A VOCAL church leader has taken the government to task for its willingness to consider legalising gambling for Bahamians and residents.
Pastor Allan Lee said the Prime Minister's promise to hold a referendum on gambling highlights the failure of successive administrations to enforce the anti-gaming laws already in place.
Reiterating his promise to hold a referendum on the creation of a national lottery and the legalisation of numbers shops before the end of the year, Mr Christie said: "a referendum is necessary to remove the contradictions that have led to gambling continuing to be illegal, yet widely practiced and accepted . . . it is something that I think is very necessary to remove the enormous contradictions that exist in our country where every single Bahamian is walking around knowing that they (illegal web-shops) exist . . . pretending that this activity is lawful".
In response, Pastor Lee asked: "What is the REAL contradiction here? Citizens 'pretending that this activity is lawful', or the government which he leads and is committed to executing the laws of the land, knowing that the web-shops are in fact illegal, knowing where they are and who owns them, yet doing absolutely nothing to enforce the law upon these known criminals?"
Pastor Lee asked if Mr Christie's first promise to the citizens of the Bahamas should not have been to immediately and aggressively shut down all illegal web-shops and refuse to grant permission for further businesses of this type.
Mr Christie also said that if Bahamians vote against the legalisation of gambling and a national lottery, it would be "logical to assume action will be taken against the illegal web-shops."
But Pastor Lee pointed that after such a vote, web-shops would only be as illegal as they already are now, and no further laws would be needed to make them so.
He said: "Can we ask for a more direct and clear indictment of the failure - and in fact, refusal - of government, both past and present, to do its job of protecting its citizens from criminals and their activities? Thus, logically speaking, this promised referendum is really a referendum to answer the question: 'Is the government guilty of failure to do the job for which it was elected to do - enforce the laws of the land?"
Pastor Lee said all discussions of "fringe" issues that distract from this central question are simply "noise in the market" designed to disguise the "lack of courage and leadership" on the part of government to do what it's members swore to do upon assuming office.
"Do they need a referendum for citizens to tell them to do their job? As my teenage grandchildren would say, 'Duh?'
"If my esteemed Prime Minister would remove this 'contradiction' by vigorously applying the current laws of the land related to gambling and webs-shops right way, the contradiction that has come about precisely because of the failure of past administrations to do so to this point, will be immediately removed, and all the expense and inconvenience of holding a referendum will be made null and void - absolutely unnecessary, and simply a waste of time."
Comments
TalRussell 12 years, 4 months ago
To know Comrade Pastor Allan Lee is to love and respect this true native and man of God.
Comrade Pastor even has members of his own Collins Avenue Calvary Church playing the numbers on a daily basis while pretending that this criminal activity is lawful.
Successive FNM and PLP governments have known the operators of “Numbers Racket Houses."well, including Percy Munnings, Cecil Gonzales and today's numbers kingpin Craig Flowers
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2012…
http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2012…
Arob 12 years, 4 months ago
T. Russell The desires of human beings have always been an issue in the history of Christianity. Many of us sit in church on Saturday or Sunday and we hear the sermons and then we decide to accept or reject.
Our humanity demands a right to choose. Bahamians (especially Christian Bahamians) are not sheep (followers without a mind of their own). We make our own decisions whether poor or good. We break Christian rules (social rules) all the time—killing (thou shalt not kill), theft/embezzlement/misappropriation of funds etc. (thou shalt not steal), sweet hearting (thou shalt not commit adultery), envy (coveting your neighbour’s wife and his possessions), hurtful actions (loving your neighbor as you would love yourself) etc. In my humble opinion, the Church is a place for sinners. There are no perfect beings.
Vasco 12 years, 4 months ago
I fully concur with Pastor Lee's views and I must say that Apostle has missed the boat completely.The fact of the matter is sir/madam the playing of numbers in the Bahamas is at this very moment an illegal act period!The very fact that the word "Decriminalize"was used makes it obviously clear that the powers that be knows it is in fact criminal,For how can something be "decriminalized"if it isn't "criminal".I submit that all that is need is the enforcement of the already existing laws.I feel as though this is really a non-issue,a way of taking the Pontius Pilate way out of a situation,let the people decide and if it works whoopee,if it has negative consequences, don't blame me the people voted for it.My/our hands are cleaned,while there are somethings that should go to referendum,this does not fall into that category .
fenomenon7 12 years, 4 months ago
@ 'Apostle'
Your actually very mistaken. Allan Lee has always aggressively opposed gambling even when everyone else was silent. You'll notice the beggining of this article describes Mr. Lee as VOCAL. There is no hypocracy to be found there.
