the Caribbean that was trying to worship him.
So, now, let’s talk . . . AMEN.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
An Era Passes
GEM 05:04:06a
GEM 05:04:06a
Over the past few days, through global TV coverage, the world witnessed the passing of Pope John Paul II, and that of one of the ~ 1 billion members of his global flock, Mrs Terri Schiavo. These events were epochal, and so they help us achieve that understanding of our times that will help us know what we should do. [Cf. 1 Chron 12:32.]
For:
- As John Paul passed away, we saw a curious blend of responses. On the one hand, there were accolades to a great man who first resisted Nazi tyranny in his native land, Poland as a nineteen-year-old youth. Then, across a long career as a priest, Bishop, theologian-philosopher, and finally, Pope, he helped liberate hundreds of millions of victims of Communist tyranny in Eastern Europe and reached out across ancient enmities, quarrels and hurts to bring healing and seek reconciliation. But at the same time, while the New York Times could easily find sharp critiques it was reduced to an all too revealing inadvertently published line in its online obituary: “need some quote from supporter.” Why? Simple: the late Pope was a Traditionalist, especially on morality.
- Similarly, Mrs Schiavo suffered brain damage fifteen years ago, and her husband won a million-dollar settlement intended to maintain her for fifty years. However, she was starved and dehydrated to death on court order at the request of Mr Schiavo (who for the past ten years has been living with another woman by whom he has fathered two children). This was done despite serious questions from competent medical personnel about the accuracy of her “persistent vegetative state” diagnosis – for which not even a MRI scan has been done. Why? Because “progressive” legal thought no longer permits us to consider the point that such blatant adultery is an abandonment of the marriage, so Mr Schiavo retained his position as legal guardian. On his orders, key tests simply were not done. His argument was clear: Terri would not wish to live with such a low quality life, so food and water should be withheld till she died. And so, over the strong protest of her family and many others, that is just what was done. Chillingly, we know the underlying concept all too well from the recent, grim history of the late Pope’s motherland: “life unworthy of life” was Hitler’s rhetorical basis for euthanasia -- and it soon became the operating principle of the infamous Nazi death camps, such as the most infamous of all: the one they built in conquered Poland, Auschwitz. Thirteen millions perished in those camps, including six million Jews, but already we are forgetting the lesson.
In a region where some 25% of both employment and National Income come from tourism, that clash between morality and economic interests is a serious, immediate concern. For, as we saw last year in our own local controversy over the proposed Gambling Act, we are now increasingly being offered a false “choice”: between prosperity and adherence to sound principle. “[A] false choice”? Yes, for sound society is rooted in principled restraint of our desires, agendas and passions. So, if we seek prosperity at the expense of moral principles rooted in respect for liberty, order, opportunity and justice based on our being equally created in God’s image, there can be no foundation for rebuilding our nation as a healthy, wholesome, truly democratic, God-blessed community.
Thus, the big challenge ahead is quite plain: how can we develop our nation without fatally compromising the moral principles that give us a community worth living in? To that issue, we must now turn our thoughts.
So now, let’s talk . . . AMEN
Saturday, April 02, 2005
The Rebuilding of Montserrat, 8:
On St Patrick's Day
GEM 05:03:23a
Week before last, we the people of Montserrat celebrated St Patrick's Day, as our National Day. For, in 1768, there was an uprising as slaves tried to strike a blow for freeedom: they had observed that on Ireland's national day, their Irish masters would gather together and celebrate with much strong drink. So, what better day to strike for freedom?
However, their plans were detected, and the uprising became an abortive slaughter. So, on March 17th, we remembered their sacrifice as the first step to the freedom we enjoy today. But, also, there are several yet-burning issues that the 1768 incident surfaces:
1] St Patrick himself, as a 16 year-old lad in Britain, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland, where adversity helped him deepen his Christian Faith. He managed to escape after six or seven years and returned to Ireland decades later as a Missionary Bishop, with such great success that the anniversary of his death, March 17, 493, is Ireland's national day.
2] For instance, it is said that in his second meeting with the assembled pagan chieftains of Erin, he was challenged about the apparent illogicality of the Trinity. He plucked a three-leaf shamrock and began: "Is this one leaf or three? If one leaf, why are there three lobes of equal size? If three leaves, why is there just one stem? If you cannot explain so simple a mystery . . . how can you hope to understand . . . the Holy Trinity?" The Shamrock leaf, of course, has long been a national symbol of both Christian Ireland and Montserrat.
3] Over a thousand years later, the long-since Christianised Irish were under the English boot-heel and repeatedly rose up to try to liberate themselves. (Eventually, after decades of futile debate over Home Rule, the bloodily suppressed 1916 Easter Rebellion led to the creation of the Republic of Ireland, and to the lingering conflict in Northern Ireland.)
4] Many Irish settlers in the Caribbean came as indentured servants, often labouring under slave-like conditions for a period of up to seven years.
5] The Irish settlers in Montserrat came here from St Kitts, to find freedom to practice their Catholic Faith.
How then could men from a Christian nation whose patron saint was an escaped slave, and who themselves longed for liberty, then turn around and cruelly enslave and oppress other men? Why is it that the national day, named after that Patron Saint, has so often become an occasion for drunken revelry?
