Constitutional Reform, How Should We Progress

This essay is published on Grenadians for Secular Humanism site. Please share your comments. Enjoy!  

Where is the Outrage?

The hysteria that has engulfed my nation over the dehumanizing photos of a 16-year-old girl posted on Facebook, I posit, was deserved. However, there is a real problem associated with the photos that has not received the outrage it should have. I am speaking of the sexual abuse of our women and girls.  

The reactions to the photos showing up on Facebook called upon the government to intercede and do something about the photos being on Facebook, which they heeded. Immediately the government announced a Bill called the “Electronic Crime Bill,” which seeks to hold people criminally liable for posting “offensive” material online – Electronic Crime Bill section 6.

The Bill itself triggered a backlash on the government. According to many Grenadians, the Bill appears to be too vague and far-reaching. Many argued that it seems to attack our constitutional right of freedom of speech; an attempt, by the government, to silence dissent, and quiet media and journalists from critiquing the administration.

Indeed, the initial outrage over the photos on Facebook and the subsequent push back on the government’s attempt to use the outrage to push through this ambiguous Bill is certainly warranted.

There is, however, the criminal act of sexual abuse of minors that this child fall victim to, and needs to receive the same, and/or even more outrage, and it has not. For that, I am outraged!

A headline posted on January 24, 2013, in The New Today reads “Bus Drivers Charged with Rape.” The story went on to point out that “Statistics provided to this newspaper by the Criminal Records Office of the RGPF show that from January to October 2012 there were 24 cases of rape, 78 cases of incest, defilement of a female 43, and indecent assault 77.” It went on to state that “From among the 25 sexual offenses that were on the case list for October 2012 Criminal Assizes, there were 12 cases of rape.”

I site these statistics to demonstrate what our country is dealing with. Crimes against women, some argues, are on the rise. It is known that Grenada has an epidemic of adult males sexually violating young school girls, (boys too); committed mostly by bus drivers (of course not excluding male school teachers and fathers). 

There is a story in Caribbean News Now, posted June 19, 2013, that speaks of a ten-year-old girl child sexually abused by her father, who, according to the story, was left in the custody of the father by the Chief Magistrate, after hearing the facts of the case. Yes, you heard right. The Chief Magistrate left the child in the hand of the sexual deviant! Is this the justice we have in store for our minors?

As I have mentioned in a previous post on the Facebook photos issue, I engaged some Grenadians, home and abroad, in an attempt to get different prospective on the issue. Quite interestingly, no one brought up the issue of sexual predators preying on minors. I had to ask the question, and I was taken aback by many of the comments I received. Like the Chief Magistrate, it seems to me that no one (both male and female) was really concerned about the minor, as much as they shown about the photos being on Facebook for the world to see. In my understanding, the public image of Grenada was their main concern; thus, the outrage.

Because of the deafening silence concerning the abuse of the minor, one can only conclude that if the photos were not posted on Facebook, then there would not have been any outrage. Which brings me back to a Grenadian event I attended where a government official literally asked Grenadians, who critique what they view as wrongs going on in the country online, not to expose our dirty laundry to the world. His words were that you are putting a bad face on Grenada.     

This position of course does not speak for all Grenadians, and I hope not for the majority. But it does speak to a much bigger problem in Grenada; the ongoing concern whereby Grenadians remain silence about sexual abuse of minors – and woman in general. Here we have a minor who has been sexual violated by an adult man, who then thinks it was cool to take and post sexual explicit photo of her on Facebook, and people is only upset about them being posted on Facebook.  No discussion about the elephant in the room, the sexual abuse of our woman and girls (boys and men included).

As reported in the New Grenada on May 1, 2013, “The Caribbean in general is grappling with an extremely high prevalence of child abuse in our island. In Grenada, news media has reported that the problem is grievous, and increasing.”

Yes, abuse of minors is increasing in Grenada. As a result, our job is to aggressively push our government to crackdown on these child predators, and women abusers. The outrage over these sexual explicit photos on Facebook is deserved, and so to is the push back on the government over the Electronic Crime Bill. However, this incident should have also ignited a national outrage over the issue of abuse of minors and women. Their concerns should have been part of the ongoing discourse; if not the priority issue.

