by Edward Hutcheson
There are many words to describe the atmosphere of muddiness and misinformation Bahamians are being made to endure regarding the “gambling referendum”, which is not a referendum on gambling at all. As we listen to the “moderators” on the “talk shows” and at the “town meetings” there are too many monkeys jumping out of different barrels at key points in the discussions and you wonder why it is we cannot arrive at a point where real discussion can begin? If history tells us anything, it is that “barrel jumping” is something that we can expect, especially when politicians have made their minds up about an issue. I say “made up their minds”, because they have thrust the burden of the decision upon the voters in the form of a “referendum”. At this point the word “disingenuous” comes to mind; if those who are duly elected can tell us where we cannot gamble, it only follows that they have the power to make an executive decision that they think is in the best interest of the people who elected them.
This is where we get back to the subject of the monkeys. With so many differing views on what route gambling should take, the populace is being held hostage by this government and the ones that came before it. In the mean time, proponents for those who want to legalize the number houses are having a field day as they bombard the media with their numerous campaigns, setting up an infectious bias within the media ecology. At least the previous Prime Minister had the guts to tell us where he stood, ironically, his stance was seen as an invitation to get the ball rolling. The Christian Council may have to revisit how it plans to handle its own campaign as its participation may be adding to the confusion as it insists on bringing our status as a “Christian Nation” into the discussion; with all of the “barrel jumping” going on, the only conclusions arrived at are likened to “begging the question”. Here is my personal view on conclusiveness. We have to make a choice and the leadership of this nation should move us toward that choice, and refrain from the old “voice of the people is the voice of God”, because too many of us are listening to other gods. We can make a choice and the choice does not even have to be “Christian”. God is big enough to deal with us being “hot or cold”, but all of this in between stuff, this doublemindedness, this lukewarm mamby pamby rhetoric is not helping us to move ahead in the discussion. We know what the law says, but this present Prime Minister and his government refuse to uphold the law or even change it. He has placed the responsibility and resulting blame, squarely on the backs of the voters that elected him and his party to power.
We are all looking ahead to the 40th year celebration, that is less than a year away, but our political leaders must be warned that there are some underlying spiritual implications that are beyond their control in terms of cause and result. We would go through that celebration as any other nation except for a “clause” we have included in our pre-amble. Delete the clause, change the words, amend the laws, but I do not think we want to go into that 40th year looking over our shoulders wondering how God is going to deal with us, for not keeping our end of the “Christian Nation” agreement. This would be a good time for the Pastors among us to speak to their political leaders and enlighten them on the nuances that came with us claiming that God was on our side when this nation was established on July 10, 1973. We even had our “Moses” who took us into the “promised land”, leading a party with a slogan of “All the way”, a phrase that is repeated in the Old Testament. Perhaps we are unaware of what we got ourselves into, but no sooner were we into our journey in 1973, the government chose to renege on a our promise it had made in its 1972 campaign. The promise had to do with gambling. They had promised that all gambling licenses would be allowed to expire. It seems that the political leadership at that time were not confident that the God who brought them into this new land would be able to keep them and sustain them. Maybe nothing has changed, but I think that we are going to find what the deal is as we pass through the 40 year mark.
August 16, 2012