The answers are as painful as they are simple:
1] Until a dozen Christians -- through the heart-softening impact of the great evangelical awakening then occurring in Britain -- founded the first antislavery society in London in 1787, no-one had dared to challenge slavery as an institution. So, despite Biblical rebukes to oppression, injustice and kidnapping, generally slavery was at most seen as a personal misfortune rather than an inescapably illegitimate institution. And, it would take fifty years for their campaign to triumph in the teeth of bitter, well-funded and clever opposition.
2] The lifestyle of many of the slave-masters of 1768 also speaks loud and clear: men who celebrate the memory of a great Christian Missionary by becoming drunk plainly and sadly know little of the gospel, and live less of it. Indeed, the Britain of that era was so corrupt that William Wilberforce said that many men pretended to be worse than they really were, or they would not have credibility with the leading men of the time. No wonder a major strategic focus of his campaigns against slavery and dozens of other major social ills was "to make goodness fashionable."
In short, while the gospel naturally works to save souls, renew minds, improve lives and transform institutions and communities, it is clear that this is in the teeth of the social implications of sin-darkened understanding, sin-hardened hearts and sin-numbed consciences. And, as (1) the controversies over gambling and (2) the bitterly challenged success of Uganda's common-sense, traditional morality-based ABC strategy to combat HIV/AIDS demonstrate all too plainly, that has major implications for us as we seek to rebuild our nation as a healthy, wholesome, truly democratic, God-fearing community. AMEN
On St Patrick's Day
GEM 05:03:23a
Week before last, we the people of Montserrat celebrated St Patrick's Day, as our National Day. For, in 1768, there was an uprising as slaves tried to strike a blow for freeedom: they had observed that on Ireland's national day, their Irish masters would gather together and celebrate with much strong drink. So, what better day to strike for freedom?
However, their plans were detected, and the uprising became an abortive slaughter. So, on March 17th, we remembered their sacrifice as the first step to the freedom we enjoy today. But, also, there are several yet-burning issues that the 1768 incident surfaces:
1] St Patrick himself, as a 16 year-old lad in Britain, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland, where adversity helped him deepen his Christian Faith. He managed to escape after six or seven years and returned to Ireland decades later as a Missionary Bishop, with such great success that the anniversary of his death, March 17, 493, is Ireland's national day.
2] For instance, it is said that in his second meeting with the assembled pagan chieftains of Erin, he was challenged about the apparent illogicality of the Trinity. He plucked a three-leaf shamrock and began: "Is this one leaf or three? If one leaf, why are there three lobes of equal size? If three leaves, why is there just one stem? If you cannot explain so simple a mystery . . . how can you hope to understand . . . the Holy Trinity?" The Shamrock leaf, of course, has long been a national symbol of both Christian Ireland and Montserrat.
3] Over a thousand years later, the long-since Christianised Irish were under the English boot-heel and repeatedly rose up to try to liberate themselves. (Eventually, after decades of futile debate over Home Rule, the bloodily suppressed 1916 Easter Rebellion led to the creation of the Republic of Ireland, and to the lingering conflict in Northern Ireland.)
4] Many Irish settlers in the Caribbean came as indentured servants, often labouring under slave-like conditions for a period of up to seven years.
5] The Irish settlers in Montserrat came here from St Kitts, to find freedom to practice their Catholic Faith.
How then could men from a Christian nation whose patron saint was an escaped slave, and who themselves longed for liberty, then turn around and cruelly enslave and oppress other men? Why is it that the national day, named after that Patron Saint, has so often become an occasion for drunken revelry?
The answers are as painful as they are simple:
1] Until a dozen Christians -- through the heart-softening impact of the great evangelical awakening then occurring in Britain -- founded the first antislavery society in London in 1787, no-one had dared to challenge slavery as an institution. So, despite Biblical rebukes to oppression, injustice and kidnapping, generally slavery was at most seen as a personal misfortune rather than an inescapably illegitimate institution. And, it would take fifty years for their campaign to triumph in the teeth of bitter, well-funded and clever opposition.
2] The lifestyle of many of the slave-masters of 1768 also speaks loud and clear: men who celebrate the memory of a great Christian Missionary by becoming drunk plainly and sadly know little of the gospel, and live less of it. Indeed, the Britain of that era was so corrupt that William Wilberforce said that many men pretended to be worse than they really were, or they would not have credibility with the leading men of the time. No wonder a major strategic focus of his campaigns against slavery and dozens of other major social ills was "to make goodness fashionable."
In short, while the gospel naturally works to save souls, renew minds, improve lives and transform institutions and communities, it is clear that this is in the teeth of the social implications of sin-darkened understanding, sin-hardened hearts and sin-numbed consciences. And, as (1) the controversies over gambling and (2) the bitterly challenged success of Uganda's common-sense, traditional morality-based ABC strategy to combat HIV/AIDS demonstrate all too plainly, that has major implications for us as we seek to rebuild our nation as a healthy, wholesome, truly democratic, God-fearing community. AMEN
The Rebuilding of Montserrat, 8:
On St Patrick's Day
GEM 05:03:23a
Week before last, we the people of Montserrat celebrated St Patrick's Day, as our National Day. For, in 1768, there was an uprising as slaves tried to strike a blow for freeedom: they had observed that on Ireland's national day, their Irish masters would gather together and celebrate with much strong drink. So, what better day to strike for freedom?
