Archbishop warns of ‘dangerous path’ of online rants

He was among several religious leaders speaking out against increasing racial and antagonistic online posts in the aftermath of Monday’s general election.

Gordon at Holy Mass on Thursday morning at the Archbishop’s Chapel, described the issue as a lot of heat building up. This heat, he said, carried a racial undertone that bode an ill wind and could be destructive and terrible to TT.

“I am seeing things that I never thought possible. Code words that were used in Rwanda that created genocide are starting to be used in this nation. This is a serious moment,” Gordon said.

“This is a moment where we have to stop, we have to pray and we have to call out people who are racists. Call them out and ask them to cease and desist. We cannot have a place for racism in this nation.”

He said racists must not have a place on the internet or social media platforms.

The mass was aired on social media, and he repeatedly made the call for restraint. “We have to do it with love. We cannot fight fire with fire. We have to fight this fire with mercy.

“Please, I beg you, TT, we only have one home and that is here. Let us not start a fire right now. Quell the fires, stop the fires and let us bring peace and harmony back to the nation,” he emphasised.

“There is a judicial process. There is a constitution and laws that govern us, and whatever is happening right now is governed by the laws. Let the process take its place, let it come to a conclusion and let us live with whatever the results is.”

Gordon reminded citizens of a famous quote from this country’s first prime minister, Dr Eric Williams, who was regarded as the father of the nation. Williams once said there could not be any Mother India, Mother Africa, Mother China. Instead, Williams suggested that there can only be one mother, Mother TT, and a mother must love all her children equally.

“We are citizens in one nation, regardless of which boat we came on and which trip we made. We are still citizens of this beloved nation. We are first, citizens of this country,” Gordon said. “Any hyphenated description you want to put about you being Trinidadian has to be second to the fact you are TT and citizens of this nation.”

He referred to a poll in a newspaper last year, which he said implied that most people of East Indian descent favoured the UNC, while most people of African descent preferred the PNM.

“It is clear we are blinded by race...we are not seeing clearly,” Gordon said. “If we understand that we are not seeing clearly, let us also understand that a lot of the emotions that have been floating around the place are very destructive emotions. They are coming out of blindness, and that blindness is really going to be a terrible thing in our nation.

Spiritual head of Swaha Inc pundit Hardeo Persad felt the same and called for unity.

“This type of division was totally uncalled for. Hindu scriptures say where there is unity, there are all sorts of success and all things good happen,” Persad told Newsday by phone. “Where there is disunity, there is no end to the negativity and things fall apart. Unity is very important. We could agree to disagree. We are all one people and belong to Mother TT, we all have to live here.”

He too repeatedly denounced racism, saying the comments have upset him. He believes there is an absence of spirituality in the nation.

Persad has been a practising pundit for 53 years.

“This is leading to all sorts of problems, selfishness. A house divided against itself will fall.”

Maulana Atif Majeed, the resident imam of the San Fernando Jama Masjid, also weighed in. Majeed said the noblest person in the sight of God is the righteous one.

“It not the one with richness, or with ‘better’ skin colour. It has nothing to do with a person’s colour, family background, popularity etc,” Majeed said. “Islam says God created us, and then he made different tribes. But these tribes/communities are not to discriminate against each other but to know each other.”

Prophet Mohammed mentioned in his last ceremony that the white man is not superior to the black man and the black is not superior over the white, the imam said. The prophet also said the rich man is not superior over the poor, nor the poor superior to the rich.

Majeed, a Pakistani, has been in TT for almost six years. He commented that what has been happening in the past few weeks was a far cry from what he knew the country to be, as he had  become accustomed to seeing different religious groups showing respect to each other.

“In the last few weeks, it is changing to the worst. It should not happen on this little island.”

He warned that if people continue to engage in racial acts, the next generation will suffer.

“It has to stop, otherwise our children will pay for it. The coming generation will pay, because we know TT is a multicultural society and everybody is like one.