Secondly I'm not an expert on politics but I'm pretty sure you got democracy all wrong. The people have the choice to choose their government but once that government is elected THEY are in charge not the people. If everyone in the country decided to drive on the right side of the road everyone in the country should be prosecuted UNTIL the law is changed.
Thirdly, in regards to Samuel 8 your forgetting that it was GOD who decided to give the people what they want and for His own reasons. We are just men. We are in no such position to say 'Let the people gamble, so they can learn the hard way'. We have our instructions from God so lets make sure we labour at them.
Finally, Allan Lee is doing exactly what you asked him to do. You say he ought to educate christians on why they should say NO. You say 'talk is cheap'. Well the only reason you read this article is because Allan Lee has been working hard and put together a booklet for distribution to do exactly that. It is from his material that the Tribune made this article. But unfortunately the only part that made the cut was the 'beating up' of our Hon. Prime Minister.
Lets continue to encourage our people to respect and obey the laws of the land, and lets be vocal when our governments FAIL to enforce the laws.
-Chris
Arob 12 years, 4 months ago
My fellow Bahamians, I think that there are four players in the lottery debate: the people, the Web Shop operators, the Church and the Government. Each group has a role to play.
THE PEOPLE. First, the people have a right to choose. It is not a simple decision. The people, however, have a conundrum (1) some are members of a Church because they believe in the teachings of the Church, (2) some patronize the Web Shops for entertainment, (3) some have perfected Web Shop gambling to a livelihood, and (4) some participate in legal gambling as an indirect way to give to charity—raffle tickets. (List not exhaustive)
CHURCH. The Church is made up of people, Bahamian people. The Church (the various denominations), in fulfilling their mandate to spread the Good News, have a right to state ‘their’ position. They represent a huge following. The public statements by the various religious leaders are needed these discussions. They are not dictating. I do not categorize them as hypocrites. They are fulfilling their role as spokesperson for their church/denomination. As critical thinkers, we listen to their message and decide whether the message should be accepted or rejected. This is choice.
Continued...
Arob 12 years, 4 months ago
Continuation....
GOVERNMENT. The Government, elected by the people, has to make decisions on behalf of all Bahamians. It cannot, however, abdicate its role as leader. Ultimately, the Government must decide on what is best for our country – economically and socially.
A Right to Know. Unfortunately, winning the last election is not an endorsement of the myriad of issues and posited untried solutions shared during the 2012 political campaign. The Government presented a package deal. All items in the package are not equal and the electorate did not have an opportunity to pick and choose. Therefore, at some point in time, definitely before the referendum, The Government should to tell us (Bahamians) what the FNM found in their research—predicted economic and social benefits and predicted economic and social repercussions. Also, we need to know the proposed format – a Bahamian national lottery for social needs –education or a continuation of the current setup.
Prime Minister Christie (Minister of Finance), disseminate the information. Release the original reports. Allow us have informed discussions on the legalization of lottery. Give us an opportunity to critique the findings of the original reports. To reach all Bahamians, post the document on the Government's Web site and sponsor a special newspaper supplement for Bahamians who prefer paper.
WEB SHOP OPERATORS. Web Shop operators have a right to lobby and advertise the benefits/contributions of a lottery to The Bahamas (Bahamian) people.
While the Government is abdicating its role as “leader” in the ongoing discussions, I have the following suggestions: Use the various media -- Web site with the pros and cons of legalized lottery; newspaper insert on the pros and cons, and television infomercials.
CONCLUSION. Bahamians, we need to listen to all of the players before we can reject or accept their message. Let’s keep focused. Let’s concentrate on the message not the messenger. Let us lift up our heads, look and think “forward, upward, and onward”…
TalRussell 12 years, 4 months ago
Comrade for the sake of Jesus do you realize how insane your suggestion that the numbers rackets kingpins be allowed to advertise and promote why they should have their "criminal" activities legalized?
Since when did we start asking the criminals among us to justify their actions?
Arob 12 years, 4 months ago
Russell, Welcome to the first world. Democracy! All players have a right to be heard. But since you wish to remove those who already participate in lottery from discussion, the following might be more acceptable. For example, Mr. X, a good lay abiding Bahamian citizen, (perhaps Christian) might want to participate in the further diversification of the Bahamian economy and invest in or start a legalized lottery company. It would be advantageous for Mr. X 's best interest to join in the discussion to enhance his dream--increase employment and increase the Government's tax intake.
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