Prime Minister Perry Christie.
By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie said yesterday that he does not think he can forgive the man who wrote an expletive-filled song about his family, which went viral on social media in August, although the singer tearfully expressed contrition.
Speaking in Grand Bahama at a ceremony to award nearly $4m in contracts for upgrades to the Rand Memorial Hospital, Mr Christie urged Bahamians not to engage in “ugly politics” for “political gain” as the country nears election season.
“We don’t have to be violent with our words for political gain,” said Mr Christie, who appeared to still be hurt about the song.
While his wife Bernadette Christie and their son, Adam, who is autistic, met the young man in question and have forgiven him, the prime minister said yesterday he does not think he can do the same.
“We are now entering a stage that the Americans have entered - a silly stage where you call people anything you want to call them,” he said.
“I’ve had the incredible pain,” he paused, “of listening to someone describe my wife and daughter and my special child in the most disparaging way. I am hoping that we can avoid that because for a woman who has been married to a man for 42 years to be called a ‘whore,’ and to a daughter who is looking forward to life, to be so called. And the only fault, if it is a fault that they have, is that my wife is married to me and my daughter is my child.”
Mr Christie, who paused several times during his remarks, continued: “But I can never forgive someone for attacking Adam. God created people like Adam and they are innocent, truly innocent.”
Despite their pain, the prime minister said that his wife met the songwriter and introduced Adam to him. He said his wife said she wanted no harm to come to the young man and to protect his identity.
“I heard her tell the people do not do anything to him,” Mr Christie said. “I heard her say to him, ‘I wanted to see you because I felt anyone who could do that to a mother did not have a mother. But you have a mother who appears to be a prayer warrior herself.’
“I am sitting there and the police officer is there, and she said, ‘I could take care of myself and my daughter could, but I want you to know I don’t know how to forgive you for Adam.’”
Mr Christie said his wife had Adam come in the room so the young man could see him. He said as Adam was brought in, his son walked up to the young man and embraced him.
The prime minister said the young man was sobbing and asked his wife and Adam to forgive him.
“My wife embraced him, and embraced the mother, and I watched this happen. And my wife said to the police ‘make sure that nobody knows who this fella is because I don’t want him to suffer. I want this to be a defining moment in his life so that he could understand.’”
Mr Christie added: “We in our country don’t have to engage in ugly politics. We don’t have to be violent with our words for political gain. And the tragedy is that right thinking people sit and say nothing.”
He also reflected on how he wrestled with God about his son, Adam, and his situation.
“I could not understand. But one day, I said to myself, but God made you prime minister and maybe what He is asking is for you to do something for those same children,” he said.
He said that as human beings, we must be compassionate towards others.
“To those of us who are strong, we must recognise that there…are people who are not as strong or who are not strong at all, and we should find a way to help. That is what the whole thing about human existence is all about. I thought I will share that experience with you so that maybe there is someone who would be motivated by it and not do what they would ordinarily do, but do something positive.”
Comments
DillyTree 8 years, 2 months ago
And I can't forgive Mr. Christie and his rotten PLP government for what they have done to my country!
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 2 months ago
Wow, how unleaderlike. Gang members carry on with your turf wars. Good message Mrs Christie.
sheeprunner12 8 years, 2 months ago
Well ........... Mr. Christie you should do the same to some of the Tribune commentators who curse you every day .............. but the feeling is mutual as YOU have ruined our country for the past two political terms.
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 2 months ago
Christie just can't wrap his simple mind around the fact that his failed policies and corrupt PLP government have completely ruined and left in abject shambles the lives of many thousands and thousands of children in our country. His son Adam is no more special than all of those thousands of children who live in poverty without access to medicines and proper health care. Yes indeed, Christie's soul is destined to burn in hell for all eternity!
sheeprunner12 8 years, 2 months ago
Yep ............. can you fathom the number of broken lives that have come about because of neglect, poor planning and outright discrimination by politicians over the many decades?????? .......... Perry alone has negatively impacted at least 50,000 poor souls in Centreville in the past 40 years
bandit 8 years, 2 months ago
What does this say about the PM that he can't forgive. WOW! And he is the leader of the Bahamas. That just goes to show that these politicians can be very vindictive.
