Speaking Your Truth to Power
I have been warning people that those who stand up to the political establishment will suffer and be punished. There are consequences of speaking truth to power. As one who has been there and done that, I know......I watched this video and I did not hear anything illegal. The amounts of money he had are also not illegal to hold and no explanation to the police is legally required. Churches are tax exempt so the tax authorities cannot claim it. Preachers call down death on who they perceive to be sinners all the time. The Bible has examples where God punished those who like Pharaoh, tried to block the people of Jehovah. Many pastors only source of income is from their congregations so many of these pastors and their work are suffering financially. Prior to Covid, many of these congregations main source of giving is through the cash collected in the collection plate at meetings. Most of this cash goes to the pastors and their work in their community. This cash economy puts these churches at a disadvantage as they do not have digital alternatives or large cash reserves like the larger, mainstream denominations. Unless evidence is found that this pastor was actually organizing people to attack the prime minister, he will be released without charge. We may not agree, but this pastor has a right to his opinion. When we start arresting people because we do not like what they say, we are going down a dangerous road. To use a part of the security apparatus that has a focus on terrorism and organized crime seems heavy handed. The police have more serious things to do fighting the criminals killing us. Police going around locking up preachers who preach what the political establishment does not like is worrying. Many, many more are dying in Jamaica at the hands of criminals than from Covid. The church can help in the crime fight. This pastor's church is just one small group of people. He is no threat. He should be ignored if you do not like what he is saying. The church is a large, sacred, very influential group in Jamaica so the government should be careful about locking them down. Instead, all religious leaders should have been brought into the discussions about the Covid measures to be adopted to get their buy in and measures should be taken to limit the effect on churches. This cabinet level, top down approach for what should be a community approach is not working. I believe that with strict masking, sanitizing and social distancing, churches should be allowed to meet. When capacity in their buildings exceed what is safe, put the overflow outside and set up loudspeakers outside. Churches are law abiding most of the time. In these very stressful times, we need the church.
Due to the US Presidential elections, the holidays and the worsening virus crisis, EXILED took a 3 month hiatus. Now, EXILED is back. Jamaica pleasantly surprised us again as the predicted economic collapse did not happen due to a 30% increase in remittances from the diaspora. Our latest program discusses the role of the diaspora in changing Jamaica.
See also my latest blog at: https://jamaicaninexile.blogspot.com/2021/02/jamaica-when-is-revolution.html
Cheers!
Raymond D. Grant
Research Director, EXILED
Canada Cell: (867) 445 - 2865
Immigrants, Migrant Workers and Refugees - Making the World a Better Place for All
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