By Raffique Shah
March 09, 2014
That Trinidad Carnival is today mostly a feast of the flesh in its most carnal manifestation should surprise no one. We have worked very hard, over decades, to get here. Now that we have reached the pinnacle—a sea of near-naked bodies gyrating and simulating sex acts that put the Kama Sutra to pale—we should rejoice.
Continue reading Feast of the flesh
By Richardson Dhalai
Thursday, March 06 2014 – newsday.co.tt
ARCHBISHOP of Port-of-Spain Joseph Harris yesterday attacked the lascivious behaviour of some masqueraders in the just concluded Carnival Season, conduct which the leader of the Roman Catholic faithful in this country described as symptomatic of the pervasive lawlessness in society.
In a forthright, sobering Ash Wednesday homily at Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, Harris Promenade in San Fernando yesterday, Fr Harris also observed that all aspects of national life, including that of giving to the poor and indigent, must change if the Carnival-type mentality is to be transformed.
Continue reading VULGAR MAS
Newsday Editorial
January 29, 2014 – newsday.co.tt
We fully support the current National Week of Prayer, as a potential tool against crime and other social ills, launched last Sunday by the Inter Religious Organisation (IRO) and Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration.
We respect this nation’s diversity of beliefs including the right of a citizen to disbelieve, but we think the country at this socially-fragile time has more to gain than to lose through collective religious practices such as this Week of Prayer.
Continue reading Let us pray
How should we approach Faith and Feminism in the Caribbean?
By Corey Gilkes
January 06, 2014
I wouldn’t mind doing about two or three articles expressing my opinions on the topic. Not sure why, I suppose fools really do rush in where……. Anyhow, it partly stems from the IGDS conference last week plus something I saw in a post two mornings ago, particularly two words: “fornication” and “adultery.” I don’t know why the person’s use of the two words struck me given that they are still commonly used but I suppose I’m always deluding myself that in this age of accessing information with just a click, certain terms would die a natural death as people become more conscious.
Continue reading Worship and Women, Wha’s De Scene?
By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
December 22, 2013
As Trinbagonians gear up to celebrate the Christian religious event of Christmas, it is apropos to disseminate the historical, Afri-centric , real truth about the birth of Jesus.
Indeed, if one looks at the first three hundred years of Christianity, it is in many aspects, a derived African religion. As Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan points out in his seminal magnum opus African Origins of the major “Western Religions” (1970):”within the three most accepted religions in Europe and the Americas- Judaism, Christianity and Islam, often called ‘Western Religions’, Africans have been the founders of said religions and their teachings ( had been known) in some cases thousands of years before they were known to the peoples of Europe.”
Continue reading Jesus’ Birth: Afri-centric Analysis
By Richardson Dhalai
October 07, 2013 – newsday.co.tt
Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris yesterday stated that the Church would not be drawn into any debate on whether it would sanction same sex marriages.
He said the Roman Catholic Church’s position on gay marriages “very clear,” and according to the Archbishop, there was a difference between “loving the sinner and hating the sin”.
Continue reading Local Churches: We won’t marry gays
By Ras Tyehimba
August 07, 2013
There was a picture recently of Pope Francis playing the Steelpan next to T&T president Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona who presented it to him as a gift. This picture was published by the media, several Steelpan websites and has made its way around various social media platforms. One website exclaimed: “Truly a great day for our nation and our national instrument! The pope is a Trini now!” Another Steelpan website expressed, “Steelpan is the sweetest!! Just ask the Pope.”
Continue reading The Pope and the Pan: Challenging Caribbean Inferiority and Cultural Prostitution
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 04, 2013
Two of my dear friends are reputed to have suggested that the Hindus and the Christians may be responsible for the plight of young Africans who find themselves in trouble with the law. They also seem to suggest that a Hindu-based government is to be blamed for out plight. I should hope that this is not what they intended to convey to the public. Such statements tend to inflame national feelings and deepen the national divide. I am a member of the PNM and count myself to be as conscious of my blackness as anyone else. However, I think we ought to be careful about what we say.
Continue reading Don’t Blame the Hindus or the Christians
By Corey Gilkes
June 19, 2013 – www.trinicenter.com/Gilkes
They say the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Regarding Trinis, that will have to be revised to include people who do NOTHING, close their eyes in denial and either expect different results or that the issues will somehow work themselves out – what the late Lloyd Best called “unresponsibility.” On Monday a boy who hadn’t even begun to live yet had his life taken away in a fight reportedly over a girl in the same school. Over the last couple days I listened to several talk shows and was almost lulled to sleep by the usual hand-wringing and cries of “oh how could this have happened,” “lord, wha dis place coming to” yap, yap, yap and all manner of nonsense.
Continue reading CONTROL YUH PROPERTY(?!)
By Corey Gilkes
May 30, 2013
Anyone needing confirmation that our organised religious bodies are by and large irrelevant and stultifying entities should look no further than their views concerning the National Gender Policy (NGP) here in Trinidad along with the LGBTQ and abortion issues. By now it should be common knowledge that Minister Marlene Coudray announced that the issue of same-sex relationships and equality would not be included in the discussion on the NGP. Frankly, it is of no surprise to me that the NGP is being watered down in the way it is; much of the impetus behind this diluting is coming from, predictably, the conservative religious bodies in the country – and no doubt the instinctive bias and prejudices among those in the political elites. This is being done by the time-honoured practice of isolating such issues as the LGBTQ question (which really isn’t what the NGP is about), then eventually other topics, just wait and see.
Continue reading Religion and the National Gender Policy – Keep the Myths Out
