Tweet
Society of contradictions
Michael Burke
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2TURMzBTV
WE always hear that the Guinness Book of Records has Jamaica as having the greatest number of churches per square mile. At the same time, Jamaica is dubbed the crime capital of the world. This, perhaps, is Jamaica's greatest contradiction, because while we have so many churches, it is only a small percentage of Jamaicans who actually go to church.
Many Jamaicans can quote several sections of the Bible, but perhaps most who can do so do not live up to its
MANLEY… in 1989 he asked the private sector to allow their employees to spend some time at schools, which would be one way for boys to have proper role models
MANLEY… in 1989 he asked the private sector to allow their employees to spend some time at schools, which would be one way for boys to have proper role models
precepts. Having a greater understanding of the Bible has not persuaded many Jamaicans to turn away from sin.
Is the Anancy culture the reason why many Jamaicans pretend so much, or is this coming from the old British colonial order, which was noted for hypocrisy? Has this anything to do with our pirate history? Anyone not knowing the history would ask themselves what sort of relevance is this to the main theme of the piece. But read on and you might understand.
After the English captured Jamaica from the Spaniards in 1655, the English brought bondsmen to Jamaica to work on the sugar and tobacco estates. These bondsmen were mainly prisoners from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
After their six-year term, many of them chose not to go back to England but to stay in Jamaica, which was still largely primordial forest. Many of the former bondsmen took to piracy.
Eventually, the pirates were a problem to the entire Caribbean. So the Treaty of Madrid was called in 1670 and the terms were that England would make attempts to stop piracy if Spain would desist in their efforts at re-capturing Jamaica.
The failure to persuade Henry Morgan to stop piracy obliged the English authorities to arrest Morgan and take him to the Tower of London as a prisoner. But being imprisoned meant that his pirate followers became unruly and were difficult to control.
So the criminal pirate Henry Morgan was knighted and appointed governor of Jamaica to control piracy. This was done by selling land cheaply to the pirates who then became the aristocracy.
It is from that time that we have had a problem with crime in Jamaica. It is also from that time that hypocrisy became institutionalised. Criminal pirates pretended to be civilised. The reformed pirates pretended to be good Anglican Christians because the Church of England was the established church in England and, by extension, Jamaica, then a colony of England.
And of course, the criminal pirates pretended to be more civilised and better educated than the slaves who came from Africa. Indeed, pretence became the order of the day and the unfortunate tradition has continued until this day. But crime flourished and went unnoticed because the criminals were in high places and had great influence.
Political violence and the role of some politicians in the distribution of guns was an expansion on a practice that goes back to earlier times. All of this has led to Jamaica evolving into a society of contradictions where one thing is said and another is done.
More time needs to be spent on character education. Last week, someone responded online to my column in which I mentioned that so much education is on the Internet and need not be given in the classroom.
The person seems to be living in a time warp when she asks how many people can access computers. In Jamaica, computers are far more accessible today than radios were when I was a small child.
The letter writer also asked why I did not volunteer to be on the board of schools "less privileged" than Jamaica College. Like nearly every other high school, most JC students are not from wealthy homes and this has been so ever since the Common Entrance Scholarship was introduced in 1957. Someone has had a very long sleep and needs to wake up.
We speak about the need for more male role models. In 1989, Michael Manley asked the private sector to allow their employees to spend some time at schools which would be one way for boys to have proper role models. Why hasn't this become obligatory? Another example of contradiction.
In May each year, which is celebrated as 'Child Month', it is not unusual for the saying "Children live what they learn" to be repeated and broadcast. Indeed, much of what is said by various speakers during 'Child Month' is usually some speech made year after year, which is simply dusted off and
given again.
But if we teach that children live what they learn, how can anyone ever be promoting the distribution of condoms?
This is another major contradiction. Indeed, I believe the motive for the desire of some to distribute condoms is profit. Even if condoms are distributed freely in schools or wherever, someone pays for them -- usually the taxpayers.
The excuse given by the free distribution enthusiasts is that the youngsters are having sex anyway, so condoms will at least prevent pregnancy. I hope that I will never hear that since people are going to steal anyway, they should learn how to defend themselves with weapons to combat any defence that the victims might use.
If anyone has the slightest understanding or has a minimum amount of knowledge of psychology, they will know that giving a child a condom will be interpreted as a licence to engage in sexual intercourse. No matter how much you tell them not to, if you hand condoms to minors, they will act upon what they see, not what they hear.
But in this society of contradictions, we speak about the sacredness of the sexual act and that the youngsters should delay sexual activity on the one hand. We then hear, on the other hand, that since they are doing it anyway, condoms should be distributed. Fortunately, the minister of education has taken a wise decision not to distribute condoms.
