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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
 It is not unusual to have two murders in one day. The nation has seen
three murders in one day and the shooting of an 11 year old boy and a 69
year old grandmother in separate home invasions recently. Multiple
murders are becoming increasingly common in the crime wave of brutal
murders that have left the nation numb. We have seen nine murders
committed in one week. Something must be done to curb this evil and
bring an end to the bloodshed.
With all of the progress and advancements
we have experienced in an independent Bahamas over the past forty
years, we have lost the thing that is most important in the building of
our nation, the family. Research has indicated that the number one cause
of crime and violence is the breakdown of the family and our failure in
rearing our children. Absentee fathers who have either rejected or
abandoned their children, have produced an angry and bitter generation.
Bishop Walter S. Hanchell, Chairman of Citizens For Justice, is calling
for an end to the huge amount of murders that have been unleashed upon
the Bahamas. Something must be done to end the carnage in our once
peaceful nation. This dark cloud that hangs over The Bahamas should and
must be stamped out. Were it not for the efforts of EMS personnel and
the critical treatment in our hospitals that have saved so many lives,
the murder count would be much higher than what is on record.
Citizens For Justice is demanding that corrective measures be taken
immediately to fight the growing number of criminals that have no value
for human life and absolutely no respect for law and order. The time has
long passed for us to take back our country from violent offenders. A
comprehensive plan of action needs to be activated to heal our Bahamas.
Our political and religious leaders, along with parents and other major
stakeholders must come out of denial, unite and clean up this scourge
that is threatening the national security of the Bahamas. The police
must be commended for their valiant efforts in fighting crime and
restoring law and order but this crime wave is bigger than the police.
Suspects who are arrested and charged with murder and other serious
crime, use their attorneys to manipulate the judicial system to get
bail, only to commit more murders and violent offences, thus frustrating
the efforts of our hardworking police officers.
We appeal to political parties, churches and civic organizations to get
seriously involved in the fight against murder and crime. To remain
silent or do nothing will cause crime to further escalate. The first
step is to admit that the country is in crisis and headed in the wrong
direction and to not pretend on the eve of our fortieth anniversary of
independence, that all is well. It was the late great civil rights
leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who declared that "We begin to die,
the moment we remain silent on things that matter".
We call on pastors throughout the length and breath of the Bahamas and
in particular those whose ministries are located in crime hot spots, to
act now by infiltrating the communities around their churches. Christ
did 90% of His ministry outside the temple and in the community. The
message of peace, love and the kingdom of God must be communicated in
every neighbourhood. It is of utmost importance that pastors of both
mega churches and smaller ministries, begin the process of training and
equipping their members to go into the highways and byways as commanded
by Christ and make disciples. For too long the Church has ignored its
most important assignment and replaced it with in-house activities that
do not reach troubled families and youth. The church is mandated to
preach the gospel not only to those who walk through its doors, but also
to those who are unable or unwilling to come. Through outreach the
church ministers to both the physical and spiritual needs of the
community. People are suffering and dying iwithout an opportunity to
have a personal relationship with God, while we see business as usual in
the house of God. Citizens For Justice urge church leaders to implement
social outreach programmes that will reach persons who are not
connected to the church as soon as possible. The nation needs programmes
that will restore family and moral values in our homes.
The Bahamas has evolved into a materialistic, complicit nation that has
lost the godly values instilled in us from our forefathers. We challenge
every Bahamian to return to God and remind church leaders and all
believers that judgement begins at the house of God. As we look at the
state of our nation and search the word of God for answers, we can
clearly hear the voice of God calling on the church to repent in a very
familiar passage that is commonly quoted, but seldom obeyed.
2 Chronicles
7:14
"If my people, who are called by my name (Christians) will HUMBLE
themselves and PRAY and SEEK MY FACE and TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS,
then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and HEAL THEIR
LAND. Please note carefully that the healing of our beloved nation will
occur only when the church repents of its wickedness. We must ALL REPENT
of both our sins of commission and our sins of omission, which
represent our refusal to do the things which God commanded us to do. We
are not to just preach the good news but we must model the good news for
the benefit of the lost.
Some pastors preach great messages on evangelism but they never go into
the mission field. This is disobedience. Are they greater than Christ
and His disciples who went out and ministered to the people, healing the
sick and casting out demons or has their pride deceived them? The
church must go back to basics. We must preach the full gospel and not
what tickles the ears of the congregation. It is time for the church to
be the church. If the church does what we should, we will see a
transformation of our nation. Countless lives will be changed as the
darkened hearts of men and women receive the life-changing message of
Christ's love.
Citizens For Justice is challenging churches to not only intensify
prayer, but to also give emphasis to evangelism through home
visitations, street meetings, park outreaches, evangelistic movies,
drama, community bible studies and the revival of
Sunday
school classes. Various methods may be utilized to attract those away
from the church such as sporting and cultural events, education, arts
and crafts, music, games, concerts, feeding programs, group therapy for
special needs, computer and literacy programmes and job placement.
People need to restore the hope they have lost. Hope is the expectation
of good happening, but too many are presently in despair believing that
their best days are behind them. We must change this mindset and give
them hope in God. Bahamians are quite open and receptive to the church.
Many persons who have been visited in their homes and communities have
indicated that they have always expected to see the church in their
neighbourhoods, but this seldom happens. Some have become angry and
bitter towards the church as can be seen by the remarks made in the
various media outlets.
The time is now for the church to put aside the many things that divide
us and unite in a longterm national effort in spreading the gospel and
reducing murder, crime, violence and other social ills. These efforts
should be deliberate and consistent. It is the recommendation of
Citizens For Justice that each church utilize a section on their
premises as a community centre, providing counseling and other services
to their communities. These initiatives could assist delinquent
teenagers, single mothers, drug addicts, ex convicts, widows, orphans,
the elderly, the sick and the bereaved. Attention should also be given
to parenting classes and character development.
