West Bay
West Bay at one time was the most popular district in the Island. We had a movie theatre, we had skating a rink, we had ice cream parlors, we had nightclubs yet we had little or no crime to speak of. There was no religious hypocrisy as there seems to be today. People respected the Sabbath, whether one observed it on Saturday or on Sunday. We listened to the teachings of God's Word, and not the word of our political leaders.
Today we have let some of them lead us down the path of destruction! Seldom questioning anything they tell us, seeming never to listen to the good advice given by those who try to warn us of the dangers ahead on this path we're following.
We see the social upheaval that has come about causing these things that are now manifesting themselves in our society. They are happening throughout the Island, but to a greater extent in West Bay. We scream and yell about the things that we see happening, but no one seems to listen when others express their concerns. We see the decadence that has gradually crept into our homes, our neighborhood, our district and our Island.
And we call it prosperity!
At this point, we must pause and ask ourselves why and how could these awful things creep into that peaceful and caring community that we knew up until a few decades ago. Why did we not see the dangers of a rapidly growing population and the importation of foreign customs and habits that caused us to lose that very special something that caused us to be known as the friendliest island in the Caribbean, and that special moniker, 'The Island that time forgot'?
It all happened quite suddenly. And it happened because we became so occupied with the pursuit of material wealth that we could find no time for anything else. We adapted the mores and habits of those whom we so graciously welcomed and accepted in our Island. We forgot to spend time with our family, especially our kids. We let them have anything they asked for because we could afford it, thinking this is what our kids needed. Thinking this was love. How sad!
Caymanians! {meaning "ALL" of us} We must adopt a new way of thinking, a way which will lead us back to those social mores and habits that caused us to love and care for each other, those wonderful qualities that made us seem like one big family — a family that lived in that little village which helped us raise our children.
Please, Please, Please! Take the time to hug your kids and tell them: "I love you".
Category: Viewpoint
There is no point trying to argue logic with the Sky Fairy crowd. They are brainwashed by their cultish ways.
Oh please…. Why is it on every topic, you try to push your atheistic views on everyone? Not everyone's experiences is like yours.
The Sky Fairy crowd push their views on everyone through the institutionalised influence of religion in Cayman society.
west bay deserves what it gets….just look at who they elect!
I will tell you WHY & HOW…. Your politicians learned to "Fly". Oh yes they did,. They went on tour and met with their Eastern Caribbean cousins and caught the "Politricks Bug." They fly to conferences ad have learned how to rule West Bay.
The powerful Caribbean cousins whispered in their ears, " Tell the West Bay people what they want to hear, give them promises and spend a little money on a few social community items, but keep them down and ignorant." You will go forth and be re-elected year after year, and when they complain form a "party" and make all those "with" you in an inner circle and those "against" left wanting. Make sure there are (2) parties so you will always be in power and blame the other party for your woes.
Do not spend good money on education. Keep your teachers local and political. Do not focus on literacy and morals. Let the gangs and drugs and teenage pregnancies grow and reach into the youth culture. Allow your children to be bored and spoiled. Make them distrust the wealthy visitors and create a divide between locals and expats. Do not let their eductated children into your schools- keep your young from mixing with the expats.Do not make your youth univeristy educated or they will overthrow you!
Keep your people reaching for just a little more, and when they realize they have much less, it will be too late as the people of West Bay will now have to rely on you, their politicians and parties. Make sure at least 4 of every 10 people work for the bloated government so you keep your votes and the people of West Bay must rely on you for their family's government jobs.
West Bay, YOU let this happen. You welcomed it. It will only change when you turn away from the lies of politicians and stop relying on the Government to give you a better life.
Comments like these just prove how incredibly NAIVE some of these posters are! Do you really think this is a West Bay issue?! Well, think again my friend and whilst you're at it get some real statisitics to back it up. I dont live in West Bay but according to many news headlines it seems gang related incidents are mainly in the Wild West however when it comes to burglaries/robberies this is an island wide issue – so sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news amigo! In addition, West Bay spans all along "Seven Mile" (which its only referred as when promoting area) therefore making it the biggest district resulting in higher crime rates. I do agree with many post regarding the lack of good leadership and bad choices but its time to get a Reality check and realize that there is NO where on OUR little island that is off limits to CRIME..So wake up smell the coffee and start posting something constructive as you obviously are living in a bubble to have thought otherwise. Lets hope we can all pull together and get this under control otherwise not only the criminals but more of our youth will get caught up and follow this same trend sad yes, but true. Last but not least we need stricter consequences (not Hotel Northward) and less acquittals/lack of evidence – clearly the current system is a joke to many of these criminals.