Jamaica needs volunteers to counsel youngsters. I have been a volunteer in the way I am able to do all of my adult life, and I am not young. Not volunteering at all only perpetuates the contradictions and the hypocrisy. Please volunteer.
ekrubm765@yahoo.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2TUQXoWbP
Michael Burke
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2TURMzBTV
WE always hear that the Guinness Book of Records has Jamaica as having the greatest number of churches per square mile. At the same time, Jamaica is dubbed the crime capital of the world. This, perhaps, is Jamaica's greatest contradiction, because while we have so many churches, it is only a small percentage of Jamaicans who actually go to church.
Many Jamaicans can quote several sections of the Bible, but perhaps most who can do so do not live up to its
MANLEY… in 1989 he asked the private sector to allow their employees to spend some time at schools, which would be one way for boys to have proper role models
MANLEY… in 1989 he asked the private sector to allow their employees to spend some time at schools, which would be one way for boys to have proper role models
precepts. Having a greater understanding of the Bible has not persuaded many Jamaicans to turn away from sin.
Is the Anancy culture the reason why many Jamaicans pretend so much, or is this coming from the old British colonial order, which was noted for hypocrisy? Has this anything to do with our pirate history? Anyone not knowing the history would ask themselves what sort of relevance is this to the main theme of the piece. But read on and you might understand.
After the English captured Jamaica from the Spaniards in 1655, the English brought bondsmen to Jamaica to work on the sugar and tobacco estates. These bondsmen were mainly prisoners from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
After their six-year term, many of them chose not to go back to England but to stay in Jamaica, which was still largely primordial forest. Many of the former bondsmen took to piracy.
Eventually, the pirates were a problem to the entire Caribbean. So the Treaty of Madrid was called in 1670 and the terms were that England would make attempts to stop piracy if Spain would desist in their efforts at re-capturing Jamaica.
The failure to persuade Henry Morgan to stop piracy obliged the English authorities to arrest Morgan and take him to the Tower of London as a prisoner. But being imprisoned meant that his pirate followers became unruly and were difficult to control.
So the criminal pirate Henry Morgan was knighted and appointed governor of Jamaica to control piracy. This was done by selling land cheaply to the pirates who then became the aristocracy.
It is from that time that we have had a problem with crime in Jamaica. It is also from that time that hypocrisy became institutionalised. Criminal pirates pretended to be civilised. The reformed pirates pretended to be good Anglican Christians because the Church of England was the established church in England and, by extension, Jamaica, then a colony of England.
And of course, the criminal pirates pretended to be more civilised and better educated than the slaves who came from Africa. Indeed, pretence became the order of the day and the unfortunate tradition has continued until this day. But crime flourished and went unnoticed because the criminals were in high places and had great influence.
Political violence and the role of some politicians in the distribution of guns was an expansion on a practice that goes back to earlier times. All of this has led to Jamaica evolving into a society of contradictions where one thing is said and another is done.
More time needs to be spent on character education. Last week, someone responded online to my column in which I mentioned that so much education is on the Internet and need not be given in the classroom.
The person seems to be living in a time warp when she asks how many people can access computers. In Jamaica, computers are far more accessible today than radios were when I was a small child.
The letter writer also asked why I did not volunteer to be on the board of schools "less privileged" than Jamaica College. Like nearly every other high school, most JC students are not from wealthy homes and this has been so ever since the Common Entrance Scholarship was introduced in 1957. Someone has had a very long sleep and needs to wake up.
We speak about the need for more male role models. In 1989, Michael Manley asked the private sector to allow their employees to spend some time at schools which would be one way for boys to have proper role models. Why hasn't this become obligatory? Another example of contradiction.
In May each year, which is celebrated as 'Child Month', it is not unusual for the saying "Children live what they learn" to be repeated and broadcast. Indeed, much of what is said by various speakers during 'Child Month' is usually some speech made year after year, which is simply dusted off and
given again.
But if we teach that children live what they learn, how can anyone ever be promoting the distribution of condoms?
This is another major contradiction. Indeed, I believe the motive for the desire of some to distribute condoms is profit. Even if condoms are distributed freely in schools or wherever, someone pays for them -- usually the taxpayers.
The excuse given by the free distribution enthusiasts is that the youngsters are having sex anyway, so condoms will at least prevent pregnancy. I hope that I will never hear that since people are going to steal anyway, they should learn how to defend themselves with weapons to combat any defence that the victims might use.
If anyone has the slightest understanding or has a minimum amount of knowledge of psychology, they will know that giving a child a condom will be interpreted as a licence to engage in sexual intercourse. No matter how much you tell them not to, if you hand condoms to minors, they will act upon what they see, not what they hear.
But in this society of contradictions, we speak about the sacredness of the sexual act and that the youngsters should delay sexual activity on the one hand. We then hear, on the other hand, that since they are doing it anyway, condoms should be distributed. Fortunately, the minister of education has taken a wise decision not to distribute condoms.
Jamaica needs volunteers to counsel youngsters. I have been a volunteer in the way I am able to do all of my adult life, and I am not young. Not volunteering at all only perpetuates the contradictions and the hypocrisy. Please volunteer.
ekrubm765@yahoo.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2TUQXoWbP