Dear Editor,
There is a Guyanese proverb which says, “Wha rain can’t full, dew can’t full.” It means: if it didn’t work, nothing else will make it happen. This proverb seems to be a reality in the politics of Guyana. We have tried hard to unite the nation through various means, but invariably we have failed because of the divisive political adherents.
On the part of the political arena, have we tried to unite this nation or not? We have to acknowledge humbly that humans are selfish beings, and by all means we will try to put forward an ideology that suits our own selfish interests. Last few weeks have proved that politicians can never unite this nation. They are supposed to uphold the slogan “one people.”
In the wake of political unrest in the nation, should the Church or religious body speak up? Should we prove the aforementioned proverb untrue?
True religion will certainly care for the holistic growth of its believers; namely, body and spirit, or temporal and spiritual. If the religion does not care for these two realities of the devotees, then the religion will fail in its teaching of justice and peace, for every religion must promote justice and peace, which are two important attributes of God.
The Catholic Social Teaching emphasises two important aspects; namely, life and dignity of human person, and solidarity as one human family. Every Christian must uphold these aspects because we believe that God created humans in His image and likeness. If we try to divide the people based on political ideologies or colour of skin, we certainly go against the teachings of Christianity by distorting the image and likeness of God.
Are we subtly led by our leaders to distort the image and likeness of God?
There is a fearful tendency among Church people that politics is a dirty game and this dirty game must not be played in the Church. This makes one stay away from any political issues in the nation. This tendency is the hot cake for the political leaders. Hence, on the one hand people remain cold towards political differences, and on the other hand politicians truly enjoy this because it matches their way of life.
In other words, politics is the opium of the masses. As long as this opium is ingested, politicians will keep enjoying their freedom.
In this nation, politicians have got freedom and the people have not yet got the freedom. They still live under the colonisation of the elected few. This is the new way of colonisation. Just think, for a moment, how many of the politicians truly care for the poor? How many political leaders have true concern for the poor, who still live in ‘logies’ and in the swamps? How many of our politicians have ever donated their fat salary to build a decent shelter for the poor?
Catholic Social Teaching talks about care for the poor and vulnerable. We don’t even know why our political leaders are in friction with each other. The day any leader fights for the care of the poor, our country has truly seen a great leader.
Our political situation must be everyone’s concern. We need to begin with “Politics Matter”. No politician should tell us you are Indo-Guyanese or Afro-Guyanese. The prefix must be erased, and only suffix should matter to us, because we are truly Guyanese and we are Citizens of Guyana, and not Citizens Indo- or Afro-Guyanese.
If we can organise our families, businesses and institutions so well, why can we not organise our own nation? After all, we make the nation, not one or two political leaders. Let us go and get it.
Jerri Melwin Dias
