Jamaica is still a Christian country, so let us be Christian! ...United we stand, divided we fall

Christianity: Save us!


by Richard Ho Lung

WE KNOW it can be done: Christ can save our island.   Christianity can save our island.   We are losing faith, because we are not one, not united.   I am not talking about tolerating one another.   I am talking about loving one another and working together in fulfilment of a vision presented to us by Christ.

What is this vision?   It is set out by Christ: "I have come to preach the good news to the poor; to set the captives free."   Justice and mercy will be exercised when Christ is here.   If we really want to know the presence of Christ today in our world, in Jamaica, it is where the Church is doing the works of justice.   From the times of the Old Testament to the times of Christ, and now in our world and in Jamaica, justice must be done if we want to give witness to the one true living God.

We must agree on certain points, the fundamentals of our faith.   We must not waste time talking and debating whether gay marriages, abortion, euthanasia, this denomination or that, is right or wrong.   All these issues are obviously misguided and can be answered by questioning: Does God want same-sex marriages; a mother to eliminate the child of her womb; old and sick people be euthanised?

We need to work with the poor and rejected ones; we need a Church of the poor.   Even if Churches are wealthy or middle class, churches and schools must form the consciences and carry out activities of justice and mercy that give glory to God.   God will be pleased; God will dispense all the riches of the earth to accomplish His kingdom here on earth, the salient characteristics being justice and mercy.

Powerful Christian faith

I believe the civil state needs us, and I believe our Christian faith is so powerful that it can change the attitudes of everyone, including politicians, if only we as Church really become God's kingdom here on earth.   Psalm 72 verses 2 through 4 says:

"O God, give your judgment to the king ... that he may govern your people with justice, your oppressed with right judgment ... that he may defend the oppressed among the people, save the poor and crush the oppressor."

And Psalm 82 verses 3 and 4 asks God to:

"Defend the lowly and fatherless; render justice to the afflicted and needy; rescue the lowly and poor; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

But first and foremost that fundamental principle must be met: to serve justice and mercy to the poor, not only in word but in deed.

Too much talking, too many words; too many belaboured arguments and permissive foreign ways; too much mediocrity and middle-classness, have led us into a wilderness and confusion that are wrought by the devil himself.

Jamaica is still a Christian country, so let us be Christian!  United we stand, divided we fall.  First of all, we must love one another and work with one another for justice and mercy.  Jamaica is a most unusual country.  The spirits and souls of Jamaicans are strong and serious.   Let us give an example to the world, as we have done in so many other endeavours.

Let us require once and for all a strong moral family life.  Politicians are cowards in requiring marriage and fidelity with a punishment for those who are promiscuous and then themselves bear children out of wedlock.  Men and women must stop living like animals on our streets.  There must be a law that is seriously enacted on those who bear children outside of marriage.   That should be so for all classes of people.

Strong moral Christian values must be taught once again by teachers in the schools regarding personal behaviour, sin and virtue, right and wrong, and an absolute sense of responsibility towards the poor.

There must be a right and wrong, punishment and reward, heaven and hell, justice and mercy, not only taught but exercised in family life and in the schools.

We must become a Church of the Beatitudes.   I believe we are approaching the Age of the Beatitudes, wherein Christianity will be judged worthy and relevant to the life and benefit of modern man on the basis of how effectively she implements the works of mercy and justice among the most needy and marginalised - materially and spiritually - in our world.   Time is running out: the Kingdom of God is at hand! Church, are you ready?

Feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com

December 22, 2011

jamaica-gleaner

Marriage is not a "bed of roses" as often heard in the popular quip: "Marriage is a three ring circus... First comes the engagement ring, followed by the wedding ring, and then comes the suffering"!

The vanishing institution of Christian marriage

By Anthony Gomes

The unravelling of society's moral fibre continues with the vanishing institution of Christian marriage.  With some 200 new divorces before the courts each month, the death knell of Christian matrimony can be clearly heard accompanied by the renewed fatuous call for term-limited marriage licences!  In 2009 there were 1853 divorces in Jamaica, that is 8.65 divorces for every 100 marriages, accompanied by advertisements in the press offering "Quick divorces"!

The exceptional divorce rate is an indictment of the numerous imperfect choices made by aspiring partners.  In one parish church, the number of divorces exceeds the number of marriages solemnised.  That does not augur well for future matrimonial unions between a man and a woman.  This symptom of societal decadence makes one wonder why so many marriages are ending in dissolution.  A number of adverse reasons come to mind, and taken singularly many of them do not amount to substantial reasons for creating a fatal rupture in the relationship.  This could indicate a lack of determination to make the marriage work, and reflect the ease with which divorce can be obtained in civil unions, that in many cases are not recognised by the Christian churches who can still grant nullity in selected cases.

