Dear Editor,
President Ramotar is a good man and my favorite President. While religion today is big business selling “God” as a commodity, there is competition for “market share,” and we tend to focus more on how we are different rather than how we are similar. Whereas many have departed from “true religion,” there is still some residual good value left in all religions. But of all the things that ail Guyana, prayer at national functions is not one of them. I would not make this a problem and fuss over it. What we should worry about are all those corrupt politicians, those who try to rig elections and steal our democracy, those who stir up racism, those who gave away our oil and gas and involve in shady deals with our oil blocks and national patrimony, those who promised but refuse to renegotiate the oil contracts when they got in. What I would worry about is elite “CAPE” high schools for academically gifted students versus run-down and lower quality high schools for poor rural people, hospitals that are “smart,” and hospitals that are “not smart” or “dumb” that run out of medicines and don’t have proper equipment and services. What ails us and what I would worry about are that we still have mud tracks in our villages versus paved roads that don’t last a long time, and garbage is everywhere. What I would worry about is when the private sector says they can’t afford to pay poor people more than $60,000 a month minimum wage. That, I would worry about. What I would worry about is not that we have prayer in schools, I would worry that we don’t have good internet connections or computers for all students at a time like this, and the Minister saying online learning is not working well.
What I would worry about is teachers who have studied hard and have degrees, earning low salaries and who may not in their lifetime be able to own a car as in other countries because the duty on cars is ridiculously exorbitant while oil companies operate duty-free and tax-free. What I would worry about is not whether the prayer at the Ministry of Education function started with “Heavenly Father,” and ended in “Amen,” and therefore we should not have prayer in schools or anywhere as President Ramotar suggested. I would like Swami to know that when evil bandits enter your homes, and they have a gun pointed at your children’s heads or your loved ones heads and they are bashing your bloodied heads and bodies to tell them where you have your money, gold, and electronics that you slaved hard to acquire, you would want to pray “Heavenly Father, or Allah or Lord Rama help me out now.” When they have you tied up and are done brutalising you mercilessly and you hear they are gone (because you did not get killed), Bro. Swami, you would want to say, “Amen,” or a Muslim might say the equivalent in Arabic, “aameen,” or a Hindu might say, “Thathaastu,” “Om shaanti, shaanti, shaanti, hari om” or something similar. I don’t think Guyana is going to hell in a handbasket because the student or Ministry inserted, “Heavenly Father,” and “Amen” in the universal prayer.
The way Guyana is going now where children are out of control at a young age, high suicide rates, increasing mental health problems, domestic abuse and violence, rampant drug use, and increasing rapes of children, I think we want them to have some of the moral compass that any religion gives. Instead of them watching pornography, doing sexting, following all the new sexually deviant practices that come from cultural imperialism, and using the drugs that proliferate now in schools, parties, and gatherings, I would prefer school children to learn the value of prayer while at school. If we throw prayer and God out, we are doomed as a nation. What would we replace it with? Just a matter of time the ABC and EU countries will be pressuring our Government to brainwash students starting in nursery school that Heather has two mommies, and Johnny has two daddies, and there is no such thing as “male” or “female?” They have already succeeded with getting cross-dressing removed. I wonder what type of prayers Swami does at his very successful school, given that he has Hindus, Christians, and Muslims and different races there? Does he have a universal prayer?
If we want to have a generation of rude, thoughtless, selfish, out of control students, then go ahead and take prayer out of schools. Tell me, does this wicked nation need less religion and less prayer, or more “pure” religion, and prayer with fasting? As we say in America, as long as there are math and science tests, there would always be prayer in schools! Religion is not a private matter, it is a big cross-cutting factor that pervades all social institutions. Leave prayer alone! Would be nice if Swami speaks out about crossdressing, oppose legalizing possession of marijuana, and speak out for vaccination and oil renegotiation? I wonder if Swami has a genuine interest in cultural diversity and respect for all religions given his other materials that seem to wage holy war against the Abrahamic religions? If the diversity practices in public places now are not all inclusive, I say “mend it, not end it.”
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
