“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed
be Thy name …”
Monday, June 26, 2023
In the struggle of an enslaved, colonized, exploited, abused and disinformed people, we often find ourselves so despondent and heartbroken by one crisis or another, that our only solace seems to come from the advice of those whose life purpose in society seems to be in giving us spiritual guidance and comfort in our moments of greatest despair and sorrow that result from any great calamity, the greatest being a death in the family. As a small community, that has witnessed time and time again the cold-blooded killing of young males especially, and almost always by another young male, there seems to be no solution in sight. Because of fear, and the disappearance of witnesses, our justice system often seems dysfunctional where murders of young men, and occasionally young women also, are concerned. The “nolle pros’” sad song of the 1990s is still being sung in 2023, as the low rate of conviction for murder is still a poor deterrent for those young men who are inclined to take their chances at enhancing their reputation for bravado amongst their peers. It seems that all we can do now is pray, pray for them, the young “shattas”, that they would see the light and turn away from the footsteps of the biblical Cain.
The cold-blooded execution of a young man on Saturday night seems to follow a script we have seen played out so many times before. There is always the suspicion that there is a gang aspect to the shooting of one young man by another. Robbery is sometimes considered a motive, but the robbery targets of young criminals are usually elders who are less agile and may put up less resistance. When a young man puts his gun sights on another, and goes for the kill, the intent seems to be motivated by more than robbery. Without our hands on the cold scientific data, we still believe the events over recent decades seem to point to a matter of envy/jealousy as a major factor in the decision by one young man to take the life of another. It may have even become a macho thing, so far down the road of inhumanity we have gone.
In times like these, we are moved to prayer, prayer for strength and patience and hope, prayer for the opening of the eyes of our youth to the error of their ways, prayer for a change in the social climate and outlook, where becoming a man does not have to include any rite of passage that involves the death of another human being, as it now seems to some. Whatever religion, whoever or whatever we may pray to, this is a time for serious soul searching and reaching out to that Higher Power, to open the eyes and pierce the hearts of our young men who have embraced the lifestyle of the outlaw and the murderer and the “get rich quick or die trying” syndrome.
Our Police Department and the court system have not been able to corral these wayward souls and put them in check so that they would be forced to re-think their ways, because so far, by and large, many have literally “gotten away with murder.” So, it is left to the parents, mothers and fathers, to speak to the hearts of their children, and try to get them to change their ways. It is a tough call, if the parents are themselves now the surviving generation of former gang bangers, who now accept the gifts of their children, knowing it is tainted with the blood of victims. So, as a society, there are prayers needed also for the parents of the current crop of shattas.
There are so many religious denominations in Belize, but as the Baha’is remind us in song, God is one! So, whatever religion you adhere to, reach out to the highest power you can conceive who made this life possible for us, and let us all beg for mercy and a new heart for the young man who pulled the trigger on Saturday night, and the many others who have done likewise or are contemplating going down that road.
But, there is a problem there; and the greatest challenge, to which most of our prayers may need to be directed, is the envy and jealousy that may be at the heart of most of the murders of young men by other young men in Belize.
Too often, it has been the case that, as a young man seems to have turned his life around, has put his gang past behind him, and has taken advantage of a social program organized by one agency or another, and he seems to be on the road to a success story, he is suddenly gunned down. A youth just landed a steady job, got his first paycheck, and feels on top of the world; and then he is shot and killed by another young man. A young man finds employment and rises to a prominent position in a major news organization, and is in competition for the affection of a young female; riding home after work, he is gunned down, just like that. Envy, jealousy. There are so many stories of young men who have seemingly climbed out of the barrel of despair and hard times, and seem to be on their way to a successful career, when suddenly they are shot down.
We need to pray, Belize. Part of the problem for many young men who have come up in poor living conditions, and have been exposed at school to some religious instructions, is that they quickly turn away from religion as soon as they leave or drop out of school. For many, the reluctance at embracing any form of religion has to do with the image portrayed, and the fact that the centerpiece always seems to be a White person.
If God can save us from the malady of violent crime, especially murder among our young men, often sparked by envy, jealousy and the “crab in the barrel” mentality, when one seems to be “making it” while the others languish in poverty, then we do need to pray for guidance and strength for this troubled generation.
No less than the renowned Christian evangelist Billy Graham, in a 1971 public sermon in Chicago, once declared that “Jesus was not a White man”!
Maybe, if we as a nation, and every Christian denomination, which makes up a large part of our population, can get past the White image in pictures and statues, then as a people we might become more comfortable with prayer. And our young men will learn to pray, and give Jah God the glory, and stop killing themselves, which is what they do to their own soul when they take the life of another. Peace and love, Belize!