Taking a stand on the side of decency
Published:Sunday | November 18, 2018 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
A few days ago a pastor in the seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church used the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) platform to endorse Buju Banton's call for the killing of people because of their sexual preference, and no rebuke has come from those who lead the church except for a half-baked statement from the university.
The university clumsily tried to explain the pastor's statement, with a claim that he had been misinterpreted. "I hear that dem releasing Buju Banton in December, and I can't wait for his return because him have a song whey seh bum by by ..." what is there to be misunderstood in those words?
They went on to make another false assertion that the pastor used words from another popular song, which the writer failed to mention. The presentation where he used words from a female DJ was done two days before, and what is the importance of not commenting on that sermon? Did he or did he not say that he is impatiently awaiting Buju's return to Jamaica because of the Bum By By record that he did some years ago?
Unable to take a stand on the side of decency by allowing the pastor to do two other presentations at the university, when he should have been pulled from the event and made to apologise, the institution of higher learning resorted to the use of buffoonery to cover something that should be contrary to the fabric of a civilised community and organisation.
The most depressing segment of this callous episode is the silence from the leaders of the church - the same individuals who moved with haste to sanction another pastor for publicly endorsing a political party a few hours earlier - and now, they, are seemingly, condoning another pastor who endorses the killing of other people.
A number of persons recorded the pastor's talk, so there shouldn't be any confusion as to what was said. Abhorrence of the pastor's crassness is not a gay response or attack on the SDA as an organisation. It is a scorn on NCU's attempt to make light of its seriousness and the frightening tolerance from the top brass of the church.
Malick Mangaroo