Noble: 30 Pieces of Silver—is Gov’t praying or preying on the Evangelical vote?

Professor Emerita Bridget Brereton, in her masterful 2010 contribution, All ah we is not one, highlights the development of competing ethnic narratives. She highlights the colonialist and the anti-colonialist, then the Afrocentric versus Indocentric narrative.

She said: “Generally, the kind of narrative produced before and after independence by former colonies focuses on heroic anti-colonial struggles, culminating in the attainment of formal nationhood and usually ignoring or deleting internal divisions, whether of class, ethnicity, region or gender.

“The emergence of ethnic or regionalist narratives, in a pluralist society like Trinidad and Tobago, would inevitably destabilise the linear nationalist history created around the time of independence.”

Religion, ethnicity and politics are uncomfortable bedfellows. The Bible is rife with examples of attempts by religious men to live well and to enhance the fortunes of the incumbent king.

One can either be a Moses who confronts Pharaoh (Exodus 5–7) or a Balaam who tries to make money by cursing the tribe of Israel. (Numbers 22 – 24). We also had the Devil himself offering Jesus a transactional deal: bow down and get all the kingdoms. (Matthew 4).

Both Judas and Peter thought that Jesus had come to be the messiah, the One who would overthrow the Roman Kingdom. Judas acted on it by accepting thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus.

Maybe, he thought that Jesus would do like Superman and conquer the local priestly hierarchy and the Roman authority. He did not. In John 18:36, Jesus explained to Pilate that His kingdom was a spiritual one, not one in line with earthly kingdoms.

Unfortunately, our history has numerous examples of religious leaders who sought fame and riches rather than the salvation of souls. We have witnessed the progression from a homogenous Roman Catholic region to Protestantism in different denominational forms.

We have some retention of anti-establishment faiths from African slavery. The indentured Indians brought Hinduism and Islam. When mainstream Christian churches failed to meet the needs of lower-class individuals, Pentecostal and other charismatic churches emerged. Some were implants from the USA.

We now have a wide range of ecclesiastical entrepreneurs seeking power and wealth.

It is in this context that Professor Emerita Bridget Brereton discusses the competing narratives that our country faces when considering its past. (Brereton, 2010).

She recognised the pitfalls of ‘public history’ as being different to formal historical accounts, which academic historians help with. The proponents of the opposing narratives create ‘public history’ to make claims about the past and future.

The contests via biased narratives on both sides continue. Kirk Meighoo is a more recent contributor.

Professor Selwyn Cudjoe was named as one given to exaggeration when he led the Afrocentric National Association for the Empowerment of African People (NAEAP). His often explicitly anti-Indian rhetoric aroused much criticism.

One reader, of African descent, challenged Cudjoe: “The emancipation of one race does not depend on the destruction of another.”

In 2022, Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar asserted: “There was a fight when we went up to Marlborough House, between the Government and the then Opposition, to ensure balances and checks were in place in the Constitution to protect all people and to provide an equal place for all in the country.”

This time span of our Independence story omits the contribution of Uriah ‘Buzz’ Butler. The struggles of Butler and Elma Francois mirror the more colourful and longer anti-colonial fight in India. Independence in both countries resulted from an ideological evolution.

Mrs Persad-Bissessar failed to provide a correct and nuanced picture of what happened at Marlborough House.

LF Seukeran, in his autobiography, noted that Rudranath Capildeo, in the middle of the meetings, surprised the Opposition members with his desire to incorporate the views of the Indian Association of Trinidad (led by Jang Bahadoorsingh and HP Singh) in the Constitution. (2006; 291).

The Association alleged that Indians were discriminated against and advocated for proportional representation and quotas in the Parliament. Tajmool Hosein and Peter Farquhar, together with Seukeran, gave Capildeo an ultimatum. They saw the Association’s move as an “obvious attempt to thwart the aspirations of Trinidadians for independence”. (ibid, 292).

It is worthwhile reading Seukeran’s account of the negotiations with Dr Eric Williams. (ibid, 293 – 294). He noted that in two significant matters, Williams showed himself appreciative of the positive contributions of the Opposition. The joint efforts of both teams are often overlooked in some historical accounts.

HP Singh, a prolific pamphleteer, further claimed that Indians had contributed more than any other group to the country’s economic development. Ryan (1999) and Brereton (2007) observed that this claim is historically baseless but is an attempt to rewrite Trinidad’s history. But the effort to rewrite history and to elevate the Indian contribution never ceased.

Mrs Persad-Bissessar politicised the Independence celebrations in 2022.

“The obstacle to our development for the past 60 years has always been the PNM, and the [Dr Keith] Rowley government is the worst of them all. Instead of singing the many patriotic songs on Independence Day, she urged, sing ‘Rowley must go’ for Independence.”

In 1995, the electoral victory by Basdeo Panday (with the help of the two Tobago seats) triggered “a triumphalist discourse among most (certainly not all) Indo-Trinidadians”. (Brereton, 2010). The Hindu segment of the Indian population became more strident.

Surendranath Capildeo, the scion of Trinidad’s most prominent Brahmin Hindu clan, in his 1989 public lecture, enunciated an extremist position which is becoming the norm.

