The Editor, Amandala
Sir,
It is important for the young male who lives in a civilized society (and especially in this age) to understand that promiscuity does not make the man. Bifo time it did, but tiddeh day, hakkahn. With the United States National Football (handball/runball?) League about to crown a new Super Bowl champion, it might be timely to tell young men this story about two famous quarterbacks of the 1970’s, one, the very sharp and very loud mouth and breggin Joe Namath, of the New York Jets; the other, the super great, smooth operator, Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys.
Now there are some elements in the American sports and arts media who just can’t help themselves where sexual expression is concerned. These types can find phallic significance in a choirgirl lighting a candle. Anyway, back then they splurged the sports pages with stories glorifying Joe Namath’s heroics on the field, and his sexual exploits at night. I mean, you’re reading a football story and it’s 2nd and ten at the forty-yard line and they break off to tell about the two girls Namath was with ten o’clock the night before the game. And Brother Joe lapped it up like a hungry puppy on milk!
One day an especially silly sports reporter, one who couldn’t tell the difference between a ball field and the Hollywood stage, sidled up to Roger and mocked – what about you, don’t you have a sex drive too? Staubach, a devout Christian trying to stay on the straight and narrow, looked at the simpleton and said, yes, I love sex as much as the other guy. I just do it with my woman.
Before Christ, when we were in a desperate struggle with hairy animals that swing in trees, or pound their chests, to see who would run things on the planet, it was most definitely unmanly to stick to one partner. Yes, back then promiscuity had the patent on virility. After Christ, and especially in the age of the AIDS plague, it’s a different ball game.
Bon fire on Old Testament violence. Many here have always felt that Belize has a great purpose to show the world that people of different ethnicities, etc. can share the same space. No, we don’t think that God chose us above all other people, or that our children are innately less violent, less wild than children born anywhere else in the world. But time and space have placed the Jewel in position to light a candle. Well, we lit the candle, but we must do more to keep our “prophetic” place. To do this we need to bon fire here on a myth that continues to fester, and funk up the world.
It is pretty clear what is divine in the Old Testament, and what is not. Dis ya one, and dat deh one wiping out whole nations in the name of God is not divine. The Middle East has not known a day of peace since this madness of God-sanctioned violence was promulgated. This same lunacy is what encourages us individuals to think that we have right to do violence when we are angered by our neighbor. It is hard enough under the pressures of the world for us to keep sane head, without encouragement from the Word of God.
Religious leaders might take this argument to task, argue that God will do away with evil. But the God we know, if He directed any hand to kill, would not have accepted/included collateral damage. Wiping out innocent children and women and men, paints God in a very poor light. And all for selfish gain! Bring Mosaic Law, but leave the glorification of Old Testament violence behind. Jesus Christ rejected the violence!
Shame on us. Mr. Editor, I add my tears to the ocean for the Nassau grouper. It is just impossible that this has happened. More than a decade ago we knew, all of us, and we fiddled while this great and beautiful and tasty fish disappeared from our seas.
It was so easy to save the groupers. All they had to do ten years ago was vote a lee sustenance (subsidy) for traditional fishermen (those who depended on the grouper for their stake), and completely close the banks, seal them off for those critical few days when the fish were spawning. AND re-fit those shrimp boat destroyers and send them off to do deep sea fishing! If this sounds like hindsight, bull! They were told, but those with the papers and the power in this country will only tek advice from “white man.”
When we were children our old folks told us stories about “dory full a roe!” Shame, shame on us.
Roaring Creek Resource Center. Students and leaders from the thirteen villages in Cayo South attended the presentation of a new Resource Center, opened on Monday, January 8th, 2007, in Roaring Creek by PUP Cayo South standard bearer, Charles Galvez. The new Resource Center, located on the outskirts of the village, is equipped with five Internet ready computers, a library, and a new John Deere (drive) lawnmower.
Students from the area will use the computer lab and library free of cost, and on weekends elders will also be allowed to take advantage of the services. For those who are not computer literate, volunteers will be on hand to guide them through to the new world of e-mails and surfing. The shiny new mower will be available for use by all villages to keep lush green spaces where children and youth recreate, trim and neat.
The gathering was addressed by Roaring Creek chairman, Richard Smith, who congratulated Mr. Galvez on the exciting new Resource Center in his village; by Cayo South aspirant, the dynamic Charles Galvez, who spoke to the purpose of the Resource Center; by and the Prime Minister of Belize, Honorable Said Musa, who apart from congratulating Mr. Galvez, called on Belizeans to put aside political differences and serve our youth.
Master of ceremonies at the presentation was Mr. Carlos Santos, Jr., and pastors Alvan Gentle, Jr. and Norman Willacey prayed for blessings on the gathering and the new facility. After the presentation invitees were taken on a tour of the new Resource Center, treated to light refreshments, and allowed to chitchat with the Prime Minister who stayed late into the evening soaking up the healthy country vibes.
An interesting feature at the presentation was a very upbeat, recorded version of the National Anthem, done by someone who sounded very like the Father of the Nation, Rt. Honorable George Price. On the personal I like the new arrangement, except that the songster swung through the last two lines of both stanzas too swiftly.
Camalote/Roaring Creek referendum. In a referendum conducted by officers of the Rural Development Department and Cayo’s District Association of Village Councils (DAVCO), villagers in a new section of Camalote voted almost unanimously, 45 to 5, to continue calling Camalote home.
Ramon Witz Cup. The Ramon Witz Football Tournament (the hard- working Mr. Witz is the Cayo South UDP standard bearer) has arrived at the semi-final stage, with Camalote, Armenia, Roaring Creek, and Cotton Tree/La Democracia hot on the trail. This coming weekend at the Roaring Creek Stadium, two villages will goh home, and two will move on to decide which village da di cock weh rule di roost in Cayo South.
(Signed) Colin