Politicians are now often in the pulpit. Nowadays, the main preachers in houses of worship seems to be more men of politics, and less men of god. Fancy that state! It’s profaning when politicians are incited to perform before the pious and penitent. The houses of god are desecrated. I say it flat out.
All must be welcomed in sacred places. Including the vilest politicians. I make that and another point again: immovably, nonnegotiably. No one is irredeemable. I make still another, one more old position. Politicians are guests. They come as worshippers, whatever their beliefs. For whomever they believe. They are welcomed as guests. Take their place as guests. Pray as guests (if up to it). And that’s it. No honest man or woman needs a dirty political trickster in his public moment with god. It is the worst. They come with repentant heart, praise and thanks. They come to proselytize, and that meets the definition of perversity in the sacred sanctuary. Does light and darkness merge? Should the unholy, the ungodly, the diabolically clever, be invited to tarnish the ambience of quiet moments? To interfere with prayer and thanksgiving. I say No! No! No!
In their hurry to curry favor with the forces of darkness, many preachers are only too cravenly happy to jump and wave with gyrating politicians. Gyrating politicians who grind Guyana’s poor to dust. Grind the light out of them. Grind the last hopes that still remained in them. Thus, there is this revulsion of laughing in the face of god. When the music blares. When politicians bellow. When numerous preachers bow before manmade gods. Men who preen and prance, and strut their stuff, in the cloak of self-made gods.
Which preacher of piety, of moral and ethical substance, joins in such gaudy displays that dishonors god? Which preacher consents to being a part of such abominations? Which preacher could be so low as to stoop still lower for some reward, some recognition, some elevation?
Politicians have their place. They must either know their place, or be put to their place. Welcome, brother! Take a seat. Listen and learn. About humility. About sincerity. About banishing hypocrisy. About the plight of the poor, and how much they hurt. In a land so blessed, one now so rich. Yet, where so many are so crippled by the burdens of being poor, stricken perpetually by poverty. Whether male or female preachers must stop calling shame on themselves. Whether dharmic, Islamic, ecclesiastic, atheist, or agnostic: cease groveling before earthly princes. Politicians with little to recommend them. Nothing deserving of honored presences in the houses of the Lord.
Preachers must discern how they appear before the world of watching Guyanese, be they Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Zoroastrian, Rastafarian, Buddhist. Preachers, with few exceptions, now resemble sports and entertainment groupies. Those who flock near to the smell of money. Those who harbor lusts for being near to power. Many preachers are now singing along and dancing their jigs. So, they can make it big. The poor of Guyana are wretched. The hopeless live with dread. And their shepherds are busy buttering their own bread. How many preachers said, count me out of the carnivals? Who are the few that have said: I am walking with god, tending the flock of believers, and distancing from men and women who are users?
Generally speaking, politicians are users. Sometimes, subtly so. In Guyana, it’s more blatantly so, recently. It’s their game. But men of god don’t have to play along. They play along and they string along those in their congregations. They string along god, also. Well, so they fool themselves. Leave Caesar to play his politics. Alone. Preachers must work hard to be profound. Steer clear of the wolves who come in sheep’s clothing. Guyanese need spiritual succor. Guyanese don’t need cheap entertainment circuses.
