YeKengalé

This week Jamaicans celebrate 57 years of state sovereignty (to the degree that we have been able to establish it) and 185 years of Emancipation from slavery (to the degree we have worked that out also). Both freedom and sovereignty are essentially states of consciousness moreso than legislative realities established by the stroke of a pen on parchment, although undoubtedly, legislation can promote (or prohibit) the consciousness. Milestones give an opportunity for reflection on what use we have made both of our free paper and our National Constitution.

Leaders of the church were gathered in this very exercise on Thursday, Emancipation Day in Jamaica. The Bible says, ‘…and you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free’, and truly, only the free can rule. In fact, the first expression of freedom is to establish ownership of the decision-making process – the political dimension of life. The nexus between education (knowledge), religion (whether it be chain or chain breaker) and politics (sovereignty) and implications for the current stock of Caribbean church leaders was at the core of the historical musings of the panelists, who expertly guided us in a walk down memory lane to measure how far the several generations of Caribbean people have come in our journey towards establishing a sovereign expression of our values and aspirations in the earth.   

If Plato was right, that in the ideal Society the philosopher is king, then the level of insight (fruit of an effective education) of our leadership, (whether of school, church or government) gives scope to the potentials of the group. If the eyes are blind, the Bible says, the whole body is flooded with darkness. Reflecting on the insights shared by *Rev. Dr. Garnett Roper, *Rev Dr Stephen Jennings and *Mr. Arnold Bertram, again I am impacted with the grand idea, not so much of the Platonic enlightened government as much as the possibility of a more enlightened population and what innovations and new approaches in education, religion and the media can give rise to such.

There are those in the past and present who have all but dismissed the church as mere peddlers of hocus pocus belief systems, an impediment to, rather than an enhancer of sound education, a threat rather than aid to the State. Yet, no matter how hard they try to wish religion into oblivion, those who consider that mankind, now enlightened by Science should be ready at last to purge ourselves of this backward habit of clinging to ‘iron age superstition’; its pivotal role in the social formation and political developments of not just Caribbean society but societies everywhere should be a magnet for young people brimming with life potential and dreams, and eager to discover how they might fit into a larger picture. (And when religion/church is not (a magnet for young adults), it must examine itself long and hard. It has been effectively derailed.)

The notion of self-examination and self-criticism is biblical, and the pomposity of the dogmatic, who not only never question themselves but also resist being interrogated by anyone else, is the surest path to a derailed religion or politics. Some potent critique was expressed, directed at every branch of the Caribbean church, but it seemed to some that Pentecostalism in particular was singled out for its failure to address the context of its constituents.

Without dismissing the point altogether, which can be the starting point of much meaningful self-examination, that there are others views and perspectives is undoubtable. (I perhaps gave a more optimistic perspective in my article on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit; and my friend Peter Espeut highly recommended Jamaica Genesis – the most exciting book he has read for over a decade said he….a thing I had to take note of, not only because I know Peter’s voracious literary appetite and the size of his library, but because the book is about Jamaican Pentecostalism and even though I know my friend to be more than vaguely familiar with the practice of glossolalia, having himself in his youth been involved with the Catholic Charismatic movement and having cast out a few devils himself and healed the sick thru the laying on of hands; I would not have anticipated such present interest in the subject had not the author offered some brilliant and insightful sociological perspectives.)

The point is, when we come to the mirror, it’s the faults we are looking for. The areas that require addressing. The things that can be improved. A reflexive defensiveness, signs of insecurity, can only make mirror-time a vain exercise. We all want to believe, especially in the sectarian world of religion, that we are the fairest one of all (or rightest, or most faithful, most doctrinally correct, etc etc)….and all of that I suppose does strengthen the arguments of those who conceive a world purged of religion altogether a better world than the one at present.

Religion that is dynamic, visionary, liberative and coordinated benefits the whole society. And as we sing our Sankeys, frolic on the beach, or spend the day in quiet solitude, may we make room for collectivizing our consciousness on the road we have travelled, and the road before us. Times are changing. We should be sure of our direction going forward.