#BTColumn – An open letter to all MPs

The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Grenville Phillips II 

Dear Parliamentary Representatives of the People of Barbados: I feel compelled to write you this open letter, since you plan to make Barbados a Republic within three months, and no fair discussion of this issue is allowed in our traditional media.

Making Promises
When we make promises, we exchange something valuable if we break them. That something, is our integrity. After breaking promises, we may think that our integrity is intact. But like the parading naked emperor, our integrity is worthless to the ones who relied on our promises. During the last GeneralElection, you made several promises that you likely intended to keep, but did not. Honestly explaining why breaking them could not be avoided, may restore your integrity. However, making promises with no intention of keeping them, just to secure votes, is another matter.

Making Oaths
Not many of us swear oaths. We simply cannot afford the price of breaking them. In exchange for breaking an oath, we do not only sacrifice our integrity, which we may later try to restore, but we condemn our souls. That is why you only swear an oath, that you are individually willing and able to keep.
Sometimes, members of the public must swear oaths. For example, before we can give evidence in court, we must first swear, before God, to tell the truth. For believers, hellfire is a deterrent for lying after being sworn in. For unbelievers, the consequences of perjury may be the deterrent.

Spritual Consequences
Since oaths take us into the spiritual realm, is it important to listen to Jesus, who will judge us all at the end of the age. Jesus advised that we should not swear at all, but simply tell the truth. He also asked us to consider the following. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Some of us may be forced to do wrong on pain of torture or death. Jesus asked us to consider the eternal consequences. “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”

Breaking Oaths
All of you willingly swore an oath of allegiance, before the Almighty Creator of all that is seen and unseen, before you were seated in our House of Assembly. It is reported that all of you intend to break your sacred oaths within three months. Have you considered the consequences of your collective decision? Do you reasonably expect anyone to believe anything you say, if you can break your sacred oath so carelessly? As leaders and representatives, do you want the next generation of Barbadians to follow your example?

Collateral Damage
You know that others willingly swore that same oath of allegiance, because they were confident that they would never be called on to condemn themselves by breaking it. Is it fair to put our: military, police, judges, parliamentary secretaries, public officers, Director of Public Prosecutions, Auditor General, and Governor General in your jeopardy? Have you even considered that what you are planning to do is unlawful? Our Constitution is our supreme law that protects Barbadians from their elected representatives. Does Section 63.(3) not forbid you from making our Governor General your President? Does Section 49.(3) not forbid you from making Barbados your republic?

An uneccessary Waste
What is dreadfully tragic about your intended plans, is that you can get all that you desire without the collateral damage. You can do it lawfully. The Queen has agreed to release all parties from their oaths once the Government and the people of Barbados agree that we should become a republic. Therefore, forcing others to recklessly break their oaths is entirely unnecessary.
You promised Barbadians, on your sacred honour, a referendum to get their consent on becoming a republic. Why have you broken this promise? We already know the answer.
We have seen it. You gave radical activists control of the train and they will not give it back. You are prisoners on this runaway train, with one role to play before the foreseen wreck.

Fantasy Island
In 1977, there was a TV series called Fantasy Island, where people could play out their fantasies. Well, our radicals fancy themselves in the roles of Cuffy and Bussa. They think that had they led a similar rebellion, that they would have fared much better. To cement their place in this fantasy, there must be no negotiation with the Queen, but a disrespectful confrontation – that is where you come in. Rather than allowing the Queen to release everyone from their oaths, you are living-out their nightmare.

Let the sun shine
You must know how this fantasy will end. You will have your unconstitutional fantasy republic, until you are voted out of office. Then normalcy will return. The peoples’ support for a republic will then be measured with a referendum, instead forcibly taken. We may then become a Republic, and you would have broken your oaths for nothing.

Our radicals, who promised you a glorious end, will have their wish of a disrespectful confrontation. Their reputations will remain intact, because they did not break their oaths, you did. They did not pass unconstitutional amendments, you did. They can only live out their fantasy if you go rogue.

Once you have condemned yourselves, by your own actions, you will then live Jesus’ description of the state of the condemned – weeping and gnashing of teeth. As a citizen whom you represent, I am pleading with you to awaken from this nightmare – and come into the sunshine.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com