“We [Indians] are like no other race. We are different. Indians are a world unto themselves. We regard ourselves as the eternal people. Our religion is the eternal religion. We have been and are witnesses to a continuous unbroken thread of Indian civilisation, which began before the memory of man.

“[…] So, when you look at an Indian in Trinidad or wherever, you just remember that. An Indian is no ordinary being. He belongs to a special race… The Indian mind does not submit to slavery. You cannot enslave an Indian mind… That is our heritage.”

And Indians, or really Hindus, “had not only rescued Trinidad in no uncertain manner, but had laid the foundations for its transition into a modern, model nation state”.

What would happen to that nation if Indians suddenly disappeared or stopped doing what they did, he asked?

“Law and order will collapse. Bankruptcy will be the norm. Starvation will be your daily wage. Life here will cease.”

But given the chance, “the Indian community will take this country to heights unimagined… The Indians have the capacity to feed, clothe, educate and maintain the people of this country, and to do it in style, comfort, and ease.” (Brereton, 2010).

Translated into 2025 language, is it that everybody wins because the Indians will save us, and they will do it for the good of the rest of the population? Is the composition of the state boards merely an attempt to help us all win?

It is, therefore, fascinating to see the overtures by Mrs Persad-Bissessar to the Evangelical wing of Christianity and the snub given to the Emancipation Support Committee.

In the worldview of the Hindus, Pentecostal and such missionaries had launched crude and aggressive attacks on Hinduism, citing devil and idol worship. The Emancipation Support Committee, which hosts the annual celebration, was seen as a longstanding PNM-affiliated organisation.

How can we interpret Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s positions, except in the context of voting blocs?

For the 2000-2011 census period, Pentecostal churches were the fastest-growing religious group, registering a 108 percent increase in affiliation.

Traditional Caribbean religious groups with African roots include Spiritual/Shouter Baptists, who represent 5.7 per cent of the population, and Orisha, which incorporates elements of West African Yoruba spiritualism, as well as Shango, at 0.9 per cent.

With this information in mind, compare the response of Minister Michelle Benjamin, who is responsible for culture.

Her assessment of the needs of the Emancipation Committee was: “My ministry […] has been concerned with the manner in which the ESCTT has spent the allocations received and its tangible returns to the public.”

But within days, following the CeCe Winans’ concert, sponsored by a San Fernando evangelical church, she gushed: “This is exactly what the country needs—praise and worship. We need divine intervention, and it was so good to witness people from all across Trinidad and Tobago coming together. This concert unified the country.

“As Minister of Culture and Community Development, I will continue to invest in initiatives like this, just as I invested in this concert here.” (Emphasis mine.)

What was the investment? What were the criteria used? How do we measure that the country was unified? Did the church seek the ‘investment’? Or did the UNC offer to invest spontaneously?

Note the assessment of the Minister of Public Utilities and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Barry Padarath. He offered: “Sometimes you ask yourself why you keep going, and you look for inspiration and courage—and you find it in CeCe Winans.”

Did the goodly San Fernando pastor ever share his view of the Gospel with Minister Padarath? Or was it too much to speak about the Gospel to a self-described devout Hindu?

What is the Christian Church’s focus? One would think it is to be evangelising and fighting for the poor and marginalised.

Was the issue of the poor mothers with children to send to school ever raised? Or is there no need to discuss uncomfortable, yet timely, issues? Is the church now an appendage to the powerful government?

What about the fixing of the T&TEC lines leading to Mount St Benedict? It reminded me of the school joke: how many people are needed to screw in a bulb?

We have the answer: it takes two Government ministers plus the T&TEC top management and the crews who do the actual repair!

What the sponsoring pastor and the guileless Abbott did not realise is that the desired outcomes are photo opportunities: the ability to show the political party in a favourable light. These images create the impression that the UNC has bridged the gap between the two competing ethnic groups.

At the New Testament Church of God regional convention, Mrs Persad-Bissessar promised funds to the evangelical churches. She reminded them of the $55 million gift they had received in 2014. (Express, July 26).

But Sunity Maharaj, then an Express columnist, in a prescient 2014 piece, noted:

‘[…] When churches, architects of ethics for parish and politicians, can accept millions without raising the issue of accountability on either side, the blurred lines between national and self-interest come sharply into focus.

‘When most of us cannot recognise the line between public and personal that separates generosity from bribery, then we see how slippery the slope of corruption has become.

‘In this world of flexible truths and classic definitions, who is more aligned with the culture or more naturally, its leader, than Kamla Persad Bissessar?

‘Her all-inclusive approach has laid the basis for a broad-based democracy of compromise with the promise that no one will be left behind or left out.’ (Sunday Express, December 14).

At that time, a single pastor excluded himself. Pastor Patrick Rondon rejected the offer by affirming that he did not subscribe to Mr Panday’s philosophy that: “everyone has a price; you just have to know what it is.”

RP Joseph, a frequent contributor to the Letters to the Editor, inquired why there was a need to accept funds when churches have always met the needs of their communities through their own efforts. But here we are once more.

Is it greed that drives these churches to accept money from the State without clear guidelines and oversight? Are they Judases grasping the thirty pieces of silver? Are their sheep for sale to the highest bidder?

Luke 16: 8 reminds us, “the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”

May God grant wisdom and discernment to our Christian leaders and the courage to do what is right.