The moral majority was missing in action
Kaieteur News – People are asking, “Where was the moral majority when the attempt at rigging the elections was taking place?” Where were all the God-fearing, sanctimonious and self-righteous persons who are considered the conscience of the nation?
Used here, the moral majority is not confined to any specific religious organization. It includes all those whose role is to promote moral values, especially helping people to choose right from wrong.
The moral majority – used in this broad sense – was silent for the five months between March and August when electoral democracy was facing one of its gravest threats. Those who like to pontificate on social concerns found it convenient not to utter a syllable about what was taking place in the country.
What was taking place was theft on a grand scale. This was an attempt to steal the will of the people.
It is not that the moral majority was afraid. If the moral majority is afraid then morality itself is under threat. The moral majority was not at all intimidated by what was taking place in our society. They simply chose to remain silent because when it comes to local politics even the moral majority is divided.
Taken as a whole, the moral majority was not opposed to one side rigging the election to seize political power. That for them was not an issue which they wished to concern themselves. They did not see the issue as being one of honesty and fair play. They were prepared to turn a blind eye to electoral dishonesty. Even though that is a moral question, for them it was convenient to ignore the moral implications of the attempts at stealing the elections.
Yet, this same moral majority has been and will continue to be vociferous on other issues. But on the most fundamental issues, they failed the tests of impartiality and consistency.
If the moral majority wishes to reclaim any semblance of credibility it should speak up now. It still has a chance to condemn the sinister plot to degrade democracy and to put Guyana back into the stone ages of dictatorship.
Moral values are under threat in Guyana. Gambling, which is so often seen as immoral is widespread across Guyana. So widespread it is that a man is alleged to have tried to rob one betting facility. Judging from the number of vehicles that were outside of a certain facility last night, it is either the gambling or something else must be doing brisk business – in the midst of the COVID-19 threat.
Now that is something that should upset the moral majority. But they appear insensitive to such issues. They have said nothing about the rise in public gambling. They have said nothing about the opening of shops and stores on Sunday, usually considered as a day of worship for some religions.
The moral majority cannot afford to be amoral much less immoral. They have said nothing about the numerous striptease joints which have mushroomed up across Guyana. Some of these places are located near churches.
The moral majority has to remain silent on these issues because it knows that people will point fingers towards them and ask them where they were when the country was enduring five months of torture waiting for the election results in the midst of a global pandemic. The moral majority will not be able to answer as to their silence.
Yet this is a most important issue to them because it is established that dictatorships threaten the moral order of society.
Dictatorships are founded on dishonesty. They are born of fraud and deceit. Guyanese have had plenty of that between March and August of this year. Fraud and deceit are supposed to be moral issues. But the moral majority remains silent.
Dictatorships, such as the one which was being attempted between March and August of this year, survive on violence. The moral majority claims to abhor violence. Yet, it is this same moral majority that turned a blind eye to the threat of violence which would have ensued had a dictatorship been imposed on the country
It is not too late for the moral majority to press for certain things. For one, it should demand that those found guilty of attempting to steal the elections face the full gamut of legal sanctions. But more importantly, it should insist on moral sanctions for such wrongdoing.
Those who tried to steal the source of national sovereignty – the consent of the people – should pay the consequences, however, severe are those consequences. The time has come for the moral majority to show some backbone and consistency and to demand that the full force of the law be applied to electoral fraudsters.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