I conclude with this. Apart from calling for the sexual violation of minors and women to be included in our outrage, I am also demanding that my government respond rationally and appropriately. Instead of using the public outrage to push through a Bill that seeks to silence its critics, focus on the real issues. Protect our minors, and women from these sexual deviants. The sexual explicit photos of the minor posted on Facebook were indeed a criminal act, but they are, in addition, more so a road sign to the large criminal acts going on in the country. “Grenada is being labeled dangerous for women and girls. This is evidenced by one third of all criminal High Court trials, being for sexual offenses,” – Now Grenada. 

WATCH: Air Me Now: Violence Against Women - Taking Back Our Voices 

Black History Month: The Lesson We have Missed

We are now in the middle of celebrating another Black History Month, and again the failures and achievements of the black struggle are discussed and debated in almost all arenas. These debates are waged between people some describe as Traditionalists, Fence-Sitters and Dissenters. However, despite these debates and the category one may be placed in, have we neglected an important lesson that for years has been staring us in the face? I believe we have.

 One aspect of the black experience that is certain to capture the center of these discussions is the black religion, or more correctly, the black church. One is certain to hear the statement, “Religion has always been a part of Black life in both Africa and the U.S” (Karenga, 1993), made constantly. This statement is something of a mantra used by many people of color as they defend the continuing need for religion as a viable institution in the Black community. Indeed, as one looks back through antiquity, the many uncertainties that plagued our ancestors explained why God and what became known as religion may have been needed. Thus, in this context, God and religion seem, as supported by a huge body of evidence, to have been created by early humans in an attempt to calm their fears.

The statement that religion has always been a part of the black experience both personally and collectively is indeed a true one. Not only to black life in Africa and the United States, but also to black life in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

In this essay, however, I am not interested in religion as a personal influence. I believe that every individual has his or her right to worship whomever or whatever he or she wants, and for their rights I will certainly defend. My concern here lies in religion as an institution, around which people collectively form their identity. This I believe is harmful to the collective harmony of a society, since a society may not be homogenous in all respects.

Nowhere else has a people’s identity been more tied to religion than in the black world?  In the United States, for example, “92% of African Americans identified themselves as Christians” – (Hutchinson, 2011). Of course, there are the Afro-centrists who identify with the many Traditional African Religions, the black Islamists, i.e. the Nation of Islam, the Moorish Science Temple, etc. This level of religious adherents is also true for the Caribbean region. Grenada’s population is identified as being 98% Christian, for example.  In the black world, theism can be found in all forms, and not accepting one sadly places an individual in the absurd category of race traitor.

Moreover, apart from arguing that religion has always been a part of the black experience, another reason given for its continuing need is its claimed use as a tool against oppression. From the African continent to the Americas our ancestors engaged in struggles against the European colonizers, and in their struggles, religion certainly played a role. In Haiti, for instance, the Vodoun religion played a significant part in the Haitians’ struggle for freedom. The Black Church in the United States also played a significant role in the struggles of African Americans against white discrimination. Here, however, is what I think is worthy to note, neither religion itself nor its God/gods or deities were responsible for the success in these human struggles. Instead, these religions simple provided a safe space and community from which revolutionaries were protected as they carryout their work. The fact is, “It was the human being who did the work,” (Lewis, 2012). 

With this understanding, I believe that throughout the continuing struggle for black liberation, self-identity, sociopolitical and socioeconomic equality, we, the black population, has missed a noteworthy lesson. This lesson, despite being virtually ignored, has been significant to the success of the black struggle.

To elucidate what I am talking about here, I am pointing to the Marcus Garvey Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), as a case in point. The UNIA I believe presents us with an obvious, and maybe the best, picture of my argument. No, I am not asking that we create today a UNIA type organization. There is I believe no real benefit to racially homogeneous type organization in a multicultural world. We are living in a global village, where we are interconnected in diverse ways. However, I am arguing that there is an intrinsic feature to the movement that allowed it to achieve the successes it did; the largest mass movement in African history. Indeed, “the Universal Negro Improvement Association was the greatest and strongest movement ever started among Negroes” (UCLA African Studies Center).