Marriage is not a "bed of roses" as often heard in the popular quip: "Marriage is a three ring circus.  First comes the engagement ring, followed by the wedding ring, and then comes the suffering"! The Roman Catholic Church acknowledges the vagaries of how stresses and strains can affect a relationship thus: "Every man experiences evil around him and within himself.   This experience makes itself felt in the relationships between man and woman.  Their union has always been threatened by discord, a spirit of domination, infidelity, jealousy, and conflicts that can escalate into hatred and separation.  This disorder can manifest itself more or less acutely, and can be more or less overcome, according to the circumstances of cultures, eras, and individuals, but it does seem to have a universal character" (Art1606-Catechism).  "According to faith, the disorder we notice so painfully does not stem from the nature of man and woman, nor from the nature of their relations, but from sin. As a break with God, the first sin had for its first consequence the rupture of the original communion between man and woman.  Their relations were distorted by mutual recriminations; their mutual attraction, the Creator's own gift, changed into a relationship of domination and lust; and the beautiful vocation of man and woman to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth was burdened by the pain of childbirth and the toil of work" (1606-Catechism).

On the wider horizon, the situation is more troubling and summarised as follows: "Once the very cradle of civilisation, Europe has embraced a secular future, and the residual memory of the Christian tradition is fading fast," according to Dr R Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He continues: "Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands, once the cradles of the Reformation, are now prime examples of Europe's secular shape.  Throughout the European continent, Islam is the only religion growing in the number of adherents.  Others looking at the same pattern of secularisation point to the impact of theological liberalism, the rise of a technological society, and the cultural shift towards autonomous individualism, as the main factors behind Christianity's decline.  The decline of Christian belief in Europe has also brought a change in attitudes and laws on issues such as divorce, abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research.  As Christian conviction declines, Christian morality gives way to the ethos of moral individualism, sexual libertinism, and eroding commitment to marriage, children, and family".  The foregoing encapsulates the torrent of sinister forces which are infiltrating Christian societies, leading to their diminution.

In Jamaica's case, enlightened parenting is the first step towards restoring Christian principles in the family unit.  However, when children are giving birth to babies fathered by children, the remedial process becomes very complicated without outside assistance from the churches and schools.  Children born to children are usually left with grandparents for their upbringing. It is this formative stage which will influence the behaviour of the young adult, which must be able to decipher the difference between right and wrong.

The permissive society in which we live has corrupted Christian moral values to such an extent that all aspects of aberrant social behaviour can be justified.  Defections from formal religious practice have intensified with the advent of "generic Christians", who choose to worship the Creator in their own way.  "Condemn the sin, not the sinner" is a popular oxymoron, as the existence of the sin is dependent on its commission by the sinner.  A universal panacea in the remedial process is longer terms of engagement, to allow the aspirants to improve their knowledge of each other, before taking matrimonial vows that are binding "until death do us part".

"In his preaching Jesus unequivocally taught the original meaning of the union of man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning: permission given by Moses to divorce one's wife was a concession to the hardness of hearts.  The matrimonial union of man and woman is indissoluble: God himself has determined it: "what therefore God as joined together, let no man put asunder".

Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her." As the popular song says: "Look back before you leave my life."


November 16, 2011

jamaicaobserver

JAMAICAN CULTURE: Lost in translation - Is the Patois Bible a waste?

Lost in translation - Is the Patois Bible a waste?

By Franklin Johnston

With every new rendition of the Bible it is diluted.  What did the KJV's "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's ass" mean 2,500 years ago?  What's my neighbour's ass now?  Car, donkey, meat and transport in one?  Did this apply to all or just those with no ass?

Translation across centuries, cultures and languages means much is lost and things assumed based on what we now know.   Abrahamic faiths — Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Rastafari -- all lose authenticity as they lose touch with the Torah.  We have Christianity in all flavours to suit every taste and some are the ego trips; emotional excrescences of men who do not know the roots of the Church and don't care as long as they make money.  The Old and New Testament were translated from Hebrew and Greek many times.  With those rendered from English versions new errors are made and old errors perpetuated.  Much is lost in translation.

The Bible Society of Jamaica translated the gospel of Luke in patois but not from Greek.   Millions were spent, and to be fair and open, they should name the translators, sources and all involved.  The Bible is our heritage, not words on paper for academics, patois actors and playwrights to render as they like.  Translators are scholars of the original languages and manuscripts, the new language, comparative exegesis, and the task calls for a sense of the spiritual, history, meditation and insight.  We need assurance of the integrity of the process!

