Bahama Pundit

Bishop Boyd Misses the Mark

by Simon

The pastoral letter by the Rt. Reverend Laish Boyd Sr., Anglican Bishop of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, on the numbers business is a welcome contribution to the dialogue on the ethical dimensions of a complex issue of public policy.

In important ways, it is an improvement on his statement on marital rape in that this letter is timelier and considerably better written.  It is clearly motivated by pastoral concern for his religious community and a spirit of goodwill for the broader Bahamas. 

Still, with great respect for his office and his intentions, Bishop Boyd’s pastoral letter misses the mark.  It is poorly constructed on a foundation of dubious reasoning and premises leading to flawed conclusions.  He has taken a complex and multidimensional moral issue and offered his moral analysis in the form of assertions that are unfortunately overblown.

A Tale of Two Restaurants—The Great Bahamian Seafood Festival

by Larry Smith

Fifteen Nassau restaurants are showcasing special dishes and offering fixed price menus this week as part of the Great Bahamian Seafood Festival, which climaxes on Friday and Saturday downtown.

My assignment was to review a couple of them. Options ranged from the casual (Da Fish Fry and Traveller's Rest) to the opulent (Greycliff and the Bahamian Club). I settled on Seafront Sushi and Aqua at the British Colonial Hilton.

For purists, the ultimate seafood experience is Japanese. Sashimi and sushi both require a variety of high grade, very fresh, raw fish - anything from octopus to tuna. And it's damn good for your cholesterol level. Sashimi is thinly sliced raw fish served with garnishes and soy sauce. Sushi pairs the fish with vinegared rice, and other ingredients.

Electoral Reform in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

All de meat!

In the words of a popular Bahamian song, that's what our 'winner takes all' electoral system boils down to, critics say.

In fact, Forbes Burnham, the late but not missed president of Guyana, argued that state resources should be used to maintain power at all costs. Any incumbent losing an election would be "negligent" in this view.

Recently, I looked at the inconclusive British general election of May 6 in the context of Bahamian third parties and electoral reform. That article prompted a response from Dr Dexter Johnson, who has spent years trying to break the mould of our "Westminster export model constitution".

Civic Education in the Bahamas

by Simon

From 1997 to 2000, one of the leading medical research universities in the United States hosted a novel project dedicated to a pair of perennial values critical to the ongoing renewal of our commonweal.

Under the leadership of Professor P. M. Forni, Johns Hopkins University sponsored the Civility Project which was dedicated to civility and good manners.  Why did this elite institution, bustling with discoveries in nanotechnology and genetics, devote resources to such seemingly mundane subjects?

Professor Forni and Johns Hopkins appreciated that cutting-edge advances and ancient values are necessary companions.  This is as true in bioethics, as it is in the basic ethical norms essential for socializing new generations and maintaining a civilized society.

The ability to extend life through scientific and technological advances does not mean that we will lead more moral or even happier lives.  This is why ethical reflection is imperative in these fields.

And, ethics is not simply about the big issues in the life sciences and other areas of ethical concern.  The ethics of care also involves the ordinary and daily interactions of the human community. 

The British Election and Third Parties in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

In 1962, despite polling more votes overall, the PLP actually lost two seats in the 33-seat House of Assembly, while the UBP won 20 and four independents were elected. This surprising result postponed the advent of majority rule by another five years.

Most of the blame for that debacle fell on the way constituency boundaries had been drawn by the UBP - a process condemned as gerrymandering ever since Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts passed a redistricting law in 1812 that grossly favoured his own party.

But there are those who argue that the traditional Westminster system of 'winner takes all' voting developed in Britain during the 19th century is a direct cause of the kind of representative failure that Bahamians faced in 1962. And those arguments carry more weight today following last week's inconclusive British election.

Simeon Hall and Lyall Bethel on Homosexuality in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

Pastor Lyall Bethel responded to my recent article that criticised his obsession with an imaginary plot to take over the world that he and others like to refer to as "the gay militant agenda".

"(Smith) wants to call me 'ayatollah' because I, representing the vast majority of Bahamians, don't want to see our nation turned into Sodom and Gomorrah...One need only watch what is going on in the U.S. and around the world to understand what compliance or refusal to take seriously the homosexual agenda will bring about."

I referred to Bethel's newspaper submissions as "pompous faux scholarship" that present "false, out of date and grossly misrepresented statistics that can be found almost verbatim on a multitude of neo nazi, white supremacist and extreme theo-con websites."

I also noted that the multitude of social ills afflicting our small population should be enough to occupy any self-respecting religious leader from now until the second coming, without having to resort to punitive campaigns over non-issues like sex and gambling.

But according to Bethel, "truth (including the truth about homosexuality) always marches on, undeterred by those who fight against it. That is my consolation in this debate."

Now another Baptist pastor has weighed in on this subject. Bishop Simeon Hall officiated at a recent funeral for an apparently gay woman."I have suffered some criticism for this funeral," Hall said. "It's time for Christian churches in our Bahamas to broaden their repertoire of concerns.

"Issues about homosexuality and gambling must not be the extent to which the Christian community is heard."

Salt & Light

by Simon

Bahamian religious leaders are often leagues behind our political leaders on the ethical dimensions of a broad range of public policy issues.  Many of the former have buried the inspiration of Genesis, the urgency of the Prophets, and the salt and light of the Sermon on the Mount, under a bushel.

In seeking to discover the plenitude of this great Sermon in today’s Bahamas, it may be best to review a Speech from the Throne or legislation before the houses of Parliament, rather than the sermons of far too many religious leaders.

If the Master came back today to question ministers of the Gospel and ministers of Government, he may find that it is mostly the former who have hidden their talents under mounds of convenience and caution, fear and trembling.

Surprisingly, He will discover that the commands to care for creation and to bind the wounds of the Samaritan are often heeded more passionately by those who collect taxes on Caesar’s behalf, than those who collect tithes on His behalf.

Ideology & the Environment in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

“If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'why the hell not?'" --John Wayne

Why can't Tough Call have it both ways?

The response of Laura Huggins to my review of her recent presentation for the Nassau Institute reminds me of a criticism levelled against me a few years ago: "First he says yes, then he says no, then he says yes again," my exasperated critic said at the time. "Why can't he make up his flipping mind?"

Well, for two main reasons. First, I explore and try to contextualise the issues for a local audience. And although I may offer my own reasonable analysis based on research and experience, that is rather different (if I may say so) from talking off the top of my head and doling out a hefty portion of personal opinion and spite every week.

Second, I happen to be of the view that we do not live in a black and white world. And unlike John Wayne I don't believe we can, or should, try to force it to be that way. When I was younger I had a different view, but these days I am more drawn to the lyrics from that 1993 Billy Joel song: "Black and white is how it should be, but shades of grey are the colours I see.”

Unfortunately, it's easier for most of us to adhere to one ideology, or belief system, or propaganda line over another. As the French writer Louis Aragon put it "Light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error...We only exist in this conflict, in the zone where black and white clash."