Pilgrim members take unpopular stance

Pilgrim members take unpopular stance

The media recently reported that the board of directors at Pilgrim Baptist church authorized a vote amongst its members to elect the senior pastor. Mysteriously, at least in my eyesight, the members overwhelmingly voted for embattled and convicted sexual offender, Bishop Earl Randy Fraser.

This came as a surprise to me and I am sure a great many Bahamians and church goers. For the members to vote for a pastor that has been convicted by his peers in a court of law and who is presently serving time for a criminal offence is one thing; but to have that pastor to date, still claiming his innocence, despite overwhelming and convincing evidence is one point that I can’t fathom.

As a pastor Fraser should know that you can’t be forgiven for your sins, except you repent. Led by his wife and a cadre of members, they have convinced the majority of the members in Pilgrim that all is well and that Fraser’s actions are acceptable or that he did not commit the crime that he is serving time for. I beg to differ. The Bible says in 1 John 1:9 KJV, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

Persons in the main are probably asking themselves what in the world the members must be reading or listening to. How can they in their right mind vote to keep a senior pastor as their leader who has maliciously broken their trust and who can’t even come to grips with what he has done?

The Pilgrim membership’s stance was loud and clear though. But what message are they sending to potential members and existing members who see the wisdom in changing the leadership? What message are they sending to other Christians who are clear thinkers and are able to remove their emotion out of the decision making process?

I hope and pray that Fraser would see the wisdom in stepping down from his position as senior pastor and at the least admit his wrong doing. The members of Pilgrim Baptist church took a stance, but one that I have great difficulty with and one that I cannot endorse. They seemed to have acted on blind allegiances. It is now time for Fraser to take the proper stance.

Fraser is probably not the first pastor in the Bahamas that has been convicted of a crime and imprisoned. After all he is only human. I am convinced that he can bounce back from his transgression and rebuild his ministry for God is a forgiving God. But Fraser must first repent and acknowledge his wrong doing.

Dehavilland Moss

Why can't the church speak on oil?

Why can't the church speak on oil?

The media recently reported the details of a press conference held by the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) on the possible proceeds that could be derived from oil drilling in the Bahamas. The BCC firmly said that they do not support the agreement that the government signed back in 2005.

The sliding scale agreement gives the country anywhere from 12.5 percent to 25 percent of the oil proceeds depending on what is produced. The BCC feels that this agreement is not in the best interest of the country and they are adamant that the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC’s) only concern is that of profits.

Let me state for the record that BPC’s desire to make profits comes as no surprise to anyone. In fact, BPC would be negligent in its duties if it fails to secure as much profits as possible for its shareholders. Moreover, the Bahamas government would be negligent in its duties if it fails to secure the best deal for its shareholders who are the Bahamian people.

I am in full agreement with the church that the present deal does not represent the best interests of the Bahamian people.

Some persons are calling the talk shows and asking on whose authority the church is acting on. They feel that the church is in an arena where it should not be. Oh how small minded we are. Bahamians must realize by now that the oil industry could be worth billions of dollars. I said billions of dollars. We can ill afford to allow our leaders to again negotiate bad laughable deals on our behalf. We need and deserve clarity on this issue and the process must be transparent. Our leaders must be firm and clearly lay out how the proceeds of oil will be distributed and negotiate a respectable tax that the Bahamian people are satisfied with.

Don’t we remember during the last general elections, that Ben Albury and the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) were agitating for the government to come clean on the oil issue? After much agitation and even a march, former Minister for the Environment Earl Deveaux issued several statements on the then government’s position.

Don’t we remember Ben Albury and the DNA agitating for several then opposition members namely Brave Davis, Perry Christie and Damien Gomez to clarify their role of providing services to BPC? The then opposition leader, Perry Christie issued several statements with regards to his work with BPC, the last one being that his ties with BPC were severed.

Don’t we remember Wayne Johnson and his team also asking the same questions?

These actions have sadly been forgotten by the Bahamian people and now some of us have the audacity to ask why the BCC is sniffing its nose around this oil issue.  We should know by now that many of our powerful citizens will only whisper their disdain for government decisions in a backroom that is sound proof. The Bahamian people need a strong voice and if it’s the church then so be it.