Reality_Check 8 years, 2 months ago
It was Christie's inability to control his innate vindictiveness towards Zarkis Izmirlian that resulted in the entire Baha Mar debacle!
alfalfa 8 years, 2 months ago
No matter your political beliefs, the content of that song were disgusting and vulgar. I am not a supporter of the Prime Minister or the PLP, but I refuse to believe that it is necessary to viciously degrade a mans family because you don't like his politics. Fine, degrade him, but none of you would like your wives or daughters to be degraded so vulgarly. No one deserves that. Is this what we have come to? Autism is a very difficult thing for any parent to deal with, and it is not a PLP, FNM, or DNA, political problem, but rather a very trying problem that many Bahamian families face daily.
ThisIsOurs 8 years, 2 months ago
I haven't heard the song but heard enough people say it was disgusting to believe it was in very poor taste. I fully expect the PM to be upset as any parent would if someone attacked their family, but saying I will never forgive them is a lot different than saying it was hard to forgive or I struggled to forgive. What would he do if this mans family member worked in the ministry of finance? As leader he has to be bigger than this and no it's not easy.
Emac 8 years, 2 months ago
Of course you can't forgive 'cause you're real p----y. That's why. Big retarded ass cry baby! You only became prime because of all the other jackasses that live in this country who voted you in. People are rightfully hurt and angry by things this government is doing and is not doing. Angry people say things that they sometimes later regret.
stillwaters 8 years, 2 months ago
Why were they allowed to confront a songwriter expressing his frustration? Complete intimidation, so PLP style
Reflect 8 years, 2 months ago
Emac, your comments are very inappropriate. I do not know your personal story but I know that you matter as a human being. Your words are vile, cruel and crass. I hope you have a change of heart because hate destroys from within.
Publius 8 years, 2 months ago
Who cares? Someone said something negative that offended him and his family. His actions and that of his government have actually damaged and destroyed lives. Where is his remorse for the mothers and daughters and wives and sons and fathers he has hurt? Sure, the lyrics were derogatory and it is unfortunate that his wife and children were maligned, but why did the songwriter need to be confronted by the Prime Minister? So that he could be threatened no doubt? Well which of us gets to confront the Prime Minister face to face about the pain he has caused untold numbers of Bahamians? He and his government can cause hurt and damage each and every day but when it comes back to him in a far lesser degree than he and his government are meting out, he cannot take it.
bogart 8 years, 2 months ago
Mr Prime Minister, I share your pain and it is wrong for anyone to do that to your family. Many wrongs things happen which should not happen in this beloved Bahamaland. Many Bahamians are suffering. Many are losing their homes because they cannot repay banks and not all 4,500 defaulters got into this situation all by themselves. Investigations are needed. Many Bahamians have invested their pensions and life savings in the Bank of the Bahamas only to see their money wiped out. Many funds were for their childrens future but now their future is decimated or financially hurt. Investigations are needed into loans, shares, and the entire BOB and where guilty persons need to be punished because it is hard to forgive when you are losing everything. Many shareholders and mortgagors invest for their children also. Noone likes to have their futures hurt especially when supporting our national bank. We share your hurt Mr Prime Minister.
sheeprunner12 8 years, 2 months ago
If Perry cannot forgive, then he is not a Christian ......... if he is not a Christian, then he should not be in Parliament ........ because to be in public life, means that a person is a servant in the likeness of Christ ........... his statement tells a lot about his fickle faith and commitment to public service (it proves that he is selfish and self-serving)
sealice 8 years, 2 months ago
Of course he's in the Likeness of Christ - Christ never existed besides in the Bible and all his Fairy Tile crap and lies he constantly spouts never existed either....
licks2 8 years, 2 months ago
Which planet do you live on there fella? When you say Christ. . .who do you mean. . .Jesus of Nazareth. . .the Jewish person who lived in the ancient Jewish nation during the 1st century BCE? No historian (secular of religious) who don't want to get laughed out as "mussie smoking dope" will even dare venture to say that Jesus of Nazareth was not an historical figure well documented. . .no reputable person or institution will say what you are saying. . .unless you are talking about the Jewish and Christian concept of God sending a Saviour or deliverer to earth to be their king and lord for ever! Now the Jew and Christian has two different views on whether the 1st century Jewish Teacher (whom Christians called their Christ and the Jew, just an historical Jewish carpenter who traveled around their nation and did some things that they called magic that he learned from the Egyptians) is their Christ! But nobody, Jew, Christian, Muslim, Satanist, Atheist etc. will support you in your assertion that Jesus of Nazareth (whether you believe he is the Christians Christ or not the Jewish Massiach) did not exist! As for what he taught. . .go read the Jewish Torah, Talmud or the Mishnah. . .heck there are so many writings for you to read your head will spin! But never again let your ignorance of history or religion show in such a way that people can see that you are "shooting off the top of your head". . .no matter how you feel about those persons Bible and their beliefs. . .keep your ignorance to yourself. Take a quote from Thomas Jefferson. . .one who did not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. . ."he was the greatest teacher this world has ever seen. . .but I do not believe he is divine"! There you have it. . .a disbeliever. . .but an historian. . .a learned man! You do believe that Thomas Jefferson existed. . .do you?
