Dear Editor,
The recent impasse over the crucial election results in our country must make us all realise that the majority of Guyanese are either living without the moral principles that are vital to guiding us into making proper decisions both on personal and communal levels, or ignoring these when we need them most while using other criteria to make decisions in a selfish manner.
This void can only be addressed in an affirmative manner in all sectors of our education, from the students at all levels of schooling, to the teachers and security personnel in their training courses and during their working lives, to our professionals in their working environments, and even in our communities by regular efforts by our regional leaders.
This all-important aspect of our personal development is being dealt with in off-hand manner, as we seem to feel that this would have been taken care of by our religious practice, by mostly the instructions and examples set by parents and outstanding members of our communities to make the decisions we need to fulfil our responsibilities.
This is indeed a mistake, as the adoption of moral principles can only really occur when we take definitive action to inculcate these into our intuition, which helps us when we have to make the decisions on what is truly right or wrong in the various situations we encounter in life.
This can readily be seen when we realise the steps necessary to adopt these principles and make them guide us towards truly good and just living:
1. Make a conscious effort to determine the values which we need to lead us to living moral lives. These will be clear when we use our reasoning abilities, our experiences, and most importantly our consciences.
2. Commit oneself in advance to using these principles when making decisions, whether or not these lead to our own comfort.
3. Develop the skills and discipline to make decisions based on moral values and principles.
I know that it would seem a herculean task to adopt this type of education into our present systems, but I ask all involved to think of the impact this would have on our livelihood, and the negative results of carrying on as we are now – without any common principles that can make our lives so much better, more peaceful and as cooperative as our national motto proposes.
I stand ready to assist in the formulation of any programme towards the implementation of my proposal.
Yours faithfully,
Roy Paul