"God" is a good way of placating the unintelligent. Atheists have higher IQs as a raft of scientific studies all prove.
Einstein wasn't atheist, and he was considered the most brilliant of physicist. So I don't know what you're talking about!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2395972/Atheists-higher-IQs-Their-intelligence-makes-likely-dismiss-religion-irrational-unscientific.html
Try this.
Einstein called himself an agnostic, while disassociating himself from the label atheist, preferring, he said, "an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being."
Yes he was brilliant, brilliant enough to realize there is no god!!!
LOL. You obviously don't understand the meaning of agnostic if you think it means he 'realised' there is no god! In fact, Einstein was a deist. Here's a quote: "I'm not an atheist and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangements of the books, but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God."
Of course, Albert believed in a God, but it was not a Christian concept, Indian concept, or Muslim concept, or being a Jew, a Jewish concept of God… Albert's God was a God I can relate to as well; his God was a pantheistic one. In 1954 he quoted these words:
"I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."
And again he declared, "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings."
01:06, I always find it hilarious that these "Godly" people claim Atheists are unitelligent when it is them that believe in some fictitious person in the sky and live their lives according to a book of fiction….smh.
How can you compare "God" to a "fictitious person in the sky"? The belief in God is not a mere belief like a toothfairy, my friend. There is such a thing called justifiable faith, a faith that is backed by reason. In terms of intelligence, I have met intelligent athiest as well as intelligent God-fearing people. I consider myself intelligent or else I would be able to post you any comments about this 🙂 …. I too must shake my head (smh). And you know why? Because it takes a hold lot of faith for an atheist to say there is NO God. That is a belief in itself, and if you should ever show the atheist that it is a belief itself, guess what their response will be like? "Well it is a more rational belief than the theist one." LOL … now I smh… I have this to say.. for over one billion people on this planet, the belief in God is a rational one too because just as youcan find so many reasons to say there is not a God, they can find so many of reasons as well; moreover personal experiences to back the claim. Atheist can't give you any personal experiences. They can only tell you what they think from their heads. … My advice to you SSM345, before you touch on the question of faith, examine the weight of your own athiestic faith and tell me if its fair to judgr another of his/her convictions when you don't have the slightest clue as to what trigger them? Peace and love 🙂
Actually, over 5 billion people believe in a god.
As you said in"a" god. May I ask which of them are wrong and which are correct?
That is a different issue.
I always find it funny that so many people here have to make someone else look dumb just so they can feel smart. If they could only see that it makes them look even dumber to everyone else.
Just keep telling yourself that. We understand.
Self worship seems to work even better. Repeat after me "I am smarter than a smart person.
And in all conversations you have to have a twiddle dee and a twiddle dumdum.
It is obvious that you are neither of the high iqs you speak of.
For your information there are brilliant people on both sides of the fence.
I am happen to be a scientistfo 20+ years experience and I have never attended a single class that says that science disproves Gods existence.
OK, let's look at what you said:
"It is obvious that you are neither of the high iqs you speak of." This sentence does not make sense. I suspect you were saying I had a low IQ, which would be irrelevant to my post. However, my IQ is considerably above average if you are asking.
"For your information there are brilliant people on both sides of the fence." Not in dispute. But atheists tend to have higher IQs than the average person. This link, included lower in this thread, sets out support for that statement. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2395972/Atheists-higher-IQs-Their-intelligence-makes-likely-dismiss-religion-irrational-unscientific.html
"I am happen to be a scientistfo 20+ years experience and I have never attended a single class that says that science disproves Gods existence." Now this is weak. Not many classes set out to prove the negative "God does not exist". But there is plenty of well established science inconsistent with the Bible and the concept of a conscious deity – from the Big Bang, to the creation of life through to evolution.
Believe in "God" all you want, even thought there really is no credible evidence or case for the existence of such a thing. But seriously dude, for a Christian you are very rude and unloving.
anon 0900 note there is none to say he does not.
Have a nice day
09:00, please note if you are going to reference something in furtherance of an argument, do not use the Daily Mail, the same goes for people who use Wikipedia………..
