An open letter to the SVG Evangelical Association

Fri, Nov 9, 2012

Editor: Woe unto the hypocrites! Why not take the beams out of our eyes, so that we can see the real one/issues troubling the nation?

We are behaving like a fowl lying in an empty nest, thinking that eggs are under it. Now we hear about Tommy Lee coming to SVG, we are trying to act concerned – religious hypocrisy.{{more}}

The Catholic Bishop, preaching at the service held in celebration of our 33rd independence on Sunday, October 21, spoke of the disunity in the nation and made specific mention of the disunity among the churches across this nation. What have we done? If it is true, and it is true, why don’t we call for a period of prayer and repentance before God and to one another? This is a response which will be effective. Instead, we continue to lie down in our nest as if there are eggs under us, but there is no life of vision to come forth. No wonder we have become noisy with no distinct sound.

God said, “Get rid of the hypocrisy.” Remove idolatry from among us. Let God be God. Political partisanship has divided the nation and the Church. We give greater allegiance to our political leaders and as a result, God’s heart for the poor and depressed is ignored. Injustice in the nation runs rampant, as we, the spiritual leaders, sell our spiritual birthrights.

Disrespect to our brothers and sisters, and to humankind in general, is disrespect to God. Do we believe that? The Lord God of Heaven says, “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.” The issues affecting our nation are great. Getting “hot and sweaty” about the lyrics of Tommy Lee’s song and his coming to SVG, is a distraction and is myopic.

I am in agreement that the lyrics of Tommy Lee’s song are not good for the appetite of our young Vincentians. However, we must state if this is the first evil we will be dealing with and list the others; some of which I referred to earlier. If this is a beginning, I am on board. If it is an end, sorry, I have a bigger agenda. Yes, we have a bigger agenda — God’s agenda for St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Rev. John Baptiste