However, their plans were detected, and the uprising became an abortive slaughter. So, on March 17th, we remembered their sacrifice as the first step to the freedom we enjoy today. But, also, there are several yet-burning issues that the 1768 incident surfaces:
1] St Patrick himself, as a 16 year-old lad in Britain, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland, where adversity helped him deepen his Christian Faith. He managed to escape after six or seven years and returned to Ireland decades later as a Missionary Bishop, with such great success that the anniversary of his death, March 17, 493, is Ireland's national day.
2] For instance, it is said that in his second meeting with the assembled pagan chieftains of Erin, he was challenged about the apparent illogicality of the Trinity. He plucked a three-leaf shamrock and began: "Is this one leaf or three? If one leaf, why are there three lobes of equal size? If three leaves, why is there just one stem? If you cannot explain so simple a mystery . . . how can you hope to understand . . . the Holy Trinity?" The Shamrock leaf, of course, has long been a national symbol of both Christian Ireland and Montserrat.
3] Over a thousand years later, the long-since Christianised Irish were under the English boot-heel and repeatedly rose up to try to liberate themselves. (Eventually, after decades of futile debate over Home Rule, the bloodily suppressed 1916 Easter Rebellion led to the creation of the Republic of Ireland, and to the lingering conflict in Northern Ireland.)
4] Many Irish settlers in the Caribbean came as indentured servants, often labouring under slave-like conditions for a period of up to seven years.
5] The Irish settlers in Montserrat came here from St Kitts, to find freedom to practice their Catholic Faith.
How then could men from a Christian nation whose patron saint was an escaped slave, and who themselves longed for liberty, then turn around and cruelly enslave and oppress other men? Why is it that the national day, named after that Patron Saint, has so often become an occasion for drunken revelry?
The answers are as painful as they are simple:
1] Until a dozen Christians -- through the heart-softening impact of the great evangelical awakening then occurring in Britain -- founded the first antislavery society in London in 1787, no-one had dared to challenge slavery as an institution. So, despite Biblical rebukes to oppression, injustice and kidnapping, generally slavery was at most seen as a personal misfortune rather than an inescapably illegitimate institution. And, it would take fifty years for their campaign to triumph in the teeth of bitter, well-funded and clever opposition.
2] The lifestyle of many of the slave-masters of 1768 also speaks loud and clear: men who celebrate the memory of a great Christian Missionary by becoming drunk plainly and sadly know little of the gospel, and live less of it. Indeed, the Britain of that era was so corrupt that William Wilberforce said that many men pretended to be worse than they really were, or they would not have credibility with the leading men of the time. No wonder a major strategic focus of his campaigns against slavery and dozens of other major social ills was "to make goodness fashionable."
In short, while the gospel naturally works to save souls, renew minds, improve lives and transform institutions and communities, it is clear that this is in the teeth of the social implications of sin-darkened understanding, sin-hardened hearts and sin-numbed consciences. And, as (1) the controversies over gambling and (2) the bitterly challenged success of Uganda's common-sense, traditional morality-based ABC strategy to combat HIV/AIDS demonstrate all too plainly, that has major implications for us as we seek to rebuild our nation as a healthy, wholesome, truly democratic, God-fearing community. AMEN
On St Patrick's Day
GEM 05:03:23a
Week before last, we the people of Montserrat celebrated St Patrick's Day, as our National Day. For, in 1768, there was an uprising as slaves tried to strike a blow for freeedom: they had observed that on Ireland's national day, their Irish masters would gather together and celebrate with much strong drink. So, what better day to strike for freedom?
However, their plans were detected, and the uprising became an abortive slaughter. So, on March 17th, we remembered their sacrifice as the first step to the freedom we enjoy today. But, also, there are several yet-burning issues that the 1768 incident surfaces:
1] St Patrick himself, as a 16 year-old lad in Britain, was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland, where adversity helped him deepen his Christian Faith. He managed to escape after six or seven years and returned to Ireland decades later as a Missionary Bishop, with such great success that the anniversary of his death, March 17, 493, is Ireland's national day.
2] For instance, it is said that in his second meeting with the assembled pagan chieftains of Erin, he was challenged about the apparent illogicality of the Trinity. He plucked a three-leaf shamrock and began: "Is this one leaf or three? If one leaf, why are there three lobes of equal size? If three leaves, why is there just one stem? If you cannot explain so simple a mystery . . . how can you hope to understand . . . the Holy Trinity?" The Shamrock leaf, of course, has long been a national symbol of both Christian Ireland and Montserrat.
3] Over a thousand years later, the long-since Christianised Irish were under the English boot-heel and repeatedly rose up to try to liberate themselves. (Eventually, after decades of futile debate over Home Rule, the bloodily suppressed 1916 Easter Rebellion led to the creation of the Republic of Ireland, and to the lingering conflict in Northern Ireland.)
