Devon Dick, Contributor
RECENTLY, A 92-year-old woman was raped and killed. This woman should have been respected and revered for her experience, longevity and care-giving role. Instead, she was violated and then the agony was terminated by death.
The soul of the nation has been exposed and it does not look good. Our values concerning sex, womanhood, the elderly and life need changing.
Part of the problem has to do with the American movie industry's obsession with 'loveless sex and senseless violence'.
SEX NO LONGER SACRED
Sex is no longer a sacred, special gift from God. It is not restricted to committed love for intimacy and oneness in thanksgiving to God. It is not a marvel that sexual intercourse can lead to procreation, the bringing of a new life into the world. Instead, sex has become a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder .
This objectifying of women is not new but started from slavery. Dr. Annicka Marshall of the University of the West Indies in the book Reconstructing Womanhood reminds us that black women were treated as a commodity in slavery. Black women were seen as sensuous, lewd and sexually potent with uncontrollable sexual appetite, while white women were portrayed as chaste and passionless. Therefore, men were helpless in the face of the temptation of a sexy black woman.
Marshall also did a survey on British black women and how they were stereotyped. The finding was that black women were still seen as good in bed and breeders. This has led to the continuation of sexual exploitation. However, the raping of a 92-year-old is taking sexual exploitation to a shocking and awful level.
There needs to be a re-engineering in terms of how our women are viewed. They are made in the image of God and should be loved and respected. They are equal to men and should not be an object of conquest and abuse.
In addition, life must be sacred and of intrinsic value. The movie industry's glorification of violence and promotion of revenge as a way of life needs to stop. The gruesome, gory and violent mutilation of human beings on screen should be banned!
What is happening is killing of defenceless women and three children from one family in one night and an 84-year-old son of a national hero being gun-butted.
Life must be recognised as God's greatest gift, which should not be abused or snuffed out. The rapists and murderers need to be dealt with swiftly and ostracised in order for the awfulness of the crime committed to be understood.
However, the first signal coming from the new commissioner of police is not encouraging. On the first full day on the job, he was at the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast and one had hoped that the next thing that would follow would be some works.
Instead, a few days later he was part of the minister of national security's delegation to London. In a month with the highest murder rate ever, he was in London! What was the purpose of the trip?
Will Scotland Yard bring rare skills to the Jamaica Constabulary Force or take the tough decisions to deal with corruption? There is no confidence in ourselves to find our own solutions.
Former Prime Minister Edward Seaga said we need 10 years probation to test the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). At least, our colonial master thought that we needed six years probation in 1834 to see if we could manage freedom.
After 42 years, our final Court of Appeal is still out of the region and we still have a foreign head of state whose country we cannot visit without a visa.
DIFFERENT ATTITUDES
Our politicians want to be taken seriously. And if we cannot tackle simple things as implementing a CCJ and getting a Jamaican head of state how will we re-engineer our society towards a proper and healthy attitude to sex, women, the elderly, children and life?
What is needed is different images and attitudes toward women, the elderly, children and sex; a police force with wholistic strategies; and a political will that has confidence in the people to implement appropriate measures.
Rev. Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: The Church in Nation-Building'.
