A positive message for Republic Day – Sep 21
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December 18, 2014It begins in the home – Oct 19
December 18, 2014A positive message for Republic Day – Sep 21
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| A positive message for Republic Day – Sep 21 |  |
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| REGENERATING THE MORAL AND SPIRITUAL VALUES OF OUR SOCIETY By Vernon Khelawan In three days (Wednesday) the country will celebrate another anniversary of it becoming an independent Republic. And like the run up to the Independence celebrations a month ago, the newspapers’ columns would be replete with messages from the President, the political directorate, government ministers, leader of the opposition, heads of civil society organisations and others. As usual, the nation will hear how great a country we are and how bright the future looks and we can expect great things as we move forward. These statements will come from the same people who a few days before were at each other’s throats as they debated the pros and cons of the annual budget, among other national issues. The country still waits to hear someone in high office talk about the lack of standards, the dilution of values and exhort the citizenry to become a little more spiritual in their daily lives, so that Trinidad and Tobago could once more divest itself from the vestiges of corruption, nepotism, cronyism, racism and materialism. These are the urgings the people would like to hear, but it just does not happen. The Church, in its own way, is trying against tremendous odds, to turn the tide by implementing the parochial plans of the Third Pastoral Priority – Regenerating the Moral and Spiritual Values of our Society – with the genuine hope that it can succeed in at least some small way in prompting people to look seriously at our moral and spiritual values as they now exist. It would be very uplifting if the country’s leadership, in their various Republic Day messages, urge the people to fight off the many illegal actions that take place daily – from serious crimes to the petty offences. Address the parents about their responsibility to their children; teachers about the need to be there for their students in their time of personal need and education; and employers about being just and fair. While the Church is pushing ahead with the demands of the Third Pastoral Priority in an effort to reverse the slippage of the accepted societal norms, which now confront us as a nation, it needs the help of influential leaders to make the job successful. Better yet, why don’t we, as people, join together in the many efforts which are needed to repair the losses which has battered the nation and put us back on track as a moral and spiritual nation. |