Even though Marcus Garvey was, to all accounts, a religious (Christian) man, and placed his liberation philosophy within a god-based theistic framework, adopting the motto "One God! One Aim! One Destiny!” the movement itself embodied a feature of secularism. In that I mean, Marcus Garvey, unlike the leaders of the many black movements that followed, did not promote his movement as a religion. Marcus Garvey is recorded as saying that he had “no time to teach religion” (UCLA African Studies Center). In fact, the defeat of the UNIA’s Muslims members in 1922 and its Christians members in 1924 from trying to make Islam and Christianity the official religions of the movement speaks to the intent of building a movement that embodied a secular characteristic. Despite Garvey’s assertion that black people should view God as being black, the UNIA members did not have to drop their religion to become a member. As Garvey said, “our God has no color, yet it is human to see everything through one’s own spectacles,” (Garvey, 1986).

There is no doubt that the massive growth and success of the UNIA, despite how short lived it may have been, was a result of its secular nature. If one surveys the black experience after the UNIA, we will notice that all the liberation movements that followed, failed to eclipse the UNIA although possessing almost the very same philosophy and goals; for example, Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam (NOI), Noble Drew Ali and the Moorish Science Temple of America, Dr. Malachi Z York El and the Nuwaubian nation, and even the Black Churches that feature Liberation Theology as their manifesto. The problem here is certainly religion/theism as an identity for the community.

As I have mention before, we are a diverse group of people. This truth cannot be denied. Thus, designing a community/society with a specific religious ideology as its identity, be it Euro-centric or Afro-centric is unhealthy for us and the world in general. Indeed, many of us are believers, but some of us are not. Some of us are heterosexuals; some of us are not, and list of diversities goes on. We are certainly “at the crossroads of freedom and equality.” As a result, I ask that as we reminisce on our pass struggles, achievements, and debate on how we should move forward, remember that an unprejudiced society that embraces and accommodates all human beings, regardless of sexual orientation, religious belief, non-belief, color, sex, etc, is most certainly the best recipe for success, and only a secular humanist society can, I believe, accommodate such a vision. This, I believe, is the lesson we have missed.

Happy Black History Month!   

Wrong Direction

The carnival season is over and, as far as I can tell, the fiesta was enjoyed without any major criminal incidents. As a result, for our safety, we commend the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) for doing such an outstanding job for keeping the carnival revelers safe especially coming on the heals of the spike in violent crimes just weeks leading up to the festival.

Within this backdrop, we are reminded that, for a society to function properly, safety is paramount. Societies constantly improve their rules and regulations in an effort to meet the best collective needs of its people. Since this carnival season has passed without any major incidences; this has pleased us so greatly, constantly sustaining such a safe society should be our major goal moving forward. No! I am not speaking of creating a utopia. I am saying the as a nation, we must find ways so that each citizen, without being restricted or being afraid, can explore and live fulfilling lives.

Since, however, creating an ideal society with the perfect socioeconomic, political and legal system seems out of reach, societal problems will continue to be with us for sometime or forever. Knowing this means, that finding real solutions to the seemingly inescapable problems that will surface within our society must become one of our main concerns. But, how do we achieve such a goal? Certainly, appealing to pre-enlightenment, dark-ages solutions of appealing to a god or gods, for instance, is not an option. As I have alluded to above, we can accomplish this by each of us accepting our duty to be responsible moral agents - good citizens - and contribute positively to our immediate society and, of course, to the world at large. Kirani James has indeed demonstrated this to us during the past London 2012 Olympic games. This is indeed one way, and a very important one at that; being good for goodness' sake. However, despite each citizen, on an individual and community level, doing his or her part, acting on a national political level is also extremely important. We must seek to be informative citizens and exercise our voting rights in order to place the right people in the positions that are designed to solve the problems we face. Our elected officials must have the ability to properly diagnose these problems. They must be able to understand or at least be capable to identify the root causes of societal ills. Thus, we must critically evaluate actions taken by our elected officials at all times.
Take the call put fourth by Her Majesty's Opposition Party, The New National Party (NNP), for  National Days of Prayers, as a case in point. As a concerned citizen, I am very interested in knowing whether these elected officials sincerely believe that the prayer option is a real, viable solution to the problems they are trying to solve. In other words, do these officials actually believe, as objective facts, that praying will provide a change in our experience. Can they provide certainty of change. My vote is at stake here! Indeed, the fact that these officials are calling for prayer as a means to solve real problems appears to expose them as not having the slightest understanding of the source of societal ills. To this position, however, I am desperately trying not to adhere. But this knee-jerk reaction taken by supposed intelligent men and women in an effort to quell what appears to be an increase in killings leading up to the carnival celebrations, seems to confirm my fears. Society's safety must be among our ultimate concerns, but reverting to the old adage of appealing to God as a valid policy to contend with very real problems isn't very reassuring. Therefore, as a citizen working for the best of my country, here is what I believe the source of some of these crimes are. 

