PASTOR LUCILLE BAIRD is clearly someone who does not sit on the fence. This goodly woman of the cloth has laid bare her position on a number of topical issues. In so doing she has challenged the entire society to look itself in the mirror and take a stand for the good of the country.
Reverend Baird points to what is wrong with a number of things afflicting us for which we should not turn a blind eye. The way we behave and those values which have long served us so well must not be discarded simply because they are “old-fashioned”.
Her tone and approach was somewhat reminiscent of the tone some years ago of then Dean of the St Michael’s Cathedral, Harold Crichlow, who took a stand on issues, whether you agreed or disagreed.
This is the type of action expected of those with moral authority. So when Pastor Baird spoke last Thursday at the Democratic Labour Party headquarters during its weekly lecture, she was highlighting critical issues in a place outside the conform of her sanctum.
The allegations of vote-buying have already met with rightly deserved condemnation while the vulgarity displayed at entertainment events, by the young and indeed the old, is clearly a concern that seems out of hand. It has nothing to do with expression our culture but is simply an excuse to behave badly.
Reverend Baird highlighted two matters which we must not let slip simply because they have been thrust upon us, even if indirectly via the mass media of television and movies, with the characterization of these traits as being “the new normal” as she characterized them.
We speak of the level of obscenities being used in almost every discussion every day across this country. No longer is this type of speech exhibited in the forecourt of the fish market or the rum shop, but in our schools, offices and homes. No longer is the use of excessive abusive language seen as the preserve of someone with a limited vocabulary or intoxicated and unaware of their actions, but it is used as if it is an acceptable form of regular conversation and euphemistically called “muscular language”. This is simply unacceptable.
Then there is the raging debate in United States at this time about same-sex marriage. We cannot pretend that ours is a most righteous and holy society, but we must guard our way of life and not be influenced by the agenda elsewhere which promotes this lifestyle as acceptable.
These “new normal” situations must not be tolerated simply because other societies accept them and the mass media promote them. We agree with Reverend Baird and urge others like her to speak up.
