Healing and reconciliation – shepherds must not be passive

Jun 03, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,

The call coming out from quarters of the Roman Catholic Church of Guyana is for national healing and reconciling. Whether official or otherwise, I support fully. It would inspire to see other denominations, both within and without Christianity, take a stand for national healing and reconciling. Though it would inspire me, it is also my reading that all entities within the religious sphere are content to tender lip service towards national healing and reconciling, not rank it among their foremost priorities.
In the absence of a credible, substantive middle class, the onus falls on that phantom Guyanese creature called civil society. Since both largely lack the necessary spirit, the posture of principled patriots, I contend that the leadership burden-obligation-duty falls on houses of worship. Leaders in houses of worship (beyond churches) once led the way and found their way for a better way for Guyanese; but that was yesterday, no longer applicable today: too much partisanship, cleverly camouflaged, sometimes open. In sum, the dubious middle-class has no conscience, and compromised civil society struggles for independence, while the religious realm struggles for nonpartisan separation. This is the showstopper because it is what coalesces in public worship spaces; poor multitudes thicken the toxic stew. Hence, this recipe for the unhealing and unreconciled tragedy that is Guyana. Bluntly, the one common denominator in Guyanese is hatred. Half the country hates the PPP, the other half the PNC. No intellectual capacity should be required to understand its meaning for national healing and reconciling. This is what thrives in our spiritual houses leaving them internally torn, especially the plural, rainbow, constituted ones.
In a long phrase: all the passions and bigotries that grievously wound Guyana are bowed before our altars. They are few atheists and agnostics. I assert that with such a differentiated presence in our religious bodies-pews and people in power-then there is the languidness towards any unified and viable advocacy of the very teachings that are backbones, essences, and imperatives of most, if not all, denominations. To say more impolitically: there is too much PPP and PNC in our houses of worship, and too little Jesus, Krishna, and Mohamed. It is why our leaders in so-called spiritual sanctuaries are so abundant in blandishments. The passive serves their interests well, be those commercial visions supported, environmental protections abandoned, and social equity left untouched and unvoiced. After all, the heavyweights in the congregations are for the first, and could care less about the latter two.
Moreover, my perspective is that the fabled separation of church and state is mostly imaginary, since there are little visible and audible differences over the plight of the poor, or brotherhood and fellowship, which the paramount prophets spoke subliminally of during their earthly journeys. Religious leaders have taken easy roads and collaborative attitudes: no boat rocking, no cage rattling. Don’t upset vindictive political leaders. This does not energise healing and reconciling; lends absolutely nothing to social cohesion, manifests zero adherence to the maxims and sacred commandments.
Healing will not result from sweet Sunday speeches in sanctuaries, no matter how good, especially when nonpartisan. There must be more from the top tiers, middle levels, and all around, and not so much constraining by overlapping and coalescing vested interests. Some are financial, most political, all personal, which prevent reconciling. It would encourage, therefore, to observe spiritual leaders showing physical solidarity with minimum wage workers, public servants, corruption, forgotten Guyanese. That is, unless those are viewed as the inconvenience of collateral damage in the thrusts of the grand self-enhancing schemes of craven politicians. Or our men of cloth and scripture don’t possess the courage and character that were the endowments of immortal, sacred, and peerless leaders. My view is that too many spiritual leaders and worshippers have concluded it more constructive to attach themselves to the political gravy train, which favours those who make no waves. In other words, they are silent and subtly supportive.
Considering all this it is incontestable that spiritual leaders have surveyed the environment, and go along to get along. Calling for national healing and reconciling is beautiful, wonderful, and a prayerful mouthful. But without the energetic practical underpinnings (tireless footwork), it is lip service and nothing else. Thankless work is required, courageous stances demanded, and a pure spiritual ethos priceless. Our men of worship cannot be for both the things of God and the things of man simultaneously. It fails. Postures and pontifications are shallow, quickly expose. In practice, national healing and reconciling cannot be Christmas tokens, meaning, once a year, or occasional charitable exercises, which bring feel good moments. Must be a continuous, authentic effort, calling, vision, passion.

Sincerely,
GHK Lall

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