Thursday, July 28, 2011

An Open Letter to Archbishop Edward Gilbert :




Your Grace, 


First let me compliment you on the fine work that you have done during your time here as the leader of the Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago. I remember when you were first appointed, there was a lot of criticism directed at the fact that you were a white American, and many Catholics felt this represented a new kind of ‘colonization’. I hope you understand it wasn’t anything personal Sir. It’s just that, being Catholics we were simply protecting ourselves from being treated like children ,having a stern parental figure from another country and culture dictating our every move.


In any case, in the years since your appointment white ‘foreign consultants’ have become all the rage and we Catholics are proud that once again we can say, we are at the forefront of modern trends!
However Sir, I am writing to you concerning your interview in the Trinidad Express, on July 23rd. 2011. In this interview you stated that “trouble is coming”.  You went on to say


"I have a friend, another priest… and he always says I am glad I am 77 and not 27 because there is trouble coming, and I think he is right; I really think he is right," .


This really concerns me Sir. Unlike you and your "priest friend", I am not 77, I am now entering my 30’s, and I am deeply worried about what the future holds for me now. I wished you had been more specific about what kind of trouble it is, and where it would be coming from and what time it might get here.  I thought about going to see Bagdeo, the man that lives down the street from me. He says he can read your future, if you pay him 20 dollars and bring him a play whe ticket and a Stag when you coming. But I deiced against it, after my brother Dennis reminded me that the idea of consulting fortune tellers and wanting to predict the future was very ‘un Christian’.  
I did notice Sir, in your interview you made a subtle hint that this ‘trouble” may be coming from homosexuals


"One of the sayings you get now is, 'I have the right to live my life however I want', and, 'If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I have to live my life “.  You said.


I knew it. I always knew that despite Trinidad’s high crime rate, widespread corruption, endemic poverty and incurable racial tension; that the one thing that would truly destroy us as a nation would be the homosexuals, and their incessant demand to ‘live their lives the way they want”.  The principle that homosexuality is an abomination in the eyes of the lord is central to the foundation of Catholic faith. It is mentioned at least twice in the Old Testament! Why should the Catholic Church change its position simply because society feels homosexuals should be entitled to the same legal rights as the rest of us?


I admit that in the past, the Catholic Church has been late in seeing the light when it comes to certain views-like supporting equal rights for women, speaking out against slavery, acknowledging the holocaust, and accepting that the sun is the center of our solar system. However I am certain that the Church is correct in its stance, which you so eloquently articulate, that


"Both by the religious tradition and that by the law of nature, homosexual conditions are not normal".



 According to religious tradition, laid down by the Catholic Church , God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve-and God certainly didn't tell Adam he had to  colour coordinate his clothes and keep his skin hydrated! Plus In nature you see male and female animals 'mating' all the time, just look at the stray dogs  around the Queens park Savannah for a few minutes. This is all the proof you need of  God's divine plan.  

Sure the American Psychiatric Association along with most of the worlds scientific and medical organisations all claim homosexuality is "natural and is found in nature' and is also  not "a mental Illness ". But God says we are to obey religious tradition, not medical and scientific traditions. 

I am so glad that one of your main achievements during your reign , has been to ensure many of your priests were able to go to Rome to acquire "doctoral certification". Thankfully we can look forward to having an educated, worldly  and enlightened clergy, that maintains the teachings of the past.      


I really believe that what society needs are more real men like you Sir. Real men who spend their entire lives suppressing their sexual instinct,  reading  our holy book written a thousand years ago by an unknown group of men, worshiping that dive entity in the sky, who once sent his son, who was conceived of virgin birth, to suffer for our sins, who was killed  and who rose again and ascended into heaven with the  angles, and who will be back any day now to judge the living and the dead. If only we had more men like you the natural order of the world would not be under threat by lunatics.  

"As people age and look back on their life, in many cases, they have a lot of journeys to complete themselves because in certain parts of their life, they really lived without meaning, and it bothers them as they age," you said.


I hope i don't feel like that  when I am 77 Sir, but i fear the worst. Recent advancements in modern medicine coupled with an improvement in the standard of living, means that my life expectancy is vastly better than any generation of my family members before me. It s very depressing.  I will have to find a way to endure when "the trouble comes". Pray for me Sir. Pray for us all. 

Yours truly 

Darryn 

P.S. I hope you and your "priest friend" enjoy your retirement in your special community in Florida, playing golf, and looking forward to heaven. All the best Sir.     



http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Gilbert__Trouble_coming-126072003.html

1 comment:

areaderofbooks said...

You don't address a priest, and certainly not a bishop as "sir"!