The book is titled Jiizas di Buk We Luuk Rait bout Im; to us The Book of Luke.   Patois is our heritage, culture; rich, colourful, fluid; ours to use and change, not by linguists who rule how it must be spoken.   No patois police!   Let patois be free wherever it may be!  I bought a copy in Hagley Park Plaza.

I was told it was for the poor man who speaks patios only, yet costs a day's pay!   Why would a poor man buy a Patois Bible which he can't read when he can get an English Bible free; he can't read it either?  The cover and paper are flimsy, but we love a well bound Bible in the front room to write our births, deaths and "run duppy".

The cover picture is patronising; better if it were a Clovis cartoon!   The section in English titled "How to read Jamaican" deals with "consonants, vowels and symbols".  So a man illiterate in English buys a book in patois, but as he is illiterate in patois too, the writers put the rules to read it in English, Wow!

This Patois looks like Dutch or Afrikaans and has nothing in common with Miss Lou's patois which is what we speak. Check these stanzas:

"Wha wrong wid Mary dry-foot bwoy?

Dem gal got him fe mock,

An when me meet him tarra night

De bwoy gi me a shock!

Me tel him seh him auntie an

Him cousin dem sen howdy

An ask him how him getting awn.

Him seh, 'Oh, jolley, jolley!"

— Extract from "Dry-foot bwoy" by Louise Bennett.

Now compare it with an extract from Jiizas de Buk we Luuk rait bout Im:

"1 Tiyafilas Sa, Uol iip a piipl chrai fir ait dong di sitn dem wa apm mongks wi. Dem rait it dong siem wie ou dem ier it fram di piipl dem we did de de fram di staat, si di sitn dem wa apm an we priich di wod".

— Patois Bible St Luke Chapter 1, verses 1-4. May 2010.

This can't be right! It looks like nothing we know. I will stick with Miss Lou!

FIELD WORK IN THE UK. I used a captive audience of Jamaicans and I also went to Brixton to accost some between NCB branch and the Post Office.   I wore a suit with Her Majesty's ID on my chest. Many, relieved I was not Border Agency, co-operated fully.   But this is informal and the experts must show us their work.   Here's what some people said of "de Buk":

BRIXTON.   I asked each person to read "de Buk" to me. Some said: "A wah dis?   Me neva see nuttin laka dis" or "Oh this is the Patois Bible, I like it" or "A Rasta tings dis, lang time it fe cum!"   Most could not read it and those who did read the instructions first and mouthed each word slowly.   Most people liked the idea of the book and some asked for a copy.

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE.   The illiterate ones couldn't read it.   Some say "is Polish" as it looks like writing they see every day as they live with Russian, African etc.   Some 80 per cent of the foreigners who speak English understand our patois. English speaking British illiterates could not read it though many use patois slang; a man with degrees read haltingly, said it used English phonetics and if I left the book he would master it in a week. Africans who spoke no English could not read it.   One savvy Nigerian said the words were contractions, variations, broken English.   I said it was an Akan or Twi based dialect. He said firmly "Then do not corrupt our languages further, give them a Bible in Akan!" I was quiet!   A lady who translates patios says court officers understand our prisoners but details matter in Law and so "im did a badda, badda mi an mi get bex an juk juk im" she translated as " after much provocation by my girlfriend I lost my temper and stabbed her".   She tells the Court the "im" is not a man and "badda, badda" is a repitition of the word "bother" which shows intense feeling and "juk juk" means multiple stab wounds. Sadly "Jiizas di buk" means nothing to these men!

The bible society has excellent motives but their "Jiizas buk" may undermine ancient churches, scholarship and mislead many.   Jesus reasoned with scholars on faith and the Torah.   Few apart from Jewish, Anglican, Catholic scholars can do this now.   Many "faith entrepreneurs" can't read the founding articles of the faith.   The unintended consequence of removing the Bible from a prayerful scholarly tradition is men now think they can do with it as they like.   The "Church of Blessed Patois" coming soon to a community near you! Sadly the Patios Bible does not advance our patois, literacy or faith! Stay conscious my friend!

Mrs Enid Golding was a legend to those of us who did teaching practice and classroom observation in her school.   In her day she was a reference point on "best practice" for UWI Prof Gordon Shirley.   Heartfelt sympathy to PM Bruce, Trevor, Douglas and their families.

Dr Franklin Johnston is an international project manager with Teape-Johnston Consultants currently on assignment in the UK.

franklinjohnston@hotmail.com

September 23, 2011

jamaicaobserver