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St. Vincent and the Grenadines is slowly coming down to a grim fight between the liberal agenda and the conservative agenda.
This is no surprise, as it is very much the case in much of the western world.
Largely thought of as a nation founded on the belief in the supremacy of God and the freedom and dignity of man and a nation whose values have been largely shaped by Christianity, an increasing wave of liberal values is slowing crashing in and breaking off the ice of conservatism in SVG and exposing the nation to deep moral change, the likes of which it has never seen before.
The architects of that wave are very organised. Many of them are young, they are smart and they know clearly what their agenda is and are working towards it.
They exist in (and in some cases are aligning themselves with) influential media (including entertainment), academia, administrative and political positions; political positions in both major political parties.
Some are university students, constantly being brainwashed into this liberal mindset, without opposition.
When they have properly set their base, we can expect to see landmark challenges to widely held positions on religious liberties, same-sex marriages, abortion and other issues, as such.
Political correctness will be their bible. They will use it to justify their positions on ushering in and favouring certain decisions, even against the will of the masses.
They will seek to dictate what the positions of the majority should be and deem the majority’s position to be wrong, if the majority is not on their side on particular issues.
Most of these developments (when they are manifested in time to come) will catch the uninformed by surprise, as right now, the nation is spiralling downward into a nation of entertainment (fetes, night clubs, sessions) and a nation of deep divisive partisan politics, with little room for independent non-partisan discussion on important issues.
Some will use the need for aid/financing from international countries and bodies, which will only come with certain conditions, to sneak in their agenda on the legal and political landscape.
Others will bow to pressure, which, if not bowed to, will be seen as threats to the viability of the tourism industry and job creation.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not speaking about our current batch of politicians (at least not the majority of them in Parliament); I am speaking about those who have their eyes on competitive politics in the post 2020 period.
What else can we expect from them?
They will also seek to promote the “so what?”… “free to do whatever you want with your life ” and “equality” taglines to try to convince the masses that they should bow to and accept this godless, overly liberal agenda.
It has already started and it will continue. Many will be converted slowly, not having the full view that they are caught up in a war between godliness and godlessness.
Vincentians must choose which side we are leaning on.
As some African and other nations have stood up. So too must nations here in the Caribbean. We must identify those who are likely to sell us out, against our moral values and against our collective will.
We must eschew aspiring leaders who will bow to international pressure and take hard to swallow pills in the name of aid and political correctness.
We must instead, seek out leaders who will seek to protect the will of the people and align the countries who have an appetite for morality and righteousness.
Leaders who will say, “When you are in Rome, you do as the Romans do”.
Leaders who believe that Rome does not bend its ways and relinquish its culture to accommodate those who wish to come to Rome and change it to suit them.
We need to inspire leaders who will protect the Constitution at all costs and ensure that all the rights enshrined in it continue to protect all people governed under it, as is the case today.
We also need to educate our children on important issues and reinstall family values — values which will build stronger institutions and communities.
We must never allow our society to be carried away in the trance of secularism, because the moment SVG kicks God out the window, so goes also the values that shaped us into a strong civilisation.
That will be the beginning of the end of us.
A concerned citizen
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I have read some twaddle in my time but this takes the biscuit.
Liberal and Conservatism are the politics that are keeping Christianity alive. The problem comes with left wing socialism and Scientific Socialism and Marxism which is what we have creeping up on us now.
Every Marxist who runs true to form will lie about religion, to get elected and stay elected and create a family dynasty will pretend to be Christian if that is what the people want to hear. In SVG that is what the people want to hear and that is the pretense being practice today in SVG.
The future is at risk from this creeping Marxism and a growing family dynasty that believes they own Saint Vincent, that believe SVG is their plantation and that everyone therein is their slave.
Any woman or even young girl is at risk of being raped in SVG by the very people they trust, whilst the rest of the population cheer and clap.
Christianity is already under serious attack in SVG with the so called religious leaders selling out to to the very leaders who are looking to eventually destroy Christianity, as that so clever Vincentian lady says “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” or “Mr Wolf” is the culprit. Leaders of the flock who are also abusing their flocks sexually and as seen more recently physically. Beating children and tipping boiling water on a man in an obviously premeditated act, then calling Gods name to try and cloak their satanic deed.
The future is today as well, its tomorrow, its next week, next month and also the next five years, during which time the hate and spite will be piled onto people who they cannot drag to the slope and shove them into the Scientific Scientist smoldering satanic pit. The threat to society as we once knew it is under threat and attack today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. The writer of the opinion is somewhat caught up in the same Marxist trap into believing that now is OK under the nasty and extremely dangerous regime that we find ourselves ensnared.
C ben-David I will let you now put forward the Anti-Christ view, your support for the current regimes secret policy on eradication of the faith.
Remember Maurice Bishop the Grenadian Marxist revolutionary who Prime Minister Gonsalves has told us he is here to continue the work of. Secretly had his police spy on the Catholic Church and on the instructions of the Cuban masters at that time try and destroy the church and replace it with tame leaders as instructed by Cuba.
Of course you are not speaking about the current batch of politicians! Why would you be writing this largely gratuitous fear-based litany of woe, imagined and contrived, if you were?
Except for your concerns about same-sex marriage, your views are 300 years out of date.
