By Jermaine Francis—
A senior member of the clergy has called for the society to fess up to the reality that Jamaicans are not honest people.
The Reverend Rennard White, vice-president of the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance and president of the Missionary Church Association, said it was no secret that, for a very long time now, dishonesty has permeated all facets of the society.
Delivering the sermon during yesterday’s National Workers’ Week and Labour Day Thanksgiving Service at the Covenant Moravian Church in Kingston, White said: “This is a country that has made a way of life out of dishonesty.”
He said it might be difficult for many to face this harsh fact, but if the country must progress, it must admit to this inconvenient truth.
Not our strong point
“In Jamaica, we are not a people who are very strong morally and ethically … . This is not our strong point. We are good athletes; we are great in some other stuff, but that’s our weak area,” he told the congregation.
“Dishonesty has gone into all our institutions,” he added.
Relating recent reports of widespread electricity theft across the country, White said this was only one of the many areas in which Jamaicans have demonstrated their dishonest behaviour.
He also lambasted the many businesses and persons that have been evading the tax net over the years.
“We are told that only five per cent of all businesses are paying their taxes, and look at the hoops that people jump through to avoid paying their income tax. You must feel for our minister of finance as he deals with the IMF (International Monetary Fund).”
White said tax reform would not help the country until the Jamaican people got rid of their dishonesty and started honouring their commitments.
Respect each other
Politicians were not let off the hook either. However, the reverend went beyond making the perennial call for them to be more honest, and demanded that they begin demonstrating a level of respect that is beyond reproach for each other and the wider society.
At the top of the list of changes White said he would like to see was adults taking responsibility for the state of the country and recognising that they were to blame for the plight of the nation’s youth.
He added that real change would only come when greater value was placed on life, and if the agents of socialisation – families, schools and churches – created the framework in which Jamaica could grow.
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