NASSAU BAHAMAS – From the days God first create mankind ,especially after the proverbial Fall, that we have been perpetuating crimes against each other related to the person and property with a ‘just don’t care’ attitude. Nothing much, in my opinion, has changed from then to now.
Many in today’s Bahamas, have become dead, pardon the pun, to crime and it’s devastating ravages within our midst. Almost every week there are at least two alleged homicides. Multiple instances of alleged sexual assaults, inclusive of rapes and molestations, are reported in the press and media like clockwork.
Statements are routinely issued by the ‘know it all’ politicians’; the mental health care specialists sociological commentators and the inevitable arm chair advocates. I am particularly concerned about the unacceptable rise in alleged cases of homicides, which include murder and manslaughter. Some say that the majority of these matters are gang related and acts or retaliation. Others say that there are too many illegal firearms and ammunition in our wonderful nation, especially right here in New Providence.
Rapes are being perpetuated by some , obviously, mentally sick or challenged people. With the acknowledged alleged shortage of REAL MEN in our society, there should be no shortage of consensual partners. Why rape? Just for the perceived or actual THRILL of over powering someone sexually, especially a former partner? Is it a form of control and manipulation? No doubt, this is where the mental health people come in. BUT, what are we in fact doing to ensure that appropriate diagnostical examinations are done and treatment administered?
Over the past decades. our esteemed legal and judicial establishments have become infested with liberal thinking practitioners and jurists. The bulk of our political elites are lawyers and otherwise ‘knuckle heads’, who are woefully ignorant of the principles of crime and punishment. The Church of The Lord Jesus Christ, has long dissolved into a massive secular and religious doll house, in my view.
For most so called Christian nations, The Bible is our Sacred Book which is supposed to guide our individual and national lives, It is established Biblical Law that if a person takes the life of another person without justification, that person MUST be put to death, You rape or sexually violate a female, you were required to MARRY that female AND to pay a monetary fee to her family.
You STOLE something and did not pay the value you were liable to physical mutilation and the list goes on. I am not for one second advocating STRICT adherence to Biblical Law , especially now that we live in a period of Grace BUT there MUST be STRONG CONSEQUENCES for outlandish criminal behavior.
God alone is the source of Life and ONLY He, in my view, is empowered to take or terminate it at His will. No man or woman has that right, save and except where authorized by law or justified by self defense. No more…no less. The Death Penalty is still creased up on our law books. Rape is supposed to be punishable with a minimum of 14 years imprisonment. Today, even convicted rapist tend to do a plea deal and spend little , if any real time in jail.
We make a little bit of public outcry and noise when an alleged serious crime, especially when homicides are involved and the, it’s business as usual. Today for me, tomorrow for you. The BUCK stops with the Prime Minister, as he is wont to say, so let’s run with it.
I suggest that he convene a seminar with all relevant stakeholders to flesh out a sensible; sustainable and workable plan of action to combat crime and to dispense certain; immediate and appropriate punishment. We really only need go by The Bible. Please be ever mindful that it was He Himself Who declared, in plain language, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. To God then The First Law Giver & Judge, in all things , be the glory.
-Ortland H. Bodie, Jr.
