The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The coalition of pastors who seem to have but one string to their ecclesiastical guitar again launched into a chorus of hate in a now predictable attempt to blur the line between church business and state business.

The church ought to be about saving souls and putting sinners onto the path of righteousness. And sometimes they might remember that everyone is made in the image of God and therefore loved equally by God. The state on the other hand is about the business of treating all its citizens – believers and non-believers – equally.

The pastors are to be commended for the progressive thinking they have shown on three of the four constitutional questions. It’s just their myopic thinking on the issue of homosexuality that makes them representatives of the Stone Age, rather than men who can appreciate that in order for it to remain relevant in our lives the great teachings of the Gospel must be interpreted so as to reflect advances in rational thought in the modern world.

The word of God does in fact last forever, but some people tend to put words into the Almighty’s mouth. Surely in the modern world we can all agree that slavery (as condoned by the bible) is an outdated economic and societal model. Can we not also see that the biblical prohibitions and discriminations against women are also past their sell-by date?

Fortunately, the leaders of the state from both sides of the aisle agree that we should not be in the business of discriminating against any of our citizens.

To my mind, Bill Four is about discrimination against women in this country and law must stop it, since we are a nation of laws. Discrimination can be sinister but it usually has economic overtones. Women should be paid the same as men. If it opens any doors, Bill Four ought to open the door for women to get paid during pregnancy and for a longer period of time after giving birth with no loss in rank when they return to work. It should open the door for fathers to take some form of maternity leave to help care for their baby without retribution on the job.

Sexual harassment is another issue that Bill Four could help to curtail. You would not believe the requests, impositions and jokes made to and of women at their jobs.

That said, in the days remaining the Yes vote must not allow itself to become distracted by these pastors. They are not the main obstacles in the path to victory. Apathy and revenge are the biggest challenges.

Political fatigue could keep some voters at home. Revenge voting is a real threat. FNMs vexed with the PLP for not supporting the first equality referendum as well as those vexed with Perry Christie for the cavalier way he brushed off defeat in the gambling referendum, will be out to exact their pound of flesh by voting to block this one.

That is called voting against your own interest. There is nothing strategic about it. The constitution must be respected and enforced by both PLP and FNM governments and so amendments to it must not become a part of the political circus.

You can cry foul on Perry and the PLP for opposing the FNM’s initial attempt to right this constitutional wrong in the past. But drop that licking stick on Perry in the general election, not a referendum. The pastors will remind us that the Lord in his wisdom decided to keep vengeance for himself.

When the founding fathers sat down at the constitutional conference in 1972 they were challenged to think of a Bahamas 40 years and more into the future. Well, the future has arrived. Our task now is to stand up for Bahamians not yet born.

We must send a clear and resounding signal that we respect the dignity and humanity of our women by voting Yes on all four bills. We do not want our daughters to be discriminated against in 2066.

THE GRADUATE

Nassau,

April 19, 2016.