4] Many Irish settlers in the Caribbean came as indentured servants, often labouring under slave-like conditions for a period of up to seven years.
5] The Irish settlers in Montserrat came here from St Kitts, to find freedom to practice their Catholic Faith.
How then could men from a Christian nation whose patron saint was an escaped slave, and who themselves longed for liberty, then turn around and cruelly enslave and oppress other men? Why is it that the national day, named after that Patron Saint, has so often become an occasion for drunken revelry?
The answers are as painful as they are simple:
1] Until a dozen Christians -- through the heart-softening impact of the great evangelical awakening then occurring in Britain -- founded the first antislavery society in London in 1787, no-one had dared to challenge slavery as an institution. So, despite Biblical rebukes to oppression, injustice and kidnapping, generally slavery was at most seen as a personal misfortune rather than an inescapably illegitimate institution. And, it would take fifty years for their campaign to triumph in the teeth of bitter, well-funded and clever opposition.
2] The lifestyle of many of the slave-masters of 1768 also speaks loud and clear: men who celebrate the memory of a great Christian Missionary by becoming drunk plainly and sadly know little of the gospel, and live less of it. Indeed, the Britain of that era was so corrupt that William Wilberforce said that many men pretended to be worse than they really were, or they would not have credibility with the leading men of the time. No wonder a major strategic focus of his campaigns against slavery and dozens of other major social ills was "to make goodness fashionable."
In short, while the gospel naturally works to save souls, renew minds, improve lives and transform institutions and communities, it is clear that this is in the teeth of the social implications of sin-darkened understanding, sin-hardened hearts and sin-numbed consciences. And, as (1) the controversies over gambling and (2) the bitterly challenged success of Uganda's common-sense, traditional morality-based ABC strategy to combat HIV/AIDS demonstrate all too plainly, that has major implications for us as we seek to rebuild our nation as a healthy, wholesome, truly democratic, God-fearing community. AMEN
Thursday, March 24, 2005
On HIV/AIDS and the Success of the ABC Strategy:
GE M 05:03:23a
On the Let's Talk programme, we sometimes let remarks stand without direct rebuttal; especially if the programme as a whole provides adequate balance. However, if such remarks are later sliced out of context and presented publicly as the bottom line on the topic, a few balancing words are then quite in order.
Regrettably, such a corrective is plainly now needed on the topic of the Church's morally based stance on the HIV/AIDS global epidemic and on the related success of Uganda's ABC campaign.
First, let us hear Moses on why biblical morality "works":
". . . what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" [Deut. 10:12 - 13]
So, Heb 13:4 -- "marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral" -- should be seen in that light: our Creator's commands are meant to protect and bless us and our community, so ignoring them can have sadly devastating consequences for us, for our loved ones, and for the wider community.
But, equally, as Jesus pointed out: none of us is without sin, so instead of throwing stones at one another, each of us should ask God to help us take the planks out of our own eyes and reach out a helping or comforting hand. [Jn 7:53 - 8:11, Matt 7:1 - 5.]
Secondly, a recent (and unfortunately flawed) Columbia University study on Uganda may have led some to think that the A and B parts of the ABC strategy don't work in the real world. However, as the Harvard-based AIDS researcher Dr Edward Green observed just a few days ago:
"[condom use] went up in every country in Africa and in several countries condom user levels went higher than Uganda and [HIV/AIDS] infection rates didn't come down, they went up. We know the statement that condoms worked is not true. Then there's another claim: When people die off, prevalence goes down because of death. That's also not true because infection rates and levels of death, however you want to measure them, have gone up higher in other African countries and prevalence hasn't come down . . . . It went down uniformly throughout Uganda." [CT interview Mar 7 05, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/110/12.0.html ]
That is, as Dr Green also noted, the best explanation for Uganda's success remains: "Most behavioral change [towards Abstinence and Fidelity] in Uganda was in the latter 1980s and early 1990s . . . . So the incidence rate started going down in the later 1980s and early 1990s and then it's the dynamics of epidemics that even if you don't really do anything after that, prevalence continues to go down for a number of years . . ."
In short, ABC did and does work. And, more specifically, while condoms are significantly (but not perfectly) effective as barriers to the passage of the HIV virus, the Uganda epidemiological evidence shows strongly that the A and B parts are the real keys to its success. So, let us heed the bottom-line lesson for the Caribbean: a balanced ABC strategy is both morally sound and epidemiologically sound. END
GE M 05:03:23a
On the Let's Talk programme, we sometimes let remarks stand without direct rebuttal; especially if the programme as a whole provides adequate balance. However, if such remarks are later sliced out of context and presented publicly as the bottom line on the topic, a few balancing words are then quite in order.
Regrettably, such a corrective is plainly now needed on the topic of the Church's morally based stance on the HIV/AIDS global epidemic and on the related success of Uganda's ABC campaign.
First, let us hear Moses on why biblical morality "works":
". . . what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" [Deut. 10:12 - 13]
So, Heb 13:4 -- "marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral" -- should be seen in that light: our Creator's commands are meant to protect and bless us and our community, so ignoring them can have sadly devastating consequences for us, for our loved ones, and for the wider community.