Taking the recent crime wave as the point of diagnostic entry – and I am concerned here with what is normally classified as “crimes of passion”, a category most of the crimes in Grenada seems to fall into – some troubling characteristics become apparent.

• The sexual relationship between adult males and teenage females. These relationships are normally built on male control. Indeed, much work is being directed into preventing child abuse. However, many parents, who suffer financially, continually allow older men, who can provide them with well needed funding, to sexually bond with their underage daughters. As a result, these predators exhibit high level of control over these young girls. However, if these young girls mature and gain an education and sort to sever themselves from the illegitimate,abusive relationship, the men becomes angry and act out in often deadly and gruesome ways.
• Domestic violence in almost all cases of these "crimes of passion" are a noticeable factor, and highlights the relationship between many Grenadians – old and young couples alike. Take the killing of Marsha Cherman of Pearls, St. Andrew, which happened in August, making her the 4^th woman to be killed for 2012, as an example. Her relationship appeared to have been riddled with instances of domestic violence. However, according to police “it’s a problem where we have the victims start the process (of persecuting the abusers), we encourage them to continue by all means and then they decide that they should not continue because they would ‘make up.’ (The killing of Marsha Cherman)
• Insecurity. Many of these men exhibit lack of self-confidence, a problem that is exacerbated when someone losses his or her means of income. This then means that his or her relationship with his wife/husband or girlfriend/boyfriend becomes strained. Indeed, women that find themselves in these situations normally revert to removing themselves from the situation by either getting rid of the husband/boyfriend or sometimes she will secretly cohabit with another, as it appears to have been in Marsh Cherman’s case. Thus, not being able to cope, many of these men because of their insecurities and inability to cope with rejection react in extremely violent ways.
• The abuse of alcohol. Grenadians are living in a society where the consumption of alcohol is pervasive.  Alcohol use is vigorously promoted in Grenada, leading to its abuse, mostly done by men - both underage young male and adult male- creating a high amount of alcoholics, which contribute to the domestic violence, which certainly leads to other crimes.  

I am not contending that the points highlighted here are the only aspects that contribute to crimes and other problems. The stellar job done by the RGPF  this carnival by ensuring that everyone entering a celebration area was stopped and searched, revealed the melancholy nature of many Grenadians. Hundreds of weapons were found on individuals who certainly intended to cause harm on others. What this shows, is that the human being's ability to personify negative characteristic for no apparent reasons is certainly a factor. But these points I have pointed out here are obvious ones, which, I believe, are the major underpinnings for most of these “crimes of passion”. Moreover, they all seem to point to one common denominator - economics; the lack of sustainable living, and this, my friends, prayer cannot and will not fix. My argument, of course, is not that if we happened to create a society where  one hundred percent employment exists, crimes will disappear. Certainly not! What I am saying is this; our elected officials are looking in the wrong direction. I am  certain that there cannot and will never be any direct causal effect of positive change on societal problems that can or will be, as a result of prayer. Calypsonian Elimus Gilbert - The Inspector - reminded us in 1989 that we were going the wrong way - the title of one of his calypsos that year. This is a warning, I will argue, is relevant here. This is, the wrong way; we are looking in wrong directions. These officials should stop the knee-jerk reactions; refrain from engaging in wishful thinking, and instead, take the time to properly diagnose and understand the cause of our problems, then real solutions can be developed. Certainly, as highly religious people, they are moved by their religious faith in their God. However, to invoke the word of the American inventor, journalist, printer, diplomat and statesman, Benjamin Franklin, "the way to see by faith is to shut the eye to reason".   

