EDITOR, The Tribune.
As a devout Christian and a man of deep faith, with no political affiliations or agenda, I have been sickened by the repeated innuendos that our honourable prime minister may in fact be considering a bishop for the position of governor general. In a recent get-together with numerous Christian colleagues, we were all equally horrified by the prospect. This would be the prime minister’s greatest dereliction of duty should this in fact be true and an insult to the entire Christian community. By the same manner in which the Bahamian Christian community never forgave Prime Minister Christie for legalising gambling, this egregious act would be similarly unforgivable.
At what point did it become okay for a man ordained by God to lead his people, to then abandon that post and swear an oath to the Crown and government? It’s outright shameful and utterly disgraceful that with everything this country has to deal with, the enormous social ills that plague us today, we now have to bear witness to a man of the cloth happily jumping into politics. Does he assume that the governor general title is more important than the one God bestowed upon him to lead his church?
Need I remind the venerable bishop that as governor general his role would be to subjugate to the political will of the prime minister and the salary that he collects from the government now ensures that this former leader of the church remain silent on issues like marital rape, same sex marriage, gambling, crime, illegal migrants, marijuana legalisation, rising poverty and economic inequality or a myriad of other issues plaguing this country. Will the religious and holy doctrines that he imbued into his congregation week after week now be silenced because of his new secular duties? They’d have to be if he were to accept this position.
“The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18).
It bears mentioning that I hold absolutely no ill-will towards the bishop and acknowledge that he may very well be a man of honour. My objection is to the distasteful principle of casting aside a cloak of gold for a shiny suit tethered to both the government and an antiquated monarchal system that’s admittedly marred by its close connection to colonialism and slavery.
This country is full of qualified decent citizens with a lifetime of service to The Bahamas who will excel at the governor general position. Should the prime minister be looking to replace Sir Cornelius A. Smith, I suggest he look at one of them more carefully rather than risk insulting the entire Christian community with such a reckless choice. For the prime minister, I end with this word of caution from countless members of the Christian community for your political future; when selecting the next governor general, keep church and politics separate!
A concerned man of God
Nassau,
October 26, 2022
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