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“[…] Mr Rushton Paray opined that if we removed the ships from our coat of arms and removed the monuments honouring Christopher Columbus and other notorious colonial-era characters, we run the risk of being afflicted with ‘historical amnesia’.
“This is a very fallacious argument… Not only Christians but many other persons are quite familiar with Judas Iscariot, the notorious betrayer of Jesus Christ. There are no monuments or other tangible tributes to Judas…”
The following Letter to the Editor in response to cases by the Roman Catholic Archbishop Dr Jason Gordon and UNC MP Rushton Paray for retaining Christopher Columbus’ ships on Trinidad and Tobago’s coat of arms was submitted to Wired868 by Louis W Williams of St Augustine:
Roman Catholic Archbishop Dr Jason Gordon sought to address this matter of Columbus’ three ships on Trinidad and Tobago’s coat of arms by recommending a compromise solution of placing the ships on the waves at the bottom of the coat of arms and installing the steelpan where the three ships are currently located.
I heard some persons who are opposed to that suggestion say that Archbishop Gordon did not want to offend his major wealthy financiers/ donors who support the retention of the ships on our coat of arms.
I do not agree with those persons—most of whom consider me to be too naive. However, although I am not a Roman Catholic, in my view, Archbishop Gordon has demonstrated his sterling integrity over the years.
Nevertheless, I do not agree with him on this issue. Similar to Archbishop Gordon, Mr Rushton Paray, UNC MP, supports the retention of the ships on our coat of arms.
Mr Paray opined that if we removed the ships from our coat of arms and removed the monuments honouring Christopher Columbus and other notorious colonial-era characters, we run the risk of being afflicted with “historical amnesia”.
This is a very fallacious argument.
In this regard, the Roman Catholic church has monuments and other such tangible tributes to its saints. However, even some of the most ardent members of its laity are not very familiar with the achievements of those honoured saints.
However, not only Christians but many other persons are quite familiar with Judas Iscariot, the notorious betrayer of Jesus Christ.
There are no monuments or other tangible tributes to Judas. The notoriety of Judas was properly documented in the history books and also kept alive via the sermons of the clergy and other such communications/ discussions.
It would be interesting to know, given the views of Archbishop Gordon and Mr Paray on this matter, when will the Catholic Church be erecting monuments or displaying other tangible tributes to Judas?!
Similarly, when will Mr Paray begin his advocacy for similar monuments and other tributes to notorious characters such as Dole Chadee and Abdul Malik?!
The notorious Christopher Columbus must not be celebrated, Archbishop Gordon and Mr Paray.
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In an article published on catholictt.org, on August 28, 2024, Archbishop Jason Gordon asserted that to remove the three ships from our Coat of Arms amounts to an engagement in “revisionist history”, and warned against any attempt to rewrite T&T’s past.
I do not agree with our esteemed Archbishop. We are not attempting to rewrite history. We are now more enlightened and, therefore, we are seeking to correct the misconceptions of the past.
We must not be honouring and celebrating notorious characters such as Christopher Columbus.
Once again, as far as I am aware, there are no prominent official symbols, monuments, or other tributes under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church, in honour of the notorious Judas, despite his pivotal role in “fulfilling the book” (The Holy Bible)/fulfilling prophesy. It would be ludicrous for the Catholic Church to honour and celebrate him.
Forgive the pun, but Columbus and Judas belong in the same boat.
I need not pursue the fallacy that those three ships all arrived on the shores of T&T.
Mr Ramcharan, I am happy that you played no part in my education.
Admittedly, the literal meaning of your comments was unambiguous.
Unfortunately, based on those comments, and what I presumed to be your level of intelligence, I incorrectly thought there was some deeper, hidden message that had escaped my attention, and that is why I requested you to elaborate.
Given your response to my request, it is now very obvious to me that there was no deeper, hidden message. It is simply that you chose this most important forum to offer a contribution that lacked deprh, delved into trivial and irrelevant matters and, generally, was puerile and vacuous.
And yet they are spot on.
Mr Mohan Ramcharan, please elaborate on the two comments that you have submitted.
Pardon me, but the message you are seeking to ccnvey is not clear to me.
Perhaps not, but I cannot account for failures in your education.
Those who are making a case for the retention of the 3 ships in reverence to the history should also highlight that the history was also fake from the beginning….he did not discover, he raped and murdered, and looted and destroyed his way across this land and if that wasn’t enough, he committed genocide, then went elsewhere kidnapped tortured and trafficked other human beings, raped and enslaved them to work the land of those he murdered.
That’s the history of the 3 ships.
A case of misguided shortsightedness? Isn’t it possible to have both discovered and exploited?
Question for Mr. Paray. If a man invades your home and proceeds to steal your valuables, rape your daughter and wife then murders your sons would you keep a nice photo of him in your album?
No, but his rights under the law must be respected. Always.