THE EDITOR, Sir:
THERE HAS been much discussion and debate surrounding the two figures sculptured in the
statue at the entrance to Emancipation Park. What few have realised is that this is only a sign of the rebellion against God which is manifesting itself in the world today.
Man has always rebelled against God, from the days just after Creation until today. Man has refused to submit to the restrictions and limits which God has imposed on His highest creature, in order to preserve the sanctity and proper ordering of the life bestowed on man.
This rebellion has assumed different forms throughout history.
The statue in Emancipation Park is therefore only another example of this rebellion. By portraying the genital organs of the man, and also highlighting the breasts of the woman, the statue is blatantly pornographic. It is intended to arouse feelings towards sexual activity. Any attempt to deny this by referring to artistic merit is to be intellectually as well as morally dishonest.
It confirms the image of Jamaica now being portrayed to the world, as a land of sea, sand and sex. What is worse, it goes directly against the spirit which produced our emancipation. It is clear that the persons who played the dominant roles in that remarkable event Sam Sharpe, William Knibb, Thomas Burchell and Rev. Pheiffer here in Jamaica, and William Wilber-force, the Sharpe brothers, Zachary Macaulay, Clarkson and Thomas Buxton in England, were all devout Christians servants of God. It was God that wrought our emancipation.
It is regrettable that an event which demonstrated the hand of God in the history of our nation, should now be associated in the minds of present and future generations, with a sign of rebellion against God.
I am, etc.,
Rev. EARL THAMES
St. Mary