But, equally, as Jesus pointed out: none of us is without sin, so instead of throwing stones at one another, each of us should ask God to help us take the planks out of our own eyes and reach out a helping or comforting hand. [Jn 7:53 - 8:11, Matt 7:1 - 5.]
Secondly, a recent (and unfortunately flawed) Columbia University study on Uganda may have led some to think that the A and B parts of the ABC strategy don't work in the real world. However, as the Harvard-based AIDS researcher Dr Edward Green observed just a few days ago:
"[condom use] went up in every country in Africa and in several countries condom user levels went higher than Uganda and [HIV/AIDS] infection rates didn't come down, they went up. We know the statement that condoms worked is not true. Then there's another claim: When people die off, prevalence goes down because of death. That's also not true because infection rates and levels of death, however you want to measure them, have gone up higher in other African countries and prevalence hasn't come down . . . . It went down uniformly throughout Uganda." [CT interview Mar 7 05, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/110/12.0.html ]
That is, as Dr Green also noted, the best explanation for Uganda's success remains: "Most behavioral change [towards Abstinence and Fidelity] in Uganda was in the latter 1980s and early 1990s . . . . So the incidence rate started going down in the later 1980s and early 1990s and then it's the dynamics of epidemics that even if you don't really do anything after that, prevalence continues to go down for a number of years . . ."
In short, ABC did and does work. And, more specifically, while condoms are significantly (but not perfectly) effective as barriers to the passage of the HIV virus, the Uganda epidemiological evidence shows strongly that the A and B parts are the real keys to its success. So, let us heed the bottom-line lesson for the Caribbean: a balanced ABC strategy is both morally sound and epidemiologically sound. END
Saturday, March 12, 2005
PS: On Moving on beyond the "blame the churches" debate
GEM March 12, 2005
Regrettably, at the 2000, 2002 and 2004 International AIDS conferences, there was a tendency to blame the churches [and advocates of the ABC approach who stress the importance of morally-driven behaviour change as the key to the HIV crisis] for contributing to the spread of HIV AIDS, to the point where some seminars have deteriorated into mere religion-bashing. This sad and unnecessary development includes a now notorious presentation by Mr Martin Gunter of the Jamaica Red Cross (who was then a member of Jamaica's HIV Advisory Committee and Chairman of the Caribbean Regional AIDS Network, CARAN) at the 2000 Durban, South Africa XIIIth International AIDS Conference.
The resulting rebuttals by University of Technology Lecturer and Communications Consultant Mr Martin Henry and by church leaders are well worth reflecting on, as is Mr Gunter's unfortunately disingenuous response to these well-deserved rebukes.
Unfortunately, too, some of the acrimony of this regional and international debate has now come here; as was manifested by a regrettable ZJB news item presented on the evening of Fri March 11, 2005 which excerpted some rather sharp remarks by a Let's Talk guest panelist on March 2nd that echo Mr Gunter's perspectives. Even more unfortunately, these remarks were reported without reference to the broader context of the programme and the next session on March 9th as discussed above (and to which the station had prior access, including having print and audio copies of Rev. Seale's remarks at the CONECAR, as had been featured in the LT programme on Wed 9th -- one hardly needs to underscore the audience differences between a talk show and the Evening News!).
This sad, and undesirable development underscores the point that it is high time for us to move on beyond the blame game and face what Mr Henry aptly called "[t]he cold truth":
"The cold truth which the AIDS industry, Marvin Gunter, and the rest of us must soberly confront is that, barring a scientific or divine miracle, this most dreadful pandemic is set to run its devastating epidemiological course, which has been already determined by past human choices. If not divine judgement, AIDS certainly is largely a consequence of anti-Christian sexual behaviour . . . . The surest protection for the uninfected individual is chastity and fidelity. Whatever else it may do by way of response to the crisis, the Church, in the teeth of antagonism sharpened by desperation, must preach this loudly and clearly without compromise but with the spirit of compassion and practical care for those already fallen in the manner of Jesus her Head and Exemplar."
Let us heed this call to truth-based, morally sound, compassionate action in the spirit of Jn 7:53 - 8:11. END
GEM March 12, 2005
Regrettably, at the 2000, 2002 and 2004 International AIDS conferences, there was a tendency to blame the churches [and advocates of the ABC approach who stress the importance of morally-driven behaviour change as the key to the HIV crisis] for contributing to the spread of HIV AIDS, to the point where some seminars have deteriorated into mere religion-bashing. This sad and unnecessary development includes a now notorious presentation by Mr Martin Gunter of the Jamaica Red Cross (who was then a member of Jamaica's HIV Advisory Committee and Chairman of the Caribbean Regional AIDS Network, CARAN) at the 2000 Durban, South Africa XIIIth International AIDS Conference.
The resulting rebuttals by University of Technology Lecturer and Communications Consultant Mr Martin Henry and by church leaders are well worth reflecting on, as is Mr Gunter's unfortunately disingenuous response to these well-deserved rebukes.
