What’s Next By: Hantz Maxime M.S
When Christian who is supposed to be the light of the world chooses to stay silent in the face of injustice and abuse that destroys people around them, it is simply an act of not caring. We cannot hand pick which evil deed to back-up and not back-up. This has been the way many Christians in Haiti have been doing business. It appears that many of them are tied up to the same corruption that entangles the Haitian government. There is an attitude that if it does not affect me personally, it is okay for it to happen. But little that they know, everything starts small. If you cannot speak on the small matter that has a direct impact on people’s lives, you cannot show authority in matters that may impact you and others that are associated with you.
So many talks have been taking place about the roles of Christians in Haiti. It has been said Christian in Haiti representing 52% of the population. If this statistic is right, Haitian Christians have a lot to answer for given the current condition of the country. If we representing 52% of the population, why is there so much corruption? Do we only care about people coming to your churches while giving a blind eye to the needs of the same people that we claimed to love? The leaders are not concerned about the health and wellbeing of the nation.
Not too long ago, the government released the country’s “Penal Code” which has many things that contradict our values as a people. It has been said that some of the laws also violated our Christian Faith. Many people suggested that the proposed laws are immoral. The Haitian churches both in Haiti and aboard have protested the new penal code. To be honest, I believe that was a great response where the church stood and questioned the validity of the new law. For the first time in my life, I notice the Haitian church come together to fight for a common purpose. The church petitioned and organized a street protest to further expressed their dislike for the law.
Everything thus far is good to let the government know that this law is not going to be accepted. But I would like to go further on this issue. I believe It is an insult for any government leader to decide on matters that have lasting effect on his/her constituent without first informing all the major players. It has been said the voice of the people is the voice of GOD. If that is true, why did the government act alone or could it be that the government was looking for anyone representing the 52% of the population but could not find any. This is the dilemma that the Christian churches in Haiti are facing. It appeared that there are no true Christian leaders representing God in government. This is the only reason that law such these can be projected on the people without anyone’s knowledge. Or could it be that some of our leaders are devoid of their responsibilities while becoming corrupt and have allowed themselves to be brought with money.
What lessons can we learn from all this” Well, if we want Haiti to be better governed with Christian principles, 52% of the population must be present in every aspect of the government? We cannot cherry pick which issue we want to address. We have a Godly obligation to get involved in the social rebuilding of the country. The churches must come together as one to introduce a National Plan that addresses the needs of the country, not an individual’s profits. For example, infrastructure, education, social needs, and the spiritual needs of the country. We cannot sit back allowing other people/nations to think and decide on how we should look and live. The Church should invest heavily in better education. Especially, how to choose political leaders. The church is very powerful because it can penetrate the most restricted locations that the government cannot reach. Every region in the country is small or great as a church. This is power. If we begin to educate and invest in our young people and support them to run for offices instead of allowing the special interest to snatch them and make them their servant rather than the people’s servant. If there is a time for such a thing to happen where the people can be galvanized and regrouping to create a better Haiti for all, is NOW.
The Church Speak! (Legliz Palé) !
As you might now, since the fall of the dictatorship in the country, Haiti has not had anyone to defend it. Everyone comes and takes from it, but very little is giving back. I am not talking only about the privileged few. But I am talking about the leaders that represent 52% of the population also, who requires so much from the people and aboard, just to better themselves individually, not to help the country. It is time for all Haitians especially the 52% of the population to come together, to organize and take the country from the hands of all the greedy Politicians and Christian leaders who are politically vested. It is time for the churches to start developing and investing in young people politically to serve their country. If we continue to rely on other nations and those who profited from the country’s current condition, we are going nowhere. If we fail to act now, we have no one to blame but ourselves. when other nations with no spiritual and moral standing bring their immoral and filthy laws for us to abide by, we will have nothing to say but to accept it because when we had the chance to do something, we did nothing. My question now to all of us who are upset with the government and taking the street to protest, WHAT’S NEXT?