A Valuable Lesson From Kirani James

The Olympics Games are a gathering. The gathering of people, from around the world, in one place; the displaying of multiple colors that represent different countries; the adrenaline rushes  that occupied our bodies due to the apprehension of us anticipating the athlete/s that represented our country win gold, has subsided. The London Olympic stadium is empty now, everyone has headed home. The games are over.

However, here are some questions I must ask. What is the purpose of the Olympic? Is it just a gathering of men and women who trained for years to compete against each other for the purpose of seeing who the best in their disciplines are? Is it just for capitalists to rain in millions of dollars after blocking out local entrepreneurs from cashing in on the flow of tourists? Or, is it an arena designed for countries (the Superpowers) to demonstrate their strength via human beings? Indeed, explicit from the London games, was the comparing of the London opening ceremonies with that of the Chinese’s (Beijing 2008). Mine (Democracy) vs. yours (Communism). Also the counting of the number of medals won by each country was what the media (CNN, MSNBC etc.) became occupied with.  Is this what the Olympics are all about? Who wins what, and how much, or is there something greater about the Olympic than just individuals showing of their agility, their speed, and their strength etc.

The beginning of the Olympic Games is dated to 776 B.C. (Before the Common Era), in Greece. The games were held in honor of the god Zeus. It was a showground for the winner to confirm, his or her connection to the gods, the Olympians. Women raced, for instance, to win a position as the priestess of the goddess Hera, or to prove their worthiness to participate in temple rituals. In addition, the Olympics were used as an opportunity to spread the Greek Hellenistic culture. In essence, the Olympics, in its early Greek years, was a politically, as well as a religiously driven festival.
Today, however, these athletes participating in the games do not have to display their talents to validate their connection to gods or goddesses, nor do they compete to secure participating in temple rituals. Despite this, however, the politicizing of the Olympic Games remains today a reality. Over the years of the modern games, the world has witnessed, in the 1930s, for example, Nazi Germany’s use of this arena to promote its racist idea of Aryan superiority. Despite women participating in the early Greek games, it became a male dominated festival, women was deliberately restricted from participating. It was not until the 1900 games women were allowed to participate. This 2012 Olympic Games has seen countries, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei, that had prevented women from participating in the games lift their restriction; a step forward for women rights and human rights.    

These truths may have been the last things on the minds of those who gather, in their homes or in the Olympic stadium, to view the games. Instead, focus may have been on how spectacular the opening ceremonies would have been; on the glitter, and the glamour of it all. Some spoke of how their soul was moved by the opening ceremonies and the pre-show. Others may have been interesting in the chiseled physiques of the male athletes’ and/or that of the well-formed females’.

I too enjoyed the games. I was moved by the spectacular displays of the opening ceremonies in London 2012 and also in the one held in Beijing 2008. Moreover, I admired and enjoyed the athletes displaying their incredible talents in these various disciplines. However, despite all of this, as I sat steering at my Tele, I could not help but feel that I, and  the many other people around the world, were assembled, in person or via television, for one reason and one reason only; to reaffirm something greater – which is humanity, and this, I believe, is the real meaning of the Olympic Games. This is the message, I maintain, we should take away from the games. The message of Humanism. In fact, this very message is reaffirmed by the athletes themselves, via their camaraderie, and love they display towards each other despite the competition. 

So, what does humanism mean? In essence, “It (humanism) is above all an affirmation of the greatest common value we human beings have: the desire to live with dignity, to be good” (p. xiii Epstein, Greg), and this desire to live with dignity and be good was fascinatingly on displayed during the London 2012 Olympic games via the action of our very own (Grenadian) Kirani James.

No doubt, Mr. James did himself and our country extremely proud, indeed; winning, for the country, its first Olympic medal; certainly an extraordinary achievement. It was a delight to witness this young 19-year-old man displayed such talent. Despite showing the emotional energy that came with achieving his goal, as all athletes does, Mr. James, however, did not just become lost in the moment of achieving the prize every competitor in the 400meters coveted, the gold medal. No! Mr. James remained abstemious, clear headed and instead stepped over, and congratulated by extending the warmth of love by embracing and shaking the hand of every one of the competitors. In fact, the humanistic gestures extended by Mr. James to the South African athlete, Oscar Pistorius – a double amputee – of, not only exchanging tag names with Pistorius, but also embracing the South African athlete and hailing him the motivator for Mr. James to continue on should certainly have a profound influence on the world; certainly, a display of the Olympic ideal.