We cannot effectively reduce murder and serious crime without
initiatives for the reduction of poverty. The necessary funding and
other resources must be made available from both the government and the
private sector to finance the necessary faith-based programs that are
desperately needed to impact our communities. The work of Urban Renewal,
the Police and our many civic organizations must be commended. They
will continue to play pivotal roles in the restoration of law and order.
It is the church, however, that has the mandate to restore the moral
fabric of the nation. We believe that the root cause of the antisocial
problems the country faces is the loss of family values, the removal of
the family altar and the demise of daily devotions, we once held sacred.
Parents of this generation have failed miserably in training their
children in godly principles. Far too many have raised menaces who
terrorize our nation and nothing is being done to address this
situation.
As we examine the root cause of crime, we see a strong connection to the
family. Research from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of
Justice has confirmed the immense value of fathers in the home.
Absentee fathers may in itself be a form of child abuse. These agencies
discovered that children from fatherless homes are 10 times more likely
to abuse chemical substances, 9 times more likely to commit suicide, 14
times more likely to commit rape and 20 times more likely to end up in
prison than children who live with their fathers. Fathers add tremendous
value and stability to their children
who look to them for approval and positive influence. When fathers
reject or abandon their children, they develop behavioral disorders,
negative images of themselves and a false concept of God. Children who
are raised without their fathers, commit a much higher level of violent
crime than those whose fathers were present. Further studies amazingly
reveal that the largest single factor in predicting whether a child will
graduate, become involved in crime or drugs, or get pregnant before
reaching age 18, is the presence or absence of the father in that
child's life. Furthermore, children not living with their biological
fathers, are more likely to run away from home, more likely to be abused
and more likely to suffer from long-term emotional and psychological
problems. There is also a greater possibility that they will become
teenage parents.
We can clearly see from research and from the extremely high percentage
of fatherless homes in the Bahamas, that the major challenge in the war
against murders and crime is absentee fathers. Immediate initiatives and
programs that focus on the restoration of fatherhood in every home,
should become a priority. This is not an easy task but it is absolutely
essential if we as a nation are serious about reducing the plague of
high murders, crime and lawlessness which are threatening to derail law
and order and devalue our quality of life in the Bahamas. The prophet
Micah reminds us that it is the will of God that the hearts of the
fathers return to the children.
The government of the Bahamas also has a key role to play in reducing
the unacceptable level of murders and crime that has imploded in this
nation over the past decade. Drastic conditions require drastic measures
but we have seen no radical measures taken by any government. Our
government has a responsibility to create an environment of peace and
safety and to counter crime, the fear of crime. The nation is in crisis
and will continue to head south unless our spiritual and political
leaders make the tough decisions and do the right things. We can begin
by firstly passing legislation that prohibits bail for repeated violent
offenders and for persons charged with murder, rape, armed robbery,
illegal gun possession or the sexual abuse of children. Such cases
should be heard expeditiously and sentences should be quick and harsh.
Anyone convicted of any such offense should receive a mandatory minimum
sentence of twenty years hard labour along with some form of corporal
punishment. Rehabilitation and education should become priorities in our
penal system. Finally and most importantly, unless murder cases are
dealt with quickly and unless the practice of manipulating the justice
system for the benefit of convicted murderers at the detriment of
victims and their families, these murders will not end and vigilante
justice can be expected to escalate. Here is what God says about this
matter: "Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed
SPEEDILY, therefore the heart of men is fully set in them to do evil".
Ecclesiastes
8:11 .
What this means is that if we continue to drag these cases on and refuse
to punish criminals quickly and harshly, including the state killings
of convicted murderers, criminals will become more cruel and inflict
even greater terror on society as we are now experiencing. The bible
teaches in Roman 13, that rulers (political leaders) should be a terror
to evil work for they are ministers of God, who do not bear the sword in
vain. The sword refers to the authority given by God to execute a
murderer and to punish criminals for their evil.The state has the
authority to execute wrath on those who practice evil without compromise
as seen in our laws.
We believe strongly that the Privy Council has erred in its rulings and
interpretation of Bahamian law and has intentionally prevented the
administering of capital punishment on convicted murderers in
contravention to the laws of the Bahamas. These law lords believe that
capital punishment is inhumane and barbaric, hence it has been abolished
in the United Kingdom and in most of Europe. Their values and laws have
absolutely nothing to do with Bahamian law and our value system. The
constitution of the Bahamas supersedes any laws or rulings that are
contrary to what is recorded in that instrument. No outside agency,
government or organization including the United Nations, has the
authority to dictate to any sovereign nation, their wishes and ideals.
It is time for our political leaders to stand against such forces and
protect the rights of citizens, which are entrenched in our constitution
to which they have sworn to uphold. Their personal beliefs and value
systems should not prevent the laws of the Bahamas from being enforced.
Crime appears to be big business in the Bahamas. Legislators and the
government have the authority to fix this vexing situation but do they
have the will to do so? The time has come for politicians to put the
people above party and votes.
Bahamians are crying out for jobs and for justice against a justice
system that favours criminals. It is the responsibility of the
government to create an environment that will provide jobs for
unemployed Bahamians and ease the burden of many hurting families. We
appeal on behalf of the victims of crime and their families that
restitution be made by persons convicted of murder, attempted murder
and all violent crime.
Bishop Walter S. Hanchell, J.P.
Chairman, Citizens For Justice
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in
his/her private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of
TheBahamasWeekly.com
© Copyright 2013 by thebahamasweekly.com
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