The Haitian Church Leaders Have failed US: What have happened to the so called 52%? BY: Hantz Maxime, M.S
Just a couple of months ago, the Haitian Christians took the street to protest the government’s policy regarding the moral of the country. I thought they did a great job standing and organizing the people to voice their opinions. They signed a petition to further express their frustrations. After having done all that what came next? Did the leaders follow-up with the government after the rejection of the petition? It seems like nothing was done. It appears that they were naive to the fight that they had undertaking. I don’t think they wanted to get that much involved in the politic. They went in and did what they thought they have to do and return to their everyday routine as if nothing had happened. If this is the case, all the things that they did were a complete failure. It is not good enough to start and giving the people hope and just stop. The people took the street with you because they believed you had a plan. The petition was just a tool to get us started with our contribution to the country‘s politic since we have the largest percentage of the population. To get us involved in such a high intensity just to drop us flat is just not fair. Being silence at this time when the country needs you to speak on the insecurity, the devastation and destroying of the country simply means that you are in agreement with what is happening “ Legliz Pale”.
52% 48%
The Church is Afraid
I can be wrong but it seems that the church leaders are afraid to organize in order to lead the country. We claimed to be talented, full of ideas and educated. Why there is no follow-up after such a big exposure? Remember the people stood with you on the street, they were vocal and allowed you to lead them. Right now the church is nowhere to be found. Things have returned to what it was from the beginning, inactive and non-existence. The church continues to be ill-advised about the political process. As I mentioned on my last piece, you cannot blamed the government for making policies that impact your belief if you are not willing to participate in the process.
The government’s response
After the petition the government gave everyone an opportunity to participate in correcting the very law that we petitioned against. He the president also gave an opportunity for all the groups a chance to participate in the electoral committee. The first group that elected a leader to participate was the Voodooism. I did not hear anything from the Christian group who represents 52 % of the population. A lot can be said about their failure to act. Could it be they are fighting within themselves to choose a person to represent the group or they just don’t care about the process? I don’t know but something has to be done. It is imperative that the Haitian Christian association must the take the lead to elect a national figure to represent the population. We cannot allow a minority group to lead when professed to have 52-percent of the population. I think the current situation presents us with an opportunity which may never be possible again to create a party that speaks and addresses the nation’s problems as well as our moral.
Although there may be a separation between church and state but we cannot negate the close relationship the church has with community. It is a sin when church leaders devoid their responsibilities entirely to the state. When that happened we cause a destabilization of the society. This is exactly what we have in Haiti. The church was designed to be the scale that balances the government and the people. The church plays a major role in keeping people aligns with their conscious. In the absent of the church, people become emotionally, spiritual/intellectually dead. They are no longer able to reason because they lost their moral compass. The church role in government is to make sure keep elected people in check so that they don’t forget the poor and the institution that they represent. As you can see in Haiti, our leaders have lost it. They are driven by greed and self-preoccupation. Everything evolved around them. They will kill and destroy the same institution that they are fighting to rule. This is what happened when the church is absent? Men are lost!
The Need to Create a Political Party
I propose that we create a conservative party within the country that speaks not only on our Christian values but also addresses all the fundamentals that makes a great country. We will need to first outline the all-important things that make this party lawful applying ethics to prevent corruptions. This conservative group will attract everyone who share our societal moral values and who wants to see the country better govern. The party must have a national plan. The conservative party will only support candidate who have the criteria that are set by the group leaders. I believe by constructing such as a group will help the country to rethink about its pluralistic parties and candidates that cost the country a lot of money during election. You can imagine how much money you have to spend on twenty to thirty candidates representing different parties. It causes confusion and robbed the people from having a positive experience participating in their country political process. I think it is a must that the Haitian Christian need to act fast in creating such party to best present themselves while encouraging young people from all corners of the country to engage.