Kirani James has reaffirmed to Grenada and the world the spirit of love; the essence of humanity. He has demonstrated the true essence of the human being; the drive to be good, the drive to love. He has reminded the world that we must embrace humanity - each other - regardless of differences. Furthermore, Mr. James has demonstrated that “we cannot afford to wait until tomorrow or until the next life to be good, because today – the short journey we get from birth to death, womb to tomb – is all we have” (p. xiii Epstein, Greg). Great job Kirani James! You deserve the Olympic Kotinos - the Olive Wreath - of humanity (the Kotinos was made from olive lives from sacred olive trees grown near the temple of Zeus at Olympia which was use to crown Olympic winners in Greece). Thumbs up!  

Man Admitted to Hospital for Kidney Stone, Discovers He's a Woman

A Colorado man who was admitted to the hospital for a kidney stone received surprising news when the nurse came back with test results revealing he was actually a woman

Denver photographer Steve Crecelius said he's felt a little different all his life.

"When I was about 6 years old, I started having these feminine feelings, but that was in the '60s. Wearing my mom's makeup, I thought I looked pretty," Crecelius told ABC News.

So when he went to the emergency room five years ago, he wasn't too shocked when the nurse told him she found traits of both genders in his ultrasound results.

He was intersex, meaning he had both male genitalia and internal female sex organs.

"The nurse is reading the ultrasound and says, 'Huh, this says you're a female,' Crecelius said.”It was very liberating. I had spent so much energy after the age of 13 constantly evaluating how people looked at me and acted towards me."

Steve, who now goes by "Stevie," said his wife and their six children accepted his new identity right away. 

Read the entire story

COMMENTARY:

This story is a testament to the reality of human life. It speaks to the range of differences that lies between each human being. Our individual uniqueness. Each individual is different; unique, in his or her own way, and that should be respected always. This story should serve as a reminder that we should not pass judgement. We should not assume, especially basing that assumption on some ancient text, that what someone physically resembles (male or female) is what he or she is. We should not base our assumptions on these so-called holy books, books that failed to recognize actual reality.

Indeed, I must confess that reading Stevie's story jerked my memory back to a young individual from my country. He was affectionately known as “Look-Up”. This individual, at a very young age, used to dress in female clothing, lipstick, etc, and carried himself as a female. Sadly, even the name "Look-up" was meant to poke fun on how his physical, and behavioral characteristics, for his face was always facing the sky. Who knows, this might have been an attempt not to face his tormentors face to face. Indeed, there were more individuals like "Look-Up" back home, who saw themselves as females trapped in male bodies. I could only imagine the pain these innocent youth  had to endure. We, the community, ridiculed these individual and others like him. He was constantly teased and make fun off, bullied. This is the evil, the insensitivity that stems from ignorance. Worse yet, this ignorance is continually fueled by so-called “Holy” books, and their promoters. People who claim to have special and privileged connection to the God that supposedly "inspires" the writings in  these books. It is a shame! 

If this story teaches you, those whose worldview is glued to the pages of so-called "holly" books, anything, let it be that you must stop basing your worldview on these primitive, narrow spectrum books. Embrace a wider worldview of humanity and celebrate its rich diversities. Enlighten yourselves and understand that people like “Look-Up” have not personally made a choice to be who they are. They are naturally that. By Nature. It is biology. Not a personal choice, made. Help build a better society, a world community that accepts and respects all of humanity.  

A Revolution of The Mind; The Way Forward for Grenada and Grenadians

From the moment Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus) appeared in the new world, Grenada was destined to be in the fold of Paul-ism (Christianity). However, not only has the adherents of this religion, maimed and killed all the island’s natives (Caribs and Arawaks), they killed and enslaved African people they had kidnapped and brought to the island. Indeed, from its inception, coming from its Judaic past, the legacy of this religion is written in bloodshed and mayhem. Immoral activities God contracted hit men to carry out, and/or, according to the book, physically descended and participated. Yet, the descendants of the African people who were so grossly abused maintains and continues to promote this religion. Today, Grenada describes its population as being ninety percent (90%) Paul-ites (Christians) and the remaining ten percent (10%) as practicing some other form of religion.