jackbnimble 8 years, 2 months ago
I read this story in the other daily and it really bothered me. Sometimes we can be so calloused when it comes to how others feel because we are not in their shoes and are not experiencing what they are.
We reserve the right to be critical of the PM, his Government and his policies, but how do people not see something wrong with calling his wife and daughter a who*e and his autistic son something equally unmentionable? It's not funny. It's not an "artistic expression. It's downright unacceptable.
Glad to see the young man repented and the grace with which his wife and son accepted. They are bigger for it.
licks2 8 years, 2 months ago
Quite frankly I am conflicted about the whole thing. . .the song writer should have not took out his frustration on the PM family. . .but how is it fair that the PM can ride rough shod over his nation. . .ergo that young man's family with no second thought for his sense of protective oneness with is family. . .and in addition the PM when he wants to "look good" in all of his oppressive ways forced upon this young man and his family. . .in the name of his party. . .he will not apologies, listen, easy up or give him the time of day. . .and at the same time throw his family in the face of a suffering people!! This dilemma creates such a paradox of pride for our whole nation. . .including the young adult. . .innocent adult I might add. . .Adam Christie. . .who is drug into the arena of politics by his gloating dad. . .as he tend to do with his whole family. So much so that. . .the frustrated and hurting young song writer wants to make the PM hurt for his social pain which he "see" as caused by our PM non-caring attitude to his suffering. . . he hits out at what he knows to make the gloating PM hurt. . .his precious family. . .unfairly hitting out at his family I might add. . .but a family that was made a target by a gloating father. . .both song writer and PM are wrong. . .young Adam Christies is the defenseless collateral damage! Both men needs to acknowledge their complication in this sordid matter and move on. . .looking out for each other's family wellbeing in future!
bogart 8 years, 2 months ago
In light of comments which are insightful the wronged party who may not understand what was done which is all the more hurtful must have the law take its course and be punished. Crying should not save him from punishment. Too often in this little country many persons paid to carry out their jobs especially in the public sector impose their own judgement to override what the law and job description details and we scratch our heads in bewilderment. There is the state and there is the church and the two are separate and apart. Many aspiring MP for example should state whether they will carry out the law of hanging for instance so that in murder cases where their imput is needed they should not abstain if they have taken the Hippocratic oath for instance or if their faith is greater to save murderers than carry out the law. The law must be followed. Some persons believe it is christian and humane to have turned a blind eye to illegals but look where it has gotten us almost being annexed or colonized by the sheer numbers of descendants today having a free education only to graduate and wear a tee shirt with Haitian flag, look at what we have today with so many persons wanting to do the christian thing and feel sorry for criminals only to see the wutless scumbags again commit crimes, look at the some 700 plus accused murderers waiting. Frankly they should pay the penalty if guilty and no gobbledygook talk and obfuscation by learned persons on the double talk by persons on the Privy council on the 'worst of the worst' especially when their law included beheading s. Really Bahamians need to go back to school. Little kids know there is no 'I'm the baddest' because the other kid is even badder etc. Grown men and women with university education should know that there is no 'worse of the worst' It is ironic this is not yet understood. What is empirically known is that if you hang a murderer there is no chance of that person being counted in the population again. Church and state must be separate because the wrong people are being 'sorryied for' after they have committed wrongs while the majority of Bahamians who follow the law continue to suffer losing family members, breadwinners, having to find funereal expenses, get murdered, get ripped off, having to pay for the upkeep and meals for dozens of years for the criminal, having to wait on emergency health care while the gang fellas with bullet wounds use up all the blood bank and persons sit waiting in pain for the doctor, etcetc.
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