Unfortunately, too, some of the acrimony of this regional and international debate has now come here; as was manifested by a regrettable ZJB news item presented on the evening of Fri March 11, 2005 which excerpted some rather sharp remarks by a Let's Talk guest panelist on March 2nd that echo Mr Gunter's perspectives. Even more unfortunately, these remarks were reported without reference to the broader context of the programme and the next session on March 9th as discussed above (and to which the station had prior access, including having print and audio copies of Rev. Seale's remarks at the CONECAR, as had been featured in the LT programme on Wed 9th -- one hardly needs to underscore the audience differences between a talk show and the Evening News!).
This sad, and undesirable development underscores the point that it is high time for us to move on beyond the blame game and face what Mr Henry aptly called "[t]he cold truth":
"The cold truth which the AIDS industry, Marvin Gunter, and the rest of us must soberly confront is that, barring a scientific or divine miracle, this most dreadful pandemic is set to run its devastating epidemiological course, which has been already determined by past human choices. If not divine judgement, AIDS certainly is largely a consequence of anti-Christian sexual behaviour . . . . The surest protection for the uninfected individual is chastity and fidelity. Whatever else it may do by way of response to the crisis, the Church, in the teeth of antagonism sharpened by desperation, must preach this loudly and clearly without compromise but with the spirit of compassion and practical care for those already fallen in the manner of Jesus her Head and Exemplar."
Let us heed this call to truth-based, morally sound, compassionate action in the spirit of Jn 7:53 - 8:11. END
Friday, March 11, 2005
The Rebuilding of Montserrat, 7:
Unsafe, SafER, SafEST
GEM 05:03:09a.1
Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing the HIV/AIDS crisis in Montserrat and the wider Caribbean, in light of a recent survey of students in the MSS. This survey reveals that the HIV/AIDS crisis has the potential to decimate a whole generation of our young people, if we continue with "business as usual."
For, it is clear that many of our young people -- and indeed many of our adult population, too -- indulge in very unsafe sexual habits: promiscuity, "unprotected sex"; even sex in exchange for money, favours, or even something as simple as a phone card. Such practices simply invite the spread of HIV/AIDS and the dozens of other devastating sexually transmissible diseases; some of which are almost as worrisome as AIDS -- e.g. Human Papilloma Virus [HPV], which is a leading, strongly suspected cause of cervical cancer. (According to available statistics, this cancer has killed more women in the USA than AIDS has. Moreover, while HPV is so contagious that it is reportedly the commonest STD in the USA, condoms provide little defense against it. HPV is thus very politically incorrect; so it is, by and large, a silent plague.)
Now, last week, Nurses Buffonge and Skerritt kindly helped us to look at the need for safER sexual practices: the use of latex condoms [Ed. note: and of dental dams], which act as barriers to the exchange of body fluids that can carry the HIV virus. We also saw that in Uganda, thanks to a strong intervention by the President and many leaders of that country through their ABC campaign -- Abstinence if single, Being Faithful to one's spouse, using Condoms if one insists on risky behaviour -- they were able to stem the tide of the AIDS epidemic there.
Thus, we can see from the implications of the silent HPV epidemic and the Uganda HIV/AIDS success story just how sound, practical and effective the 2,000 year old biblical principle of safEST sex is:
"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." [Heb. 13:4; cf. Matt. 19:3 - 11, Eph. 4:17 - 24, Rom. 13:8 - 10, & Matt. 11:19b.]
So, as we continue to reflect on the HIV/AIDS and broader STD epidemics, we should recognise the direct relevance of an even older (and just as politically incorrect!) biblical principle:
"And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" [Deut. 10:12 - 13]
In short, our Creator has set moral limits on our behaviour for our own good, and the consequences of ignoring these limits can be devastating indeed. Thus, it is no surprise that the rapid spread of dozens of destructive STDs is due to the unhealthy implications of sexual immorality and associated promiscuity and perversion. Having said that, it is equally true that none of us is without guilt, so instead of casting the first stone, let us now consider how we can promote a return to wiser behaviour, and reach out with compassion to the victims of these diseases.
A good place to begin is with some recent remarks by the Rev. Gerry Seale of the Evangelical Association of the Caribbean, made at the Congress of Evangelicals in the Caribbean, which was held last month. In this presentation, Bro Gerry highlights AIDS as the number one emerging issue that the church in the region will have to confront, based on evidence that strongly suggests that sinful, unsafe sexual behaviour is rife across the region, within the churches as well as in the wider community-- so that there are already over half a million victims of HIV/AIDS in our region.
Such trends mean that we will increasingly have to deal with more and more victims of this disease, and will have to break out of the all-too-common sinful attitude of self-righteous condemnation. Instead, we should demonstrate the power of God to overcome bondage to sinful, unsafe sexual habits, and to enable us to reach out compassionately and effectively to our relatives, church members, friends and fellow citizens who have become victims of this latter-day plague.
Plainly, through the wisdom and power of God, we need to move on from unsafe, to safer or -- even better -- safest behaviour; and, we need to reach out in practical love and caring to those who will (or already have) become victims of these deadly diseases. So now, let's talk. AMEN
Unsafe, SafER, SafEST
GEM 05:03:09a.1
Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing the HIV/AIDS crisis in Montserrat and the wider Caribbean, in light of a recent survey of students in the MSS. This survey reveals that the HIV/AIDS crisis has the potential to decimate a whole generation of our young people, if we continue with "business as usual."
