We are officially 50 years old as a nation. This past Monday - July 10, 2023, it became official. Like any growing entity, we would have gotten certain things right and other things wrong. We would have hopefully learned lessons along the way to help us become better in the future. As we look back on 50 years as a nation, let's examine what went right first of all before we talk about what has gone wrong. The preamble states:
"We the Inheritors of and successors to this family of islands, recognizing the supremacy of God and believing in the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, do hereby proclaim in solemn praise the establishment of a free and democratic sovereign nation founded on spiritual values and in which no man, woman or child shall ever be slave or bondsman to anyone or their labor exploited or their lives frustrated by deprivation, and do hereby provide by these Articles for the indivisible unity and creation under God of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas."
The founders of our nation established some core principles that have helped us become a great nation. These principles include acknowledging God, the rights and freedoms of individuals, and the value of democracy, sovereignty and spiritual values. I believe they got it right at the beginning. And while we have had our struggles as a nation, these guiding principles have kept us on the right track. Wherever and whenever we have strayed from these core principles, we have felt the negative impact. We do not need anything new. We have to remember what made us great from the beginning.
You will also note in the constitution that it states that we are founded on spiritual values and that we would never allow slavery again or the exploitation of labor. Freedom is one of the most powerful rights we can have and this right should never be taken for granted. The context of this statement was physical slavery as we were just emerging from the recent past of actual physical slavery in The Bahamas. What is not explicitly stated is that we should never return to any form of slavery. As a country, we are facing a crossroads where we might have lost sight of the fact that slavery is not just a physical thing.
What is happening to The Bahamas and many other former colonies is that we are facing a new form of slavery and a new form of colonialism. We never achieved full economic emancipation and although we were free from physical colonization, we are now faced with ideological re-colonization and ideological bullying. We are also facing a new form of economic slavery through institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and the hegemonic economies of the world such as the United States, Europe, and China. While they are no longer sending armies, they are sending delegates with briefcases containing contracts that re-enslave us and force us to bow to economic might and submit our sovereignty.
As we cross over our year of jubilee and into a new phase, we must remember what we got right in the beginning and determine to follow through because these same founding principles can help us achieve what we have desired from the beginning. We must resist the temptation to be re-colonized through fronting, perpetual work permits, ideological bullying by larger states and selling our birthright for temporary gain. It is sad that a country like The Bahamas that has produced two number one NBA draft picks, multiple Olympic gold medalists, the first Black Academy Award winner and countless other achievements should still allow itself to be subservient to businessmen in suits or politicians in limousines.
We have deviated from these founding principles and have reaped and are reaping the consequences. If we simply return to this foundation, we cannot only preserve what we have but truly advance into the future. The choice is still up to us, after all we are grown-ups in our own house. We should be as the Bible says, "No longer be children, tossed to and fro," but we should be able to digest solid food and not milk. Our destiny is in our hands. And as God told the Israelites, "I have put before you, life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, so that you and your children can prosper in the land."
Individual decisions have individual consequences and national decisions have national consequences and benefits. There are only two options and even God pointed us to the right answer. He said, "Choose life."
We should choose the principles that made us who we are if we want to be what was envisioned from the beginning. March on Bahamaland.
• Pastor Dave Burrows is senior pastor at Bahamas Faith Ministries International. Feel free to email comments, whether you agree or disagree, to pastordaveburrows@hotmail.com. I appreciate your input and dialogue. We become better when we discuss, examine and exchange.
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