The sale and use of alcoholic beverages, marijuana and food in graveyards during funeral services has raised the ire of a well known religious leader who claims the practice is becoming “dangerously” common.
In fact, Reverend Lucille Baird of Mount Zion Missions while condemning the practice has called out Minister of the Environment and National Beautification Trevor Prescod for his liberal stance on the legalisation of marijuana, claiming authorities were sliding down a “slippery slope”.
As recently as this week, Baird said she encountered the troubling trend at a funeral, which according to her is both illegal and irreverent and based on complaints coming from her ministerial colleagues, could get out of control.
“People have to have a licence to sell alcoholic beverages and the licence is given to a specific person for a specific location. So when you are in the churchyard selling alcohol, you are in breach of the law. I spoke to a senior police officer and he told me it is true. They don’t have a license to sell alcohol in the churchyard or the cemetery ground and I want to know why the police is not doing anything about it,” she asked.
“I am calling on them to enforce the law and put a stop to it. It is an ugly thing, somebody is in mourning and if their family wants to have a ‘get together’, they can do it after service. But to bring it into the graveyard and the churchyard is a serious violation and a subculture that I would not want Barbados to adopt.”
At her church, Mount Zion ministries, she said the practice would not be accepted even if it was happening on the road outside. Too often, she said while people are praying and having “a time of worship”, people are smoking marijuana and drinking.
She then took aim at Minister Trevor Prescod, who recently endorsed the legalisation of marijuana for religious and recreational purposes. Baird predicted that “over half” the population would suddenly claim to be Rastafarian.
“People are going to be driving and doing all kinds of things under the influence. Why are we going with this?” she asked.
“Everything now is about doing whatever you feel like and everybody has rights even if it will be detrimental to us down the road and people are staying quiet.”
She declared: “God is still the God of Barbados and as long as we have a Barbados we need to get back to the original values and ethics of our forefathers. The ones that we sing about in our national anthem.
She said the sale of food in graveyards was another major health hazard which needed to be addressed.
“What is the Ministry of Health and Environment doing about this? There’s food being sold in a churchyard and that is an environmental hazard. Are they going to wait until someone gets seriously ill? We are too reactive in this society and I want the police to do their job. The ministries of health and environment need to do their jobs.
When contacted about the issue, police Public Relations Officer, Inspector Rodney Inniss described Baird’s perspective as “opinionated” and said the force does not have statistical evidence supporting her claims.
Minister Prescod, while opting to reserve comment on the Reverend’s position on alleged illegal graveyard activity, took the opportunity to defend his stance on marijuana.
“I think she is entitled to her opinion. I gave my opinion and she is living in a democracy and she is allowed the freedom to express her views as well. It is nothing more than a view, a concept from another human being regardless of what labels or tags we have,” said Prescod. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb
