Dear Editor,

It is obvious that the post-modern ethic, which suggests that nothing is sacred, nothing is permanent and all things are relative, is alive and well in the 21st century epoch. One would have thought that the wealthy capitalist countries could have survived the era of moral decadence, but unfortunately they are neither equipped ethically to be an example in this century nor are they able to present a new moral philosophy.

We were told by some political analysts that the middle and upper classes would be the engine of growth and they would establish a sound moral ethos for Jamaica. It is very revealing to notice that these are the people who are being arrested for corruption, money laundering and drug trafficking and who are involved in every conceivable deceitful act in the Jamaican culture.

The Jamaican people are crying for the prophetic voice of the church to be heard, but how can this be a reality, when the religious landscape is being orchestrated by half-baked theologians from North America, and semi-religious cults who have absolutely no theological grounding in Caribbean theology? The local religious heartbeat is “the dancehall Jesus” which is devoid of a clear theological pathway for ethical development.

The new Anglican Book of Common Prayer which is Caribbean-oriented, indicates “that from the beginning human beings have misused their freedom and made wrong choices.”

Interestingly, many Jamaicans will never be liberated mentally, because they believe that they sin because of Satan or the Devil. The human being will never inculcate a moral focus if his spirituality is guided by a theology that is devoid of a healthy self-perception.

Revd Canon Ernle Gordon

5 Cowper Drive

Kingston .20

gordfm@yahoo.com