With that said, allow me to share my observation on the discussion that surrounds our nation's moral compass, while, at the same time, present what I believe is the best possible solution to our societal problems. We have been complaining that crimes have been and continue to damage our country’s image. Our country continues to be plagued with men killing each other. Our men continue to abuse, disrespect and/or killing women, and politicians (principalities in high places) committing all sorts of corruptions while in public offices. Child abuse continues to linger with us. Even the people we trust to police crimes constantly abuse their power and engage in gross wrongdoings themselves. This, and other societal ills the Grenada Conference of Churches and other religious bodies in the country, contend is as a result of the Grenadian people have abandoned God and Church, and the solution they say, is to revert to our past religious orthodoxy. We need God! But, is that so? Do we really need to revert to God and the Bible as we seek to create a better society? I think otherwise.

 In the backdrop of what is laid out above, I am contending that the moral problems that plague our society have its roots in the very religious foundation it has endorsed. In that, the country embraced a worldview that breads antagonism. This is not to say that there are not nonreligious factors that contribute to our moral shortcomings. However, it is embracing ideologies that are rooted in religious dogmas that largely contribute to societal breakdown.  I submit that domestic violence, which has plagued the Grenadian society and continues today, for instance, is informed by the Christian religious ideology that fundamentally promotes a male chauvinistic worldview. Child abuse, although not confined to just the religious world, has had and continues to have fertile ground behind the stained glasses. Furthermore, A study concerning religion and its effect on society, published in the Journal of Religion and society by Gregory S. Paul, has shown that areas that display high religious conviction have greater societal ills and crimes. 

Indeed, Grenada has embraced a worldview that is not only alien to them, as descendants of Africans, but one that promotes extremely narrow-mindedness; one that suffocates an individual’s ability to think, and breads gross ignorance. Thus, if the Grenada Conference of Churches is correct in that the Grenadian people are abandoning their religion and faith, then their call to regress back to a religious conservative worldview is a knee-jerk reaction to that issue, and not, in a real sense, expected to address the ethical problem they contends the country is facing.

I can certainly hear the grumbling.  Where would our morals come from if you do not accept God and the Church, you ask? I.e Christianity. Well, morality is not owned by any religion. It is shaped by society as it pursuits its best interest. Morals come not from an external supernatural being. An individual is in control of personifying his or her own actions, which can certainly have negative or positive effects on the social group she is a part of – humanity. You don’t need a God/gods or a religion to achieve this.  Grenadians’ lack of church going, which certainly does not mean an outright abandonment of their religion, as shown by the numbers above, did not and will not create a society of lawlessness, as the Conference of Churches wants us to believe. This trend instead, and despite having a long way to go, shaped a society that is more predisposed to hold itself accountable for its moral failures.It create whereby more and more people are not neglecting their moral obligation by not placing it upon the shoulders of an unproven supernatural being. Today, despite identifying as Christians, more Grenadians are less enthusiastic to view the world via a narrow dogmatic ideology. Thus, more Grenadian men, for example, are viewing woman as equals and not as lesser beings, created by God as helpmates and property. Showing them much more respect. More people are reporting domestic violence against women and vice versa. We are seeing an increase in our citizens breaking their silence on child abuse, and the list can go on.  

Thus, understanding this reality and its implications, I, in speaking to my Rastaferi brothers, in my forthcoming book, From Mythology to Reality: Moving Beyond Rastafari, argue for the adoption of a different mode of thought. Of course, this new mode of thought is not presented only to the adherents of Rastafari, and to the people who are looking to assent to this Pauline faith, but the book also asks that the nation of Grenada adopt this new way of thinking, as we move forward, as a nation, into creating a more humane and ethical society. However, what new mode of thought am I speaking off here?  Well, Grenadians, I will maintain, should not just abstain from going to church. In that, I am saying that Grenadians should not just divorce themselves from institutionalized religion. We should go farther. We need a revolution of the mind. Break the spell of religious dogmatism that has been imprinted into our minds by religious theologians.  In its place, develop a worldview that embeds the physical world and a system of thought or action that is concerned with the interests or ideas of people as its foci. One cannot, I believe, be inclusively humanistic if one hedges his or her worldview in religious dogmatism. One must emancipate his or herself.  Indeed, another aspect that the study mentioned above has shown is that secular societies have much lower rates of violence and other crimes. Therefore, my call is that we free ourselves from the clutches of religion and adopt a Secular Humanist worldview. As Tom Flynn, editor of the Free Enquiry magazine put it, “Secular Humanism is emancipation” (Flynn, p. 4: Free Inquiry – October/November 2010.Vol. 30 No. 6).  To him, it is, as he put it, emancipation from,