For, it is clear that many of our young people -- and indeed many of our adult population, too -- indulge in very unsafe sexual habits: promiscuity, "unprotected sex"; even sex in exchange for money, favours, or even something as simple as a phone card. Such practices simply invite the spread of HIV/AIDS and the dozens of other devastating sexually transmissible diseases; some of which are almost as worrisome as AIDS -- e.g. Human Papilloma Virus [HPV], which is a leading, strongly suspected cause of cervical cancer. (According to available statistics, this cancer has killed more women in the USA than AIDS has. Moreover, while HPV is so contagious that it is reportedly the commonest STD in the USA, condoms provide little defense against it. HPV is thus very politically incorrect; so it is, by and large, a silent plague.)
Now, last week, Nurses Buffonge and Skerritt kindly helped us to look at the need for safER sexual practices: the use of latex condoms [Ed. note: and of dental dams], which act as barriers to the exchange of body fluids that can carry the HIV virus. We also saw that in Uganda, thanks to a strong intervention by the President and many leaders of that country through their ABC campaign -- Abstinence if single, Being Faithful to one's spouse, using Condoms if one insists on risky behaviour -- they were able to stem the tide of the AIDS epidemic there.
Thus, we can see from the implications of the silent HPV epidemic and the Uganda HIV/AIDS success story just how sound, practical and effective the 2,000 year old biblical principle of safEST sex is:
"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." [Heb. 13:4; cf. Matt. 19:3 - 11, Eph. 4:17 - 24, Rom. 13:8 - 10, & Matt. 11:19b.]
So, as we continue to reflect on the HIV/AIDS and broader STD epidemics, we should recognise the direct relevance of an even older (and just as politically incorrect!) biblical principle:
"And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" [Deut. 10:12 - 13]
In short, our Creator has set moral limits on our behaviour for our own good, and the consequences of ignoring these limits can be devastating indeed. Thus, it is no surprise that the rapid spread of dozens of destructive STDs is due to the unhealthy implications of sexual immorality and associated promiscuity and perversion. Having said that, it is equally true that none of us is without guilt, so instead of casting the first stone, let us now consider how we can promote a return to wiser behaviour, and reach out with compassion to the victims of these diseases.
A good place to begin is with some recent remarks by the Rev. Gerry Seale of the Evangelical Association of the Caribbean, made at the Congress of Evangelicals in the Caribbean, which was held last month. In this presentation, Bro Gerry highlights AIDS as the number one emerging issue that the church in the region will have to confront, based on evidence that strongly suggests that sinful, unsafe sexual behaviour is rife across the region, within the churches as well as in the wider community-- so that there are already over half a million victims of HIV/AIDS in our region.
Such trends mean that we will increasingly have to deal with more and more victims of this disease, and will have to break out of the all-too-common sinful attitude of self-righteous condemnation. Instead, we should demonstrate the power of God to overcome bondage to sinful, unsafe sexual habits, and to enable us to reach out compassionately and effectively to our relatives, church members, friends and fellow citizens who have become victims of this latter-day plague.
Plainly, through the wisdom and power of God, we need to move on from unsafe, to safer or -- even better -- safest behaviour; and, we need to reach out in practical love and caring to those who will (or already have) become victims of these deadly diseases. So now, let's talk. AMEN
Thursday, February 24, 2005
The Rebuilding of Montserrat, 6:
Rebuilding Productivity
GEM 05:02:23
Economists often talk of the importance of balance between the supply and the demand sides in a healthy economy: production and consumption.
For, plainly, goods and services have to be produced and paid for if they are to be consumed. In turn, this requires savings and investment to maintain and further build the productive base of the economy so that we can enjoy a better standard of living in the future. Also, as the sad contrast of Jamaica and Barbados over the past forty years or so clearly shows: if an economy is heavily dependent on imports to sustain a desirable level of consumption, in the end it has to produce and sell an abundance of desirable and globally competitive exportable goods and services; in a stable, law-abiding community.
So, as we look to the rebuilding of Montserrat, this two-sided view highlights a major (and, indeed, longstanding) challenge. For, while we indeed currently enjoy the benefits of a relatively comfortable level of consumption, agriculture, industry and value-added services clearly lag behind. As a direct consequence, over the past several years, it has been UK Government transfers, a few high profile -- and volatile -- investments, aid money and/or remittances that have been largely driving the local economy. (In witness of this, the injection of ash-cleaning money made a big difference since 2003, and when it tailed off about a year ago, the drying up effect was also just as evident.)
This brings several current issues to focus:
1] The major industry in which the Caribbean is currently globally competitive is Tourism, which accounts for perhaps 25% of employment and national income across the region. In our case, we have a drive-in active volcano as a major potential attraction, but we currently lack the major infrastructure to support a sustainable tourism sector. Thus, the importance of the ongoing development of our air- and sea- ports and the Little Bay Newtown.
