THE EDITOR, Sir:"THE POWERS of evil are too great, I cannot stay."
These were the words of a young pastor as he closed down his church in the Red Hills Road area some years ago when that community was overwhelmed by murder, extortion, rapes, and every known criminal enterprise.
At that time, the spotlight was on Red Hills Road and a few other areas. Now the evil has been taking the country like a storm from Negril to Morant Point and the Church has been powerless.
All I hear is, 'the signs of the time' and 'we are in the last days' and, according to a pastor friend, if these things were not happening it would be cause for worry.
THE MOST BLESSED OR CURSED
I then ask why do the signs of the time seem to be always so horrific in Jamaica not Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, or Trinidad.
According to some of the Christian explanations, we are either the most blessed or cursed depending on which doctrine one subscribes to. The Church in Jamaica is partly led by parasitic wimps that suck the lifeblood of the poor, dishing out a pie-in-the-sky doctrine.
They attack and threaten harmless mini skirts, demonstrate against nude weddings, vilify casinos, while they run and hide from criminal gunmen not daring to say a word about them or the rampant corruption and white-collar
criminality engulfing the society.
"Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war/With the cross of Jesus going on before/Christ the royal master leads against the foe" is song number 520 in the Baptist
hymnal I enjoyed singing as a youngster and I literally believed every word of it and thought we were being groomed to fight evil in all its manifestations.
The church that is being called upon to assist in the fight against crime must begin to see themselves as warriors who could themselves have to shed their own blood to achieve the cleansing of this society. They must try
to understand in a holistic and functional way the problems that the society faces in order to assist.
The Church can play a significant role and must recognise the potential power that rests with them. If you do a poll and ask the question, "are you connected to any organisation or group" then have as your responses church, youth club,
political party, the leading one is always church.
We have a huge crime problem and the gunmen in our midst have no reverence for life, and. if God were to come down from heaven into their midst, they might even want to rob and shoot Him.
WARRIOR CHURCH
This problem is bigger than the Church or any single grouping in this society and needs to be tackled on all socio-economic fronts, including the spiritual.
Name-brand pastors such as Father Ho Lung, Father Albert, Herro Blair and other Christian soldiers must put on their battle armour, making it known to their flock that it involves risking personal safety and life going forward into battle, attacking from all flanks, encircling the enemy then moving in for the final onslaught.
No more running away from evil; according to Father Albert, "the church has been too quiet and reserved".
Let us see if the call for 'God help us' will be another public relations crime fight, or some real action from the potentially
powerful Christian community.
I am, etc.,
MICHAEL SPENCE
Micspen2@hotmail.com
P.O. 630, Liguanea.
Kingston 6
