“Racism has been Europe’s greatest gift to the world.” So said Dr Eric Williams, the first Prime Minister of T&T (Selwyn Cudjoe, Eric Williams Speaks). Of course, Williams was being sarcastic. If racism was a gift to the world, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the greatest gift …
Read More »Noble: Church in time of Covid-19; ‘giving out of extreme poverty that extends into generosity’
HG Wells (1945) summed up our perception of the present times, “a jaded world devoid of recuperative power…ordinary man is at the end of his tether”. More than half of us are feeling great uncertainty. Both the business community (90%) and the general public (75%) believe that the economic challenges …
Read More »Daly Bread: Honest to God; don’t abuse state support for Covid-19
We reach, oui. One holy man has to tell other holy men—in a nice way of course—to be honest with the money that the Government is giving to religious organisations to provide food support to its poor following the economic impact of Covid-19. “Do the right thing”, Dr Knolly Clarke, …
Read More »Noble: Faith and Science are two sides of same coin, both can help combat Covid-19
The great uncertainty of the impact of the Covid-19 disease wreaks fear and doubt in many. In a world that longs for certainty, we have met our match. For much of our human history, we have thought of the future as ‘a terrifyingly unknowable blur’. More lately, full of increasing …
Read More »Noble: Building bridges this Easter; remember Christ’s lessons in these dark times
Easter 2020 meets the world ‘on its knees’, humbled by a virus that has catspraddled us. One day we were invincible; or so we thought and behaved. The next day, racked with physical and emotional pain, our voices curdle in our throats. Our hearts fail us for fear. We are …
Read More »Six months jail for holding large church service; new legislation aims to thwart congregations
If Reverend Winston Cuffie or other religious leader opts to hold another service with more than 10 participants, they will be running the risk of a TT$50,000 fine and six months imprisonment. The government today legislated to sanction religious gatherings, betting houses and theatres, as it revoked its previous Public …
Read More »‘Pray from home!’ Gov’t promises action as Rev Cuffie calls out worshippers for ‘healing’
National Security Minister Stuart Young vowed that the government will take action on churches who refuse to act responsibly. Young’s warning came after Reverend Winston Cuffie advised followers to refuse to be ‘dominated by fear’ and attend a Miracle Ministries service last night in Chase Village, Chaguanas—dedicated to ‘the impartation …
Read More »Noble: Sunshine the best disinfectant: why churches must open their books
US Justice Louis Brandeis, in his book Other People’s Money, explained: “Sunshine is said to be the best of disinfectants.” He leveraged the view that ‘public opinion … is full of sunlight … selfishness, injustice, cruelty, tricks and jobs of all sorts shun the light’. This is appropriate to the …
Read More »Salandy: Discrimination and abuse rampant in education system; and taxpayers are funding it
In 1999, Clivia Jones went to school with a modest cornrow hairstyle only to be told by the Corpus Christi principal to fix her hair or stay home. This story came to mind when I read of two recent incidents. The first was of a Port of Spain schoolteacher spewing …
Read More »Noble: Living in a messy world; God understands suicide, so help—don’t judge!
God understands suicide. There are seven stories about suicide in the Bible, including Samson, seen as victorious, killing more in death than in life and finding his way into the Hall of Fame (Hebrews 11). Suicide is a complicated story in the Bible. It is a short-circuiting of God’s plans …
Read More »Gilkes: From Truman to Trump; how religion oppresses the post-colonial world
Shooting wars begin as culture wars and culture wars are initiated by ideas. So let’s for a minute set aside Uncle Sam’s amoral adventures in Venezuela; or not—because this issue is partly about what led to it in the first place. A few years ago Professor Merle Hodge wrote an …
Read More »Gilkes: Our colonial-style sex education; how the West weaponised and criminalised passion
“Dem doh need no sex eduction. Dem lil gyul hot already, yuh just making them take more man…” What you just read is not even the worst of it. The fact that the person who made this statement—which I overheard at an academic conference—is involved in social work in East …
Read More »