The moral majority was missing in action
Kaieteur News – People ask, “Where was the moral majority when the attempt to rig the elections was taking place?” Where were all those scared, sacred and self-righteous persons who are considered the conscience of the nation?
Used here, the moral majority is not confined to any particular religious organization. It includes all those who have a role to promote moral values, especially helping people to choose what is wrong.
The moral majority – used in this broad sense – was silent for the five months from March to August when electoral democracy faced one of its gravestone threats. Those who like to transition on social concerns, found it convenient not to spell out what was happening in the country.
What was happening was stealing on a grand scale. This was an attempt to steal the will of the people.
Not that the moral majority is afraid. If the moral majority is afraid then morality itself is threatened. The moral majority was not intimidated by what was happening in our society. They chose to remain silent because, in terms of local politics, even the moral majority is divided.
Taken as a whole, the moral majority did not object to one side rigging the election to seize political power. That for them was not an issue they wanted to concern themselves with. They did not see the issue as honesty and fair play. They were prepared to turn a blind eye to electoral dishonesty. Although that was a moral question, for them it was convenient to ignore the moral implications of the attempts to steal the elections.
And yet, this same moral majority has been and will continue to be ambitious on other issues. But on the most basic issues they failed the impartiality and consistency tests.
If the moral majority wants to regain any credibility, it should speak out now. He still has the opportunity to condemn the sinister conspiracy to degrade democracy and to bring Guyana back to the stone age of dictatorship.
Moral values are under threat in Guyana. Gambling, which is so often considered immoral, is common throughout Guyana. So wide is a man allegedly trying to steal one betting facility. Judging by the number of vehicles that were outside a certain facility last night, it’s either gambling or there must be something else doing brisk business – in the middle of the COVID-19 threat.
Now that is something that should upset a moral majority. But they seem insensitive to such issues. They have not said anything about the rise in public gambling. They have said nothing about opening shops and shops on Sundays, usually considered a day of worship for some religions.
The moral majority cannot afford to be a much less immoral amoral. They have said nothing about the numerous striptease joints that have congregated across Guyana. Some of these places are located near churches.
The moral majority must remain silent on these issues because it knows that people will point fingers at them and ask them where they were when the country endured five months of torture awaiting the election results in 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 for them because it is established that dictatorships threaten the moral order of society.
Dictatorship is based on dishonesty. They are born of deceit and deceit. Guyanese have had enough of that between March and August this year. Fraud and fraud are supposed to be moral issues. But the moral majority remains silent.
A dictatorship, like the one being sought from March to August this year, survives on violence. The moral majority claim to hate violence. Yet it is this same moral majority that turned a blind eye to the threat of violence that would have occurred if a dictatorship had been imposed on the country
It is not too late for the moral majority to press for certain things. For one, he should insist that those found guilty of trying to steal the elections face the full gamut of legal sanctions. But more importantly, he should demand 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 serious those consequences are. The time has come for the moral majority to show some backbone and consistency and 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 views of this newspaper.)