“We are a nation that needs to repent.”
This sentiment is a common response to social ills and the politics that exploit the vulnerabilities, ignorance and prejudice of the people. It is even a common response when natural disasters occur.
Repentance is seeking forgiveness for offences with regret or remorse. We may be a nation that needs to repent for our insistence on disrespecting each other on the basis of ethnicity and political affiliation, which are factors that have undoubtedly stagnated us. We continue to stand on wobbly grounds and divided we fall, time and time again. But how can we be culpable where natural disasters are concerned? Is the depravity of the Guyanese people enough to summon Mother Nature’s wrath?