• Divine scrutiny: “it is the ultimate release from “parental” control. What real parent’s scrutiny could be as intrusive as that of a deity who never sleeps, never looks away, and can never be deceived or misled?” ( Free Inquiry, p. 4)
• A worldview contrary to our senses-and common senses:  “To my mind, the realization that existence is purely physical…. It frees me to cherish this life on its own terms. No longer must I devalue my existence as the eye-blink prologue to some boundless perpetuity where, if only by dint of its incalculably greater scale, true significance must lie.” ( Free Inquiry, p. 5)
• From an often oppressive parochial community: “Beyond the demands to assent to doctrine and fill the collection plate, congregational life involved a larger web of social expectations.  We are “free to stop centering our lives in an insular community of the likeminded, free to anchor ourselves directly in the culture at its broadest and its most diverse, free to seek the services we desire from the-qualified providers without screening them through some hidebound denominational sieve. Instead of restricting ourselves to a parochial community’s straitened menu, to the extent our resources permit we may choose from everything an abundant society has to offer.” ( Free Inquiry, p. 5)  
• From external command morality: “What secular humanism does mean is that we need not accept some arbitrary moral code unrooted in our own experience on the mere authority of, well, authority. Rather than freeing us from morality, secular humanism frees us to develop a truly relevant morality, one rooted in the real world and in the physical and social consequences of life as humans live it. Instead of accepting unverifiable assertions, we can come together with others to forge pragmatic values whose worth and value can be intersubjectively conformed.” (Free Inquiry, pp. 5-6) 

And so it should be to us also. For sure Secular Humanism embodies much more than just these four points presented here. However, the point is that by adopting a worldview that is informed by Secular Humanism we are emancipating ourselves from depending on unproven supernatural being/beings and instead depending on us – humanity – giving us an opportunity to bring real positive change to Grenada and Grenadians and the rest of the world.

As I conclude, I must say that looking at the Grenada I knew as a young “lord” verses the present, there are good societal things we indeed have lost. No doubt! Showing more respect for elders, for instance. However, for the Grenada Conference of Churches and other moral police to argue that our society has become worse, as a result, is misguided. Their reaction is base in the fact that they are losing their grip on the mind of the masses’; people are exiting the churches and looking elsewhere for realistic answers to their problems. Thus, I believe that freeing ourselves and truly moving away from dogmatic religious worldviews is the direction we should continue as we develop a society that fosters better and more humane relationships. Our education system should be secular; one that nourishes modes of thought that includes, not only the freedom to worship one’s God or gods, as our constitution guards, but it should also encourage and nourishes Free Thought and Skepticism. We must encourage and promote critical and rational thinking as rudimentary to our education process.  If this is done, Grenada will have a much better informed citizenry. We will certainly have the ability to be more objective and inclusive. We will possess the ability to understand what it is to be a member of the broader human family. We will understand and welcome the vast array of diversity that builds humanity and not discriminate based on a worldview informed by narrow closed-minded, inhuman religious ideologies. Emancipating ourselves from this cognitive prison and promoting a Secular Humanist worldview can certainly assist in alleviating the seemingly pervasive toxic interpersonal relationship that plagues Grenada and Grenadians. I submit that our police officers will indeed be more predisposed to exhibit coherent and rational thinking. Solving differences will be done on a more humanistic level that is informed by objective rational thought. This, of course, will not create a utopian society, which, based on human nature, I submit appears to be an unrealistic goal. That is not what I am calling for. However, adopting this humanistic mode of thought will certainly help us create the better ethical society Grenadians has been calling for, for so long and all along.