Pastor calls PM's actions immoral, unprincipled
Prime Minister Perry Christie finds himself in a contradiction of sorts.
He has decided to place on hold the constitutional referendum bills while he consults with the church.
At the same time, he has gotten into a public spat with several pastors who have delivered a scorching rebuke of his decision to ignore the results of the 2013 gambling referendum.
A majority of the Bahamians who voted, voted against the regularization and taxation of web shops.
It is not clear whether Christie's response to the pastors and the response of Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis, which were made on the same day, were contrived to discredit the pastors in their very vocal stance against regulating and taxing web shops.
While on the one hand the prime minister has spoken of the need to respect the church and take its views into consideration on matters of national import, on the other hand he has chastised some church leaders for criticizing his decision to go against the wishes of voters.
In a series of statements that confounded some, Christie said last week there is no religious leader who can give him a passport to heaven.
He said his decision to regulate web shops is not a sinful act.
The following day, Pastor Lyall Bethel, of Grace Community Church, said Christie had taken an "unprincipled and immoral" position on the matter.
"You said to the people 'I will abide, my government will abide by the wishes of the people'. You said that," said Bethel, while on the Guardian Radio show "Morning Blend" on Friday.
"No puppeteer made you say that. You said that. And so we say that it is unprincipled, and because you have said it publicly, not in a dark corner, it is immoral for you to go forward."
Bethel added, "If he wants to maintain that he is a Christian, then he should not take this as someone questioning his Christianity, but questioning the outworking of his faith.
"And so, my thing to him is, as I have said to him in many a meeting, Mr. Prime Minister, do not let it be your legacy that you were the one who brought in the ruinous spirit of gambling. Yes, it might have been there, but you are the guy who made it legal.
"You are the guy who threw it out to the public. You are the guy who turned a vice into a virtue and built an economy on it."
Christie insisted on Thursday that he is governed by his faith.
He said, "Whether I am seen to be doing the right thing or not, so long as I am [of] the belief that what I am doing is honestly intended to benefit the Bahamian people [and] is not harmful to them, it is not a sinful action that I am taking."
During debate on the Gambling Bill in the House of Assembly last Thursday, Davis also turned his guns on the religious leaders.
"I got word while I was in Samoa that members of the Bahamas Christian Council sat in the gallery Wednesday past to highlight the death of democracy in The Bahamas.
"Having heard this, I wondered whether these same pastors that preach about the wrongs of gambling themselves have accounts or accept benefits from these gentlemen? And I ask myself, why should I be asking myself that of our religious leaders? Why would they want to put me or anyone else in a position to be asking these questions?"
As Davis asks these questions of pastors, there are still lingering questions about the "benefits" political parties have gotten from these same gentlemen the government is working with to legalize and regularize their establishments.
Davis said as long as there was no attempt to bring order to the present web shop situation, everyone seemed happy to turn a blind eye.
It seems lost on Davis that it was the government that vowed to shut down web shops in the event of a no vote.
That is a commitment the government abandoned once the referendum -- which it clearly expected to pass -- failed.
The government now says it will take action against web shops that operate illegally once the industry is regulated.
We suppose that the resources it could not find to shut down web shops will suddenly be available to police the system.
In justifying the move to regulate web jobs, the deputy prime minister said the fact is that the government would be hard-pressed to close down web shops.
This whole episode has been a most unfortunate one.
Christie has long courted the church and even used it to justify certain political moves.
For instance, he still points to concerns raised by the church back in 2002 as the reason why the Progressive Liberal Party campaigned against the constitutional referendum, even after supporting the bills in the House of Assembly.
Instead of admitting that the decision to backtrack was done so for political reasons, Christie and the PLP continue to use the church in this regard.
The voice of the church, however, was of little consequence in 2013 when the Christie administration brought the gambling referendum.
Likewise, it is of no consequence now that it has decided to push ahead with the undemocratic decision to regulate the web shops.
On edge
With a weak official opposition voice on this and some other issues, Christie is on edge as Bethel and other pastors who were vociferous in their opposition to the gambling referendum continue their fight against legalizing web shops.
"I believe that our pointing out that the actions of the government are certainly contrary to democratic principles, I believe that has received resounding agreement with the [majority] of the Bahamian people, and I think they are feeling that, and so I believe they are using diversionary tactics," Pastor Alfred Stewart of New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church told National Review.
The pastors are spot on in their conclusions that the actions of the government on this issue are contrary to democratic principles.
Christie had vowed to abide by the results of the gambling referendum.
He did not.
He later recognized that he made a mistake in taking the matter to referendum and that he should have legalized web shops upon coming to office.
The failed vote landed him in a conundrum, one that he cannot wiggle himself out of by getting into a public fight with the church.
The prime minister's faith is not in question.
As Christie rightly recognized in Parliament last Thursday, his faith is something personal to him and his god.
He also said, "Do not for one moment believe that any of you can arrogate unto yourselves a special right to see yourselves as more Christian, even if you wear a black shirt."
It was a direct swipe at the pastors who were in the House of Assembly nearly two weeks ago when the Gaming Bill was tabled.
They were dressed in black. The men said they were in mourning over the "death of democracy".
While the pastors' use of the term is clearly exaggerated, they made a strong point.
Their presence in all black and their objection to the Gaming Bill got under Christie's skin.
But the prime minister should know that it is nonsensical to get into a public argument with pastors over faith. It is distasteful, unbecoming and does nothing to help advance the cause for good governance.
It has only added confusion to the debate and has led to a situation that is hugely embarrassing for Christie and his government.
Christie has long lost credibility on the gambling issue.
He should not blame bad-decision making and poor judgment calls on being "governed" by his faith.
He should not confuse his actions as the leader of the nation with any discussions about "sin" or redemption.
Likewise, the deputy prime minister's attack on the church was regrettable and unhelpful in the debate.
It has taken the discourse into an arena that has confounded many observers.
At this stage, there is little Christie or Davis can do to adequately defend their undemocratic decision to trash the referendum results.
It is not likely that bickering with the church about morality and faith would assuage the anger felt by many whose votes at the polls on January 28 are now being disregarded.

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