Dear Editor,
There is a competition for attention in our society these days. It involves two very autonomous bodies which were once one and the same: the church and the school — private schools that is. Yes, there are new churches and schools springing up every single day in Guyana.
If one would take notice they would realize that Guyana is a country that possesses probably more churches than any other Caribbean country or further afield. New Amsterdam is noted for being the town with the most churches.
Now that the summer holidays are here, we are seeing the private schools, many as they are, clamouring for children to attend their summer classes. These ‘summer packages’ start one week after schools have closed and end one week prior to the opening of school. When these courses would have finished, it may or may not be a catch to have the same children remain at the same school to continue their education in the new academic term.
I don’t like the fact that children spend almost forty-one weeks in the entire calendar year going to school and are again bombarded with more classes during July and August. So what if they stay away from the books during the summer holidays? Of course, they can brush up on their studies at home. It’s a waste of parents’ monies if you ask me. Children need to relax, to play, to enjoy that long holiday which comes once per year, to spend more time with their families, etc. Sometimes I believe these persons who run these ‘summer schools’ are too concerned with themselves and their pockets.
Then we have the churches vying for the same attention. We have a new sect in Guyana. They hail from Brazil. They have set up branches nationwide. You can’t miss the building if you are from New Amsterdam. The building, with lights almost all around, literally would attract people to it. They want what is obvious — more members, new members.
Many churches use various strategies as it were to call persons to the flock. Some use music — music so loud you would become deaf in its presence. Some play on persons’ minds by telling them that they will have a better life and be happier and more prosperous if they are a part of their church.
We also have the American boys who walk the length and breadth of our communities day and night doing their thing. There is a TV preacher in Berbice who has been lambasting them on every single Sunday night for the past several months. His programme has now become a tool which attacks this American-based church and its beliefs.
We also have the TV preachers — both local and foreign. Wake up any given morning and turn on Guyana TV and you will know what I am talking about. We have power-preachers on virtually every single TV station on every day of the week and especially Sunday. They believe the louder they shout, the more they can get people’s attention.
We are indeed a religious nation with dozens upon dozens of churches in almost everywhere you turn — from large buildings to bottom-houses — you can find them there. Yet, we have a society where persons can be heard every day leading lives that contradict their faith and all they stand for. We have probably tens of thousands of people attending their respective churches every single Sunday and maybe other days of the week. But where does ‘attending church’ fit in their daily lives — in their economies of dealing with their fellow human beings, making just decisions on various issues that concern them and also others – where does ‘going to church’ fit in all of this? Yes, we all look nice dressed in our suits and ties, in our long dresses, jeans, etc, each time we go to church, but what are our lives like the rest of the week? Does ‘going to church’ make any dent whatsoever in our ‘public life?’ You answer ‘yes’? Then where’s the proof?
Yours faithfully,
Leon Jameson Suseran