We need to know every detail that the government plans to execute with regard to the oil issue. I have listened to Minister for the Environment Ken Dorsett when he said recently that BPC has been given the green light to explore for oil. He said that if oil is commercially viable in the Bahamas the Bahamian people will decide whether to go forward.

The proceeds from the oil industry have the potential to positively change the economic plight of every Bahamian. We could be talking about hundreds maybe thousands of legitimate Bahamian millionaires in the next ten years.

I support the Minister’s candidness so far and I support the church taking a strong stance on this issue. They are right on and have decided to start agitating now as opposed to waiting when it is too late to act. I am certain that with the church as our watch dog, the regulatory framework and all the environmental checks will be completed before the oil referendum is put to the people.

Judging from the last referendum results, the church is still a very strong organization in the country and I am confident that if they keep the government’s feet to the fire, the Bahamian people will have all the information they need to make an informed decision once the time arrives. I say to Reverend Patterson and his team to keep their campaign alive. The Bahamian people are watching and they will follow.

Dehavilland Moss

 

 

What's wrong with our students?

What's wrong with our students?

Its 8:45 a.m. and it is Monday morning. As I drive along the road I see a congregation of students at the bus stop at the Corner Hotel. Driving further east I see another congregation of students at Bahamas Faith Ministries (BFM). It’s now 9:01 a.m. I see students coming from the Super Value area in Golden Gates. They are walking slower than police officers on a slow march.

I continue driving onto Blue Hill Road and head north. In my passing I see the same thing. Our students are taking their slow time to get to their school of attendance. Some of them are even hitch-hiking. Don’t they know that the bell has already rung? Don’t they know that classes have begun? Don’t they know that it’s not cool to be late? Or is it?

Many of these students who are lackadaisical in their effort to arrive to school early may not know that the same things they are doing now they are bound to repeat later in life. They soon will realize that no magic switch exists that can be turned off and on at their leisure. We are all creatures of habit.

I remember attending St. Anne’s High School in the mid 1980’s. Being late was not an option. In fact, I explicitly remember getting up at 6:00 a.m. each morning for school. If I was not up, I certainly heard my mummy banging on the room door and telling me to get ready for school. This was an everyday routine. To this date, my mother’s teaching has still stuck with me.

It was inconceivable for me and my sister to arrive to school late save for an appointment to see the doctor or a family emergency. Our uniforms were pressed the night before and we always went to school clean and looking sharp.

Times have now changed. Some of our male students of today wear uniforms that are so stiff that they can hardly walk while wearing them. They spend hours ironing their shirt and pants. And to add insult to injury, the young men put their pants in their socks. What nonsense is this?

I am not sure if there is an arm of the government that has responsibility for ensuring that students are in school by 8:45 a.m. as opposed to being on the streets during school hours. But help is desperately needed to police this issue. Our national education average needs to be improved and if students are not in school when they are supposed to be, I can surely say that their level of education will not improve.

What’s wrong with our students? Don’t they see the need to compete with each other so that as a country we can be a more educated people? I remember back in the early 90’s if you earned an Associate’s of Arts Degree you were saying something. Now days a Bachelor’s Degree is the minimum qualifications needed to get a lot of higher paying jobs. Our students must realize that after high school, many of them will not be hired because the jobs are just not available and it is probable that the best students will get the first chance at employment and or qualify to attend college. It makes no sense to “duck” school now because most of the skills that students do not learn now, they will have to learn them later at some point and it will cost them maybe thousands of dollars.

Maybe the root of the problem starts with the parents who are ill equipped to parent or who just do not make a concerted effort to be involved in their children’s lives. Maybe the public at large needs to chip in and help.

Students, please ensure that you arrive to school on time and learn as much as you can. Being late for no good reason is not cool. I think it is an extremely bad habit that needs to be broken now. If you want to increase your chances for success in life please heed my advice. Remember that your future hangs in the balance and it depends on what you do today.

Dehavilland Moss