Letters

The Editor, Sir:

As a nation, we continue to struggle to find effective ways of solving issues that pose threats to our economic and social stability. The ever-spiraling, out-of-control issue of crime and violence, matters of inequality and injustice, and the vise-like grip that corruption holds at every level of the society are some of the issues to contend with.

Against the backdrop of this grim reality that is our legacy as Jamaicans, I would like to submit that all is not lost, and that there is still hope of our emerging from this mess created by years of neglect, indifference and, in some cases, blatant disregard of our potentials and resources. I foreground and highlight two observations that I think help to support my optimism for Jamaica:

First, I have observed that in spite of the constant negative diet of gloom and doom being fed us as it relates to our security forces ability, or inability to fight, curb or eradicate violent crimes, compounded by their ever-hanging dark clouds of corruption among members of its ranks there is still a large majority of good, honest and decent men and women who are committed to making Jamaica and Jamaicans safe and protected.

Second, the Church has, to a great extent, been made a scapegoat for Jamaica's messy situation. I see the Church as the last bastion of hope for our nation if we are to emerge successfully from the present scourges.

Instilling values and attitudes

At the grassroots level, the Church does its best to instill values and attitudes in people that will transform our society. For example, since 2001, the fourth Saturday in every August, the Seventh-day Adventist Church holds a violence-prevention thrust focusing on how to eradicate abuse of all kinds against women and children.

This year, a substantial amount of the church's financial and other resources are being used to promote awareness, ultimately fighting to end issues like domestic violence, especially against women and girls; and other issues like human trafficking, forced prostitution, child marriages, forced abortions and rape, to name a few.

I am, etc.,

Dave A. McFarlane

nerdav@anngel.com.jm

Manchester