2] Traditionally, Agriculture has been the backbone of the region’s economies, however this has in many cases now sunk to less than 10% of the economy. Opportunities in this industry now seem to lie in specialist niches with high-value products that can be produced efficiently on a relatively small scale. For instance, we could try neutraceuticals (such as herbal medicines) and foods that are certified as organically grown. Sea Island cotton, perhaps, is another possibility.
3] Similarly, Information and Communication Technologies [ICTs] and a cluster of related cultural and artistic creative services materials have unlimited potential, and require more of brainpower, creativity and skill than of capital equipment. The success of Arrow, the Leas, and others shows some of what can be done.
4] There are many other possibilities, but for them to work out, we need to develop a body of effective entrepreneurs, backed up by astutely targetted financing and facility and management support services. For this, the Business Incubator concept is a tested strategy that has a global track record of improving the five-year survival rate for new small businesses from a dismal 20 - 25% to in excess of 80%.
5] Most of all, we need a skilled, healthy, motivated workforce and a functioning community if we are to create and sustain such industries. Thus, we see the critical importance of education (especially the new community college), independent and transparent media, effective governance and community-based institutions. That in turn requires that we need to work hard on our community-based organisations and government sectors.
We could go on with the list, but the above is enough to show that we need more than merely an injection of infrastructure through the creation of improved ports and a Newtown. Further development of the Community College (perhaps integrating it with a Business incubator that embeds a financing facility) may help. Improvements in governance, transparency and the media may be helpful. So would be the creation of a subscription-based community development foundation that could catalyse community-based initiatives.
But in the end, the key issue is spiritual: are we (as individuals, families, staffs and communities) willing work together under God, to make the sustained, diligent changes of heart, life- and work- styles that will be required for efforts such as the above to succeed? For, except the Lord builds the house, we work in vain.
So, now, let’s talk . . . AMEN
Rebuilding Productivity
GEM 05:02:23
Economists often talk of the importance of balance between the supply and the demand sides in a healthy economy: production and consumption.
For, plainly, goods and services have to be produced and paid for if they are to be consumed. In turn, this requires savings and investment to maintain and further build the productive base of the economy so that we can enjoy a better standard of living in the future. Also, as the sad contrast of Jamaica and Barbados over the past forty years or so clearly shows: if an economy is heavily dependent on imports to sustain a desirable level of consumption, in the end it has to produce and sell an abundance of desirable and globally competitive exportable goods and services; in a stable, law-abiding community.
So, as we look to the rebuilding of Montserrat, this two-sided view highlights a major (and, indeed, longstanding) challenge. For, while we indeed currently enjoy the benefits of a relatively comfortable level of consumption, agriculture, industry and value-added services clearly lag behind. As a direct consequence, over the past several years, it has been UK Government transfers, a few high profile -- and volatile -- investments, aid money and/or remittances that have been largely driving the local economy. (In witness of this, the injection of ash-cleaning money made a big difference since 2003, and when it tailed off about a year ago, the drying up effect was also just as evident.)
This brings several current issues to focus:
1] The major industry in which the Caribbean is currently globally competitive is Tourism, which accounts for perhaps 25% of employment and national income across the region. In our case, we have a drive-in active volcano as a major potential attraction, but we currently lack the major infrastructure to support a sustainable tourism sector. Thus, the importance of the ongoing development of our air- and sea- ports and the Little Bay Newtown.
2] Traditionally, Agriculture has been the backbone of the region’s economies, however this has in many cases now sunk to less than 10% of the economy. Opportunities in this industry now seem to lie in specialist niches with high-value products that can be produced efficiently on a relatively small scale. For instance, we could try neutraceuticals (such as herbal medicines) and foods that are certified as organically grown. Sea Island cotton, perhaps, is another possibility.
3] Similarly, Information and Communication Technologies [ICTs] and a cluster of related cultural and artistic creative services materials have unlimited potential, and require more of brainpower, creativity and skill than of capital equipment. The success of Arrow, the Leas, and others shows some of what can be done.
4] There are many other possibilities, but for them to work out, we need to develop a body of effective entrepreneurs, backed up by astutely targetted financing and facility and management support services. For this, the Business Incubator concept is a tested strategy that has a global track record of improving the five-year survival rate for new small businesses from a dismal 20 - 25% to in excess of 80%.
5] Most of all, we need a skilled, healthy, motivated workforce and a functioning community if we are to create and sustain such industries. Thus, we see the critical importance of education (especially the new community college), independent and transparent media, effective governance and community-based institutions. That in turn requires that we need to work hard on our community-based organisations and government sectors.
We could go on with the list, but the above is enough to show that we need more than merely an injection of infrastructure through the creation of improved ports and a Newtown. Further development of the Community College (perhaps integrating it with a Business incubator that embeds a financing facility) may help. Improvements in governance, transparency and the media may be helpful. So would be the creation of a subscription-based community development foundation that could catalyse community-based initiatives.
But in the end, the key issue is spiritual: are we (as individuals, families, staffs and communities) willing work together under God, to make the sustained, diligent changes of heart, life- and work- styles that will be required for efforts such as the above to succeed? For, except the Lord builds the house, we work in vain.
So, now, let’s talk . . . AMEN
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