RC Archbishop decries 'culture of nakedness, indecency': Public must help fight crime

RC Archbishop Jason Gordon has said that while leaders serve a purpose when it comes to tackling crime in this country, "We all have a part to play."

He was speaking at a University of TT (UTT) graduation ceremony at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) at which he was awarded an honorary doctorate.

He said he believes TT is experiencing a "challenge of the heart" and a "spiritual crisis.

"We have a culture of disrespect. You hear it in the talk shows. We hear it in how we speak to one another..."

He said there is currently no "political engine to move us from the perils that we are facing in this state."

Calling the murder rate – which last week passed 500 for the year – "crazy," Gordon quoted late scientist Albert Einstein saying, "We cannot solve problems at the same level of thinking that we were at when we created those problems."

He continued, "Just yesterday, the children of Rose Hill (RC Primary School) had to duck under their benches and their tables as gunfire was happening for a minute and a half outside, traumatising an entire school...We've had 15 murders in a 72-hour period recently..."

Likening the country to a boat out at sea, he said TT is "adrift" now more than ever.

"We've changed governments, ministers of national security, police commissioners, and the murder rate and the corruption does not change.

"In fact, when it changes, it goes up and not down."

He recalled the 1985 visited by Dr Jess Bromley who he described as "an expert in drug use."

He said Bromley's conclusion was that if something was not done about drug use in TT at the time, "You will not recognise your country in 20 years."

"I'm afraid Dr Bromley was right," Gordon said.

He said the use of illegal drugs and guns in this country is a major contributing factor to the crime rate.

But he called on the public to look within and realise they, too, can help in the fight against crime.

"We all want someone else to solve the problem for us.

"We all want to give it to the politician, and ask them, the trade union leader, the pundit, the imam, the pastor, or the priest or the university. But the truth is, they cannot.

"They cannot solve the problem – not unless each one of us is willing to be part of that solution. We all have a part to play, we all have to make our contribution."

He added that people of this country are straying even further owing to "the outbreak of the party, the heathenism, nakedness, pleasure and pursuit of money.

"...Because when we don't feel good inside of ourselves, we try to solve that problem by external stimulation.

"We've gone to a culture of nakedness and indecency."

He said politicians, business leaders, religious leaders and community leaders have all tried to solve this country's problems, but they still persist.

"The golden rule says, 'Treat others as you want them to treat you,' and this is found in every nation, every culture, every language and every religion.

"And if we start constructing a value system in TT based on the golden rule, we can all agree at least upon that."

He also stressed on the need for children to get an education and called on the Education Ministry to ensure children in poor communities can access same.