THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE RECENT political violence in sections of the Corporate Area, the general level of criminality, indiscipline and boorish behaviour are symptomatic of an endemic tribalistic tendency that is rampant in the society. The beast is born!
The leaders of our two major political parties are acting like spoilt children in their assertions and counter-assertions of who is to be blamed for the state of violence within the Western belt of the city. One is reminded of school children who refuse to talk with each other until-
Messrs. Patterson and Seaga are no longer 'schoolers', they are men who have been entrusted with the highest political offices in this land.
None of the political parties can claim non-involvement and lack of knowledge of the link between gunmen and political parties in our country. It does not matter whether the connection is in Kingston and not in Westmoreland. That is not the issue.
The issue is that the parties in various shapes and forms have benefited from the connection. What has been born is a monster-gun violence. This monster has fed on the umbilical chord of the political parties. It has suckled on the breasts of political spoils. The monster must be eradicated. Its offspring may be worse than we could ever imagine. Do we have the will do eradicate this monster?
There is an urgent wake-up call in this for the Church of which I am a part. We have failed on many occasions to speak candidly to the issues of injustice that confront us from time to time. I am not here suggesting that individual churchmen and women have not spoken.
The point is the Church, as represented by the five or so umbrella groups have been too silent on national issues of justice in the society. The Church needs to speak clearly, the Church must not refuse engagement. The beast is upon us, the task is urgent.
The Church must be prepared to support each other in the quest for a more humane and just society. The Truth and Reconcilia-tion Commission that was mooted sometime ago was not given the focussed attention of the JCC and other umbrella groups. The day of National Atonement was not given the support from the entire umbrella groups representing the churches in Jamaica. The time for Truth and Reconciliation is now. Let us admit to our culpability on some vexing issues and pledge to chart a path that will restore Jamaica from the brink of destruction.
The Church can lead the charge to achieve the following:
1. An overhaul of our political system that pits people against each other and creates garrisons that breed all kinds of social ills.
2. The winners-take-all system of representational politics must be put again on the table for discussion.
3. Term limits for our Prime Ministers must be put on the agenda for discussion.
4. The ways in which political parties are funded must be put on the agenda.
5. The development of a version of a Truth and Reconciliation Committee that allows people to 'offload', free the national psyche and chart a course on which we can build needs to be on the agenda.
We cannot seek to build a nation on moral decadence.
For government to function properly in a war-torn society like ours, a legal framework must be in place to ensure good governance. 'While we fight one another for the power and the glory, Jah kingdom goes to waste'
I am etc.,
Rev. Dr. PAUL GARDNER
Minister of Religion,
Moravian Church in Jamaica
Christiana, Manchester