Our liberal/libertine attitudes towards sexuality — the acceptance of pre-marital and extra-marital sex; the institutionalization of common-law unions; indifference towards illegitimate birthing and status; chronic sexual promiscuity, especially among men; a double standard in sexual behaviour — were all born and nurtured during the slavery era.
If anything, these “liberal” practices spread from the Caribbean to the rest of the world, not the other way round.
In the developed world, liberal ideology and behaviour in regard to heterosexual behaviour slowly spread to include homosexual behaviour beginning in the 1960s. Thirty years later, this lead to a demand among radical supporters of the legitimacy of homosexual unions, including many heterosexuals, for same-sex marriage, a movement which lead to its legal status in many states and countries beginning less than 10 years ago.
As for abortion, it is still illegal in SVG but was common among the elite and middle classes since day one, was practiced by working class people beginning in the 1960s, and is very common today among all who can afford to pay for the procedure.
The “trance of secularism” which you decry has always defined our very permissive society where religious belief and practice are an inch thick and a mile wide. Nearly everyone calls himself or herself a Christian but fails to follow this up with Christian behaviour. At most, much of our Christianity involves superstition masquerading as piety.
So all the “morality” we have left is a widespread aversion to homosexuality. If the past is any teacher and if the developing world is any example, this practice will soon be added to our list of permissive behaviours.
I suspect this “concerned citizen” is a soldier of the “spiritual warfare” that is taking place in svg. And thus subscribe to the tennants of boiling non believers alive. Not sure what is worse, being boiled alive or locked in a cage and burn alive ala ISIS.
I suspect this “concerned citizen” believes that GAYS should be thrown off the roof of tall buildings or stone to death in the public square.
I suspect this “concerned citizen” believes marriage is between a man and a woman but support the marriage of a nine year old female to a wutless hard back man, cause the good book says so.
I suspect this “concerned citizen” have no issue with family values when the father is molesting his daughter. Underage girls are an endangered species in svg, yet this “concerned citizen” is talking about educating children on important issues, really, how about educating the public about paedophiles and introducing laws that protect these young people.
I suspect this “concerned citizen” is more concern about winning the “spiritual warfare” rather than the social injustices meted out to those who don’t believe and the erosion of one rights to live his or her life as they choose.
I suspect this “concerned citizen” is the Commander in Chief of the TalibanISISbokoharam God like coalition in svg. And I believe this letter is an attempt at damage control in wake of the public relations nightmare created by the unauthorized boiling of a non believer. I suspect that member of the coalition, went AWOL. He was too eager and excited to start boiling non believers, so when the Commander in Chief told him not to do anything until everything was in place, he wasn’t having it.
Yes folks, the spiritual warfare is coming indeed but this is not a battle between liberal agenda and conservative agenda. No, this is a battle between those who want to add VAT onto chicken back and those who want to boil you alive.
I don’t know about you folks, but a pelau with chicken back, that’s priceless.
I wish the author would stop writing in code. Why don’t you elaborate on what exactly is bugging you about liberalism? Who are these liberal politicians and what is this liberal agenda? I suspect the subject matter that the author is getting at but I’m not going to dignify this piece by voicing my suspicion. It’s so predictable its boring. Perhaps if you got to the substance of your complaint there could be a sensible discussion on liberalism and secularism and what it means for St. Vincent.
I can say though that whatever philosophies our current politicians have they have done no good for our society or our economy. Perhaps its time we tried something different. Historically liberalism has been about promoting rights, freedoms, free thought. This piece makes me want to believe that the author is anti rights and freedoms and all for preserving our present social and economic decay.
Hello! Young, educated, and liberal Vincentian here.
First, I believe that the law needs to be shaped by the context of time; a context that evolves across generations. There absolutely are core tenants in our constitution that should remain, but do you deny that that there are laws that were relevant in 1979, but are not today? How about laws from the 1800s? Should our laws not reflect the personal beliefs of the majority? Should they not serve only to protect ALL, not to uplift the bigotry of some?
Remember when slavery was ok? Probably not. Because the majority of the world’s thinking AND laws have progressed to a position where such abuse is unacceptable. Was the liberalism of Blacks an acceptable concept in pre-1800s British West Indies? Of course not, but the progress/”brainwashing” that you have vilified in your piece paved the way- not just for Black freedom, but Black leadership (+Black land ownership, + Black freedom to marry) in the Caribbean. It sounds like you are fighting against a government that is representative and caring of ALL Vincentians, not just those who fit into your little box of thought.
Also, your fear of university education is misplaced. If anything, blame books, blame the internet, blame critical thought- anything leads a person to have values that don’t line up with yours. You talk about the “freedom and dignity of man”… but only if they hold your Christian values. In that way, you’re advocating for the disenfranchisement of non-Christians, or people who do not agree with policing the country by your personal morals.
So if my agenda is to allow people to be fully informed and allowed to make their own decisions; and to have the government and laws represent those beliefs, then yes, I suppose that I have a liberal agenda. But that’s just it- if the freedom to choose your thinking leads you to a conservative stance, then that’s fine. It’s just not your place to dictate it for someone else, or for particularly for the generations to come.
By the way, I am a Christian. Let’s be clear though, a conservative Christian stance is very much the majority, protected position in St. Vincent. Let’s stop pretending that your bigotry is under attack.