by Nuri Muhammad

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Apr. 8, 2025

For over 40 years, Belize has been plagued by gang violence—ripping apart families, traumatizing communities, and exhausting the very soul of our nation. In the face of this unrelenting crisis, some citizens have begun to call for drastic, Bukele-style interventions: mass incarceration, militarized policing, and the suspension of basic human rights. But before we rush to adopt such extreme measures, we must ask a fundamental question: Where have our religious leaders been in all of this?

Have our preachers, pastors, priests, and imams—those who occupy our pulpits, masjid, and airwaves—been granted a free ride, while government and police take the heat for a problem that also demands a deep moral and spiritual response?

Where are Jesus and Muhammad in this moment of national emergency in Belize?

Religious leaders often advise us, in our personal trials, to ask: What would Jesus do? It’s a fair question. But have they asked themselves that same question when it comes to the state of our streets? Would Jesus endorse the dehumanization of young men in the name of public safety? Would he champion a Bukele-style clampdown—or would he, as the scripture teaches, leave the ninety-nine to search for the one lost sheep? (Mathew 18:12)

We christen our children at birth, calling them consecrated unto G-d. Yet, thirteen years later, when that same child is labeled a “monster from hell,” we wash our hands like Pontius Pilate and declare it the government’s problem. As if baptism were just a ritual with no moral follow-through. As if the act of consecration ended at the church door. Have we made a mockery of our faith?

Jesus did not sit comfortably in temples removed from the struggles of the people and leave it to the Roman state. Muhammad did not confine himself to a masjid, distancing himself from the suffering of his community. Both were in the thick of their societies—guiding, challenging, healing, and confronting evil and injustice. Can we say the same about today’s religious leadership in Belize?

This is not to deny the presence of the prophetic voices of Christians and Muslims in our midst. Many are indeed working tirelessly in schools, mentoring programs, and community outreach efforts. Their contributions are commendable. But given the immense moral authority religion still holds in this country, should that influence not be more public, more visible, more vocal, and more engaged in the effort to resolve the crisis of violence that is devastating our communities?

This is not a condemnation—it is a call. A call for our religious leaders to rise with the moral courage of Jesus and the prophetic urgency of Muhammad. A call to move beyond the four walls of worship and into the heart of our nation’s pain.

What would Jesus do? What would Muhammad do?

These are not rhetorical questions, but rather a challenge to all who call themselves religious leaders in Belize.