The price of tolerance

Thu, Oct 27th 2011, 12:26 PM

Dear Editor,
The Bahamas recorded its 109th homicide on Sunday, October 23.  If you consider an average family size of 20 members, that's over 2,000 Bahamians whose lives are directly affected.  The further spinoff effect on the existing population in my view is astronomical.
Jean Toomer said that, "Acceptance of prevailing standards often means we have no standards of our own."
We have become a society that now accepts the status quo.  We are fashionable and no longer have any collective desire to practice good old fashioned morals.  If we hold a free community event calling for peace and love as opposed to a reggae concert on the same night that costs $50, which event do you think will be the best attended?
We have become a society that gives more credence to citizens who engage in criminal behavior than to citizens who just want an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.  Parents lust for that nice truck the neighbor is driving.  They don't mind that their neighbor does not work and doesn't have a trust fund, but yet they want a vehicle of the same make and model.  And they sometimes will do all sorts of things to achieve a particular end.
Parents look down at their other neighbor who drives a battered car or who may be catching the bus.  This neighbor, though, goes to work every day and by all accounts is law abiding.  They don't teach their children the values associated with working for what you want and that when you don't have something, you do without it.
We have become a society that allows our children to watch all types of movies, sleep out at nights and hang out with friends who have questionable motives.  We allow our children's homework to go unchecked, we don't attend PTA meetings and when our children get in trouble, we utter the words, "Not my good child".
We have become a society that allows pastors to molest our children, have inappropriate sexual relationships with their members and remain in the pulpit.  We have allowed all sorts of immoral and decaying behavior at the foot of our churches, but yet we sing "Praise the Lord" on Sundays.
We have become a society that shields suspected murderers from police.  We don't believe in the old adage that if you commit the crime, you should serve the time.  We don't encourage criminals to turn themselves in to police anymore.  Rather, we ask them if they are all right and we tell them to be strong.  We tell the criminals to be careful.
Are we going to continue to accept new standards and keep shifting our moral compass?  Are we going to keep compromising our standards until there are no more standards left?  Or are we going to say right is right and wrong is wrong and defend this principle no matter who may be offended?
We tolerated the illegal drug trade, illegal immigration, armed robberies and rape and now we are tolerating murder.  We have become a complicit and tolerant society and now we are paying the price.
 
Yours, etc.,
DEHAVILLAND MOSS

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