“Nah see no more fire bun ’bout yah
That’s why a bare blood a run ’bout yah
Nah see the youths dem with dem Marcus Garvey book inna dem hand
But dem finger full a gun powder
Oh God, a weh the fire gone?
Weh the fire gone?
Weh the fire gone?
Render your heart and not the clothes weh you put on
The Most High powerful than any firearm
Oh God
Weh the fire gone?
Weh the fire gone?
A weh the fire gone?
Render your heart and not the clothes weh you put on
Who fi a bun fire find love inna Babylon
Oh God”
I-Octane, Weh Di Fire Gone
Jamaicans take their religion seriously, be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or anything in-between. If the person is a Jamaican and professes a faith, nine times out of ten he/she will take it seriously. Everyone has tales of being accosted on the sidewalk by people of all religious persuasions. It is regular to hear on the radio religious programmes from many denominations and covering a vast array of religions. It is commonplace to see in our papers and letters to the editor a call to go back to God as they decry what they see as societal decay.
Religion is a serious matter in this country, which people find interesting and was one reason the show Religious Hard Talk did so well. Religious people love to talk about the universality of their religions, how theirs is the way to the god/s they prefer. All talk about how just their god/s are, how they view injustice as repugnant, and don’t stand for it. All talk about justice, its universality and how their god/s are on the side of the just and opposed to the wicked. All condemn evil as abhorrent to their god/s, and all can give a litany of examples of what this evil looks like in great detail.
For the last two years, the biggest global incident since World War 2 has been taking place. I speak of the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people. For the last two years we have seen the open extermination of the people in Gaza as Israel engages in a turkey shoot, killing thousands of women, children, and elderly, indiscriminately shooting at them while also engaging in starvation tactics as they withhold food from the people of Gaza. During this time, we have also seen increased attacks and land theft in the West Bank, which recently culminated in the Knesset — Israel’s Parliament — approving a vote on whether Israel should totally annex the West Bank in breach of all international law.
Now, during all this, councils of churches, rabbinical schools, Islamic schools, and so on have been stone silent at most, or at the least issued mealy-mouthed statements condemning violence on both sides as if one force is not occupying the other in a clear breach of international law. This, while cowardly and disgusting, can be expected; they will, after all, say that their job is to shepherd their flock, win converts and not to police what goes on in other countries, especially since these global bodies seek consensus on matters. That is lame, especially as we see religious groups inserting themselves in other local and global issues, but there’s a reason.
The lameness of this becomes rank hypocrisy when we see that these bodies at the local and global level remain deathly silent as their religious brethren are openly mocked and slaughtered, and their places of worship destroyed. As Jewish Palestinians (yes, they exist) face slaughter, global Jewish groups stay silent. As churches are bombed and Christians killed in Jesus’ homeland, bodies — both local and international — say nothing of merit. As the second holiest place in Islam faces the serious threat of demolition, nary a word.
Everywhere you look, all religions are silent on the issue or offer no real condemnation. Some will say that the Islamic community has been the exception that proves the rule, but even there we see talk which means nothing because it gets bogged down in sectarian in-fighting.
As Jamaica and the world in general face a “crisis”, as religious people would put it, with people becoming more and more secular, religious people ask themselves why this is the case? How can people abandon the faith of their forefathers or faith altogether? Part of the answer is simple and can be found in their lack of response to this global crisis. These institutions which, on the face of it, preach the oneness of man, the universality of God, do unto others and all that, do nothing as the largest slaughter of the 21st century takes place.
If religions can’t even get this right, if their God is so much of a fence sitter that they can say nothing while this takes place, surely this God does not care about me and my needs. If preachers have more time for fighting women wearing pants, or who someone sleeps with, than they have for this slaughter, how can they be taken seriously?
Following World War I, Europe and North America saw an increase in secularism and atheism as that war shattered the religious ideals of the day. I think we are witnessing something like this today. A whole generation has witnessed a genocide livestreamed while their religious leaders, by and large, say nothing about it. Something will give, and I think it will be people’s faith.
Every day, for the past few months, up to 100 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to get food. Religious bodies can’t find it in their hearts or their doctrines to speak out about it and choose to remain silent, or in some disgusting cases — as is the case with these evangelical Christians — side with those committing the slaughter. The fact that this can be so will surely chip away at the faith of some, cause them to question their beliefs and may lead them to abandon their faith.
I am not endorsing any abandonment of faith; people can believe what they want to, but this should act as a worry for these religions, which claim to be the way to salvation. If institutions of faith, which claim to be bastions of our humanity and morality, cannot speak out against the atrocities currently taking place and which impact, in a lot of cases, their fellow believers, how and why should the layman and non-believer take them seriously? If evil is such an abomination, why not call it out, even when it is inconvenient? If not, what is the point of your religion?
As a person who has taken the time to study various religions and who sees the beauty in them, this lack of action is very disappointing. Tales which speak of God/s siding with the underdog, looking out for those weakest, and making the unjust pay, all look like fairy tales at the moment: hard to believe and written only to coddle people and make them pliable to ruling elites (that, after all, is one theory as to why organised religion came about).
The world has a lot to answer for as it turns a metaphorical blind eye to the Palestinian suffering. All religions, as a result, have a lot to answer for as they do nothing. If they are correct, they will pay; they will have to stand before their god and answer for this or be reborn into a new life, having to master this question, and that is sad. This is an easy decision; you side with the oppressed, but they seem to have lost sight of that, and for that, they will lose membership as the years go by and, if they are right, answer for their failure to see the fact that in saving one you save humanity.
