The Tribune

By Rev. Fr. S. Sebastian

Campbell

The general consensus is that the institutional church continues to fail us. The community expects so much and is disappointed on this delivery. There is obviously a vacuum in leadership; if not then how do you explain the unabated triumph of evil within our social order. In the midst of this escalation the perception is clear, “business as usual”. The church is almost always in a survival mode as it enjoys playing up to the status quo. Having a hook up with political powers and worshipping at the feet of power has been too obvious as the ultimate agenda. How then do you explain our three hundred years of slavery? How come when other countries in our region had long gone into independence the Bahamas was merely on page one, Majority Rule? Four hundred and ninety murders, average, in five years, thousands unemployed and the Christian community can only claim one misguided victory, the Referendum or the National Lottery? In 1973 our founding fathers were real radical in advancing and fighting for independence. In 2013 we are lame ducks in advancing the next logical step, Republic Status. Such a status is only another advance in our move through independence. Today Bahamians, because of the lack of militant leadership, are made to feel happy within their chains. There is no leadership clamouring for our sociopolitical mobility.

In fairness we must give some credit somewhere. It was not all “rock-a-by-baby….” The church did have a voice that eventually led to the abolition of slavery. Such a voice was redemptive to the very church that once justified its perpetuation. Mind you, others argued that it was, “the economy stupid that landed the fatal blow to the Atlantic slave trade”. Merchants discovered with the advancement of technology it was cheaper to produce sugar minus the slaves.

Both mechanisms, I advance, must be credited for the phasing out of slavery. There were some voices, albeit faint, in the struggle to Majority Rule. However, who was radical enough to get out of the security of the pulpit and offer as a candidate at a time when it was hard to complete a slate of well qualified candidates. Yes and many church leaders were “Uncle Tom’s” singing the master’s praises. Independence was a natural progression to Majority Rule and again the church was not loud enough. Fr. Murrillo Bonaby gave some voice as he called out the church, “why is the church afraid to come out publicly and declare that Independence is the right thing for our country at this time”, was the charge he gave to the sleeping or was it the slunking church. Dr. H. W. Brown, to his credit, used Bethel Baptist Churches pulpit as the podium to drum home, unashamedly, the message of independence and in fact Majority Rule. Brown was to be physically active within the Campaign itself. However many were paralysed and dared not step out to give leadership at such a cross road. Back in November 1962, Anglican Bishop Bernard Markham, was in Cat Island, in resident with Fr. Bonaby. The PLP was convinced they would win the election at that time, it lost in seats but won the popular vote, but in our system that doesn’t count. Two white outsiders put a political lickin on “son of the soil”, Oscar Johnson and a retired Cat Island Commissioner, R. H, Culmer. Black Cat Islanders revelled in their victory. There were parties, dancing, rush outs etc. Black natives were talking bad to their own fellow natives as though to say white is right and black must stand back. The following Sunday with a packed church, our white English Bishop, Bernard Markham, lashed out against Black Cat Islanders for their unjustifiable political celebration. He asked,

“Is that the way you carry on when your own people are defeated?” He continued to lash out, “you have nothing to celebrate!” definitely this stunned a misguided Cat Island people, many of whom had accepted bribes of cutlass, files, grits, rice, lard and old clothes as bribes for their sacred vote. Now remember secret ballot was not mandatory. The majority of our people sealed their commitment to a public vote. The good Bishop was quoted for a long time by persons like my father, who as a local church leader campaigned for a change. Oh, if only more church leaders had rallied at these poignant moments!

Rev. Dr. C. B. Moss must be celebrated for his leadership in the Coalition to Save Clifton Campaign. He is fearless and has been for a long time. This Coalition helped in the downward spiral of the FNM’s popularity in 2002 that led to their defeat. And the fight goes on. I was shocked, during the recent celebrations of our fortieth anniversary of Independence celebrations, to find the Christian Council being a major critic of the celebrations. The path was clear, for well meaning Bahamians to rally to the course. Get out the peanut gallery and give proposals and counter proposals to lift such a national celebration. Its involvement on the evening of July 9 went into overtime, thus throwing off time for the entire celebrations, causing the flag to be raised well after the magic hour of midnight. The church militant goes into the midst of the action and brings order out of chaos.

We do not have to search for issues, we live within the crucible of reality and within that reality we must be relevant, or continue as lame ducks. In 1976 I was impressed by the role of Dean Harold Chrislow who challenged the then DLP government in the lead up to that years elections in Barbados. He was relentless in his theme, “you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting”. No one can deny his leadership in stirring Barbadians to action and the eventual defeat of the Errol Barrow government. Bishop Drexel Gomez was most militant in giving leadership to Barbadians, as a spiritual leader. He was criticized severely, but his efforts kept the church at the fore front of leadership in the sociopolitical and moral order.

Bishop Desmond Tutu, no we cannot do justice to his larger than life contribution to the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa. The Anglican Church and the church as a whole were blessed by fearless leaders who rose to the challenge when God’s people cried out for leadership. In a follow up to this I would give a surface study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a theologian and pastor who dared to give leadership in Germany in the 1930’s -1940’s during the rule of Adolf Hitler. In his leadership as a church leader, he dared not lull the church to sleep in house keeping but assisted in an active strategy to physically wipe out while inspiring his people. He had written the book “the cost of discipleship”. He paid the ultimate price when he was hanged on April 1945.