Manning was responding to a raging controversy over a church under construction in Arima linked to a woman who has been described as the PM's spirtual adviser.
He said criticism of his relationship with the Lighthouse of the Lord Jesus Christ Church and its leader, Juliana Pena is "tantamount to religious persecution of the prime minister".
He added that the constitution guarantees him the right to practice his religion, to seek spiritual advice from whomever he pleases and to worship wherever he wanted.
"Mr Speaker, the Constitution guarantees you freedom of association...freedom of religious beliefs, and everybody is free to pursue their beliefs...everybody is free to be advised as he or she sees fit spiritually, by whom he or she wishes...
"In the Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholics consult with their priests for spiritual guidance constantly. Nothing is wrong with that. When the member for Siparia, or the member of Fyzabad, or the member for Oropouche East, for that matter, consulted with their pundit or their guru for spiritual advice, nobody says anything wrong with that.
"When the leader of the opposition, emeritus, the member for Couva North, goes to India and consults with His Holiness, Sai Baba, for spiritual guidance...nothing is wrong with that...
"But when the prime minister decides that he would seek spiritual advice from whoever he wishes, the first thing they say is obeah, seerwoman, prophetess. And prophetess is meant to be a disparaging statement. Mr Speaker, that is tantamount to religious persecution of the prime minister...
"The prime minister is consulting somebody who is an ordained pastor in the Full Gospel Movement and who is a born-again Christian. It is time the Full Gospel Movement in this country, time that born-again Christians in this country, stop accepting the denigration of their faith...
"And particularly, by people who know none of the beliefs or have no idea of the premises of which those beliefs were arrived at in the first place...
"You get up and say something about the Hindus and you will find out. You make that mistake. You get up and say something about the Muslims....this persecution of the Full Gospel Movement has to come to an end."
Manning added, "Listen carefully to what I am about to say. Two days ago, two journalists from a media house in this country went up to Guanapo Heights and interviewed a lady whom they met there, who heads an arm of the church that at one time was with the Lighthouse of the Lord Jesus Christ Church, but there was a split in the church.
"And after the interview, they had a spiritual experience the likes of which they never had before... I will say it again, the likes of which they never had before.
"The media will be the first to tell you that the public has a right to know. And I agree with that. I am calling on those two journalists, who I will not name at this time...to report totally, completely, accurately and faithfully, exactly what happened in that experience.
"I will let them know, I know all about it. I know all about it, so I am in a position to audit what they say...
"Mr Speaker, I am giving them one week in which to do it...I will tell you this much about it. It put the fear of God in their hearts.
"I am sure that they are now rethinking their position on all of this. I am sure they are now rethinking it, but I would leave that."
Manning declared, "I am a man of strong spiritual beliefs. I will attend any church of my choice. That is my right. I would pursue the faith of my choice. That is my right as it is the right of anybody else...
"I will consult whom I wish for spiritual advice... And I will not be deterred by the slings and arrows of the members opposite... I will stay strong in my faith, and I will bring to the conduct of the Government of this country exactly the principles on which the Constitution is founded, the moral and spiritual values that guarantee the freedom of Trinidad and Tobago."
2 comments:
The Prime Minister is right that anyone has the right to seek advice from whomever he or she wishes. But he sounds raving mad about everything afterwards! What nonesense is this about the fear of God being installed into the hearts of two reporters who have no idea what the devil he's talking about? Is he planning on going the way of Than Schwe in Burma, who changed the nation's capital based on spiritual advice from his Buddhist priest?? When the Prime Minister starts shooting his mouth off about the fear of god entering the hearts of independent journalists, it's time for some sort of psychiatric evaluation...just saying...I'd say the same damn thing if it was any other member of parliament!
I don't know what to say about the PM's statement in Parliament concerning the Church. What madness really going on in this place? The PM went into the history of all that previous governments did, about rebuilding the temple in the sea, and etc. But as far as I am aware the temple in the sea was an open issue, it was not suddenly discovered that this is being done. And herein lies our problem in this place. The PM indicated that no one said anything about that project, but are up in arms about the church. Some people just don't get it. But then again, like Panday's monkey statement, the PMs raising these issues are well designed to again play on the emotions of the blind loyalists.
The issue here is not about if the state should or should not assist church, temple, mosque etc. This in fact should be applauded. The issue is the manner in which it was done, and in this instance, something does not seem to be above board. The PM began his statement by referring to the constitution and quoted in part;
Whereas the People of Trinidad and Tobago
a. have affirmed that the Nation of Trinidad and Tobago is founded upon principles that
acknowledge the supremacy of God, faith in fundamental human rights and freedoms,
the position of the family in a society of free men and free institutions, the dignity of the
human person and the equal and inalienable rights with which all members of the
human family are endowed by their Creator;
d. recognise that men and institutions remain free only when freedom is founded upon
respect for moral and spiritual values and the rule of law;
but he seem to have no idea that between those two clauses there are two others;
b. respect the principles of social justice and therefore believe that the operation of the
economic system should result in the material resources of the community being so
distributed as to subserve the common good, that there should be adequate means of
livelihood for all, that labour should not be exploited or forced by economic necessity to
operate in inhumane conditions by that there should be an opportunity for advancement
on the basis of recognition of merit, ability and integrity;
c. have asserted their belief in a democratic society in which all persons may, to the
extent of their capacity, play some part in the institutions of the national life and thus
develop and maintain due respect for lawfully constituted authority;
and yet another
e. desire that their Constitution should enshrine the above mentioned principles and
beliefs and make provision for ensuring the protection in Trinidad and Tobago of
fundamental human rights and freedoms;
These seem to elude the PM or he has decided to purposely leave them out because it would be in line with the modus operandi of the PNM that is to simply ignore the plight of the citizens in terms of crime for example.
But back to the church on the hill, nothing has been said on how this church is being funded, we know that it is state land, and I have no issue with that. Why is Shanghai being used on this (private) project? Wasn't Shanghai brought here under a government to government arrangement, this puts to rest that the government has no input in this matter. What about the approvals for this project, the TPRC is blowing wind about a threat to shut down this project, we all know that that is just BULL, this was put out there and would be "fixed" by the state.
I can't wait for the next best thing to blog/blag about, for as per all others before it, this issue has but a short shelf life, and by the way, it seems as if the mortality rate of this and similar issues is increasing, or maybe it is that they come up so often that we eh even gettin time to shit in peace.
Post a Comment