People who rely on the Bible can hardly be judgemental about the sources of stories. How is that firmament working out for you?
I think it was the research referred to in the article that was being relied on, not the newspaper which published a story about the research. Many other newssources reported this recently.
Wikipedia is often a useful starting point if you know nothing about a subject. You then check out the footnote references.
Yes wikipedia usually lays a foundation the problem with it is that it is not a website that is particularly accurate. When you are writing for most colleges you cannot quote or use that site to source any material. So when someone uses that site for the basis of their arguement then you indeed have a shallow arguement and should just give up.
Here you are tearing me apart as a good scintist would do and then you do something against anything a scientist would do; You then went an quoted one of the ultimate sources of the truth. No wonder you are lost.
And we were starting to have a good conversation. Kid.
It is also known that atheists are known for their large egos and that "their concept" of the truth is always right! "TRY A LITTLE HUMILITY" you'll find it gets you lots of friends!
Ummm…
1. The Big Bang is perfectly consistent with the existence of God which is exactly why it was opposed by many atheist scientists (like William Bonnor and Fred Hoyle) in the first place. In fact the theory was originally proposed by Monsignor Georges-Henri Lamaitre – a Roman Catholic clergyman.
2. Evidence of design in biological structures provides evidence of an intelligent designer.
3. The irreducible complexity of various cellular structures has not yet successfully been described, let alone explained.
4. Science has not explained the origin of life.
5. Darwinian evolution does not explain the Cambrian explosion when a great many species entered the fossil record trailing no obvious ancestors and departed leaving no obvious descendants.
6. The fine-tuning of the universe points towards a designer rather than random chance.
All the predictable pseudo-science nonsense from fundamentalist Christian websites. Just Google the words "The irreducible complexity of various cellular structures has not yet successfully been described" for a good laugh.
1. The Big Bang does not exclude a "god" previous to the event, although there a better explanations. However the Big Bang accurately describes the psot-Big Bang formation of the universe, the solar system, the heavier elements and the earth, without the need for intelligent oversight. So the Big Bang is inconsistent with the creation myth in Genesis. You cannot believe in the Big Bang and Creationism.
2. Intelligent design is the fairy story made up by Christians that had to come up with a "scientific" explanation to run counter to evolution. It is nonsense.
3. The "irreducible complexity of various cellular structures" This of course is straw man gibbersih. We are learning more and more about cellular science, and yes we don't know everything, but not many cellular scientists think the reason we are still learning is because "God made it that way".
4. It has to me and to many scientists. Yes there are debates within the process, but the other option "sky fairy magic" does not get a lot of scientific support.
5. The Cambrian Explosion has various explanations and the most likely reason for it is the cumulative effect of several of these factors. Remember it still took place over a long long time. What we have learned recently is that evolution can bring about change in a "species" much more quickly than we thought and is probably "burst" orientatedrarther than previously thought and has non-linear traits. I wince when I hear the words "Cambrian Explosion", not becauseit is a challenge to evolution, it is not, but because it tends to be churned out by a brainwashed fundamentalist child who never had a chance to decide for themselves about Skyfairyism.
6. These are empty words that make no sense.
This is the danger of the internet. Stupid people can parrot out pseudo-science to support their religious beliefs.
Hey, I did google those words, and it didn't come from a fundamentalist Christian website but from a website of a very learned, agnostic scientist! Nothing to laugh about there! You don't seem to have much in the way of refutation except words like "nonsense", "sky fairy", "stupid".
The Cambrian Explosion, by definition, did not take place over a long long time, and Darwinian evolutionary theory certainly could not predict such a phenomenon, nor is there yet any satisfactory scientific explanation for it. You just have faith that one day there will be.
BTW you should learn the meaning of "fundamentalist". Fundamentalists certainly do not believe in Intelligent Design but in literal 7 day creationism.
A universe fine-tuned to be conducive to and sustain life which could not be produced by random chance are not of course empty words that make no sense. Indeed they make so much sense that atheist scientists in a vain attempt to escape the conclusion of a designer make up hypotheses about a multiverse for which there absolutely evidence and which are not testable. I would say your non-response meant that you recoginised that you had no answer, but that didn't stop you before!
"The Cambrian Explosion, by definition, did not take place over a long long time" – 80m to 100m years might not be a long time to you, but you might believe Noah lived to 900. And the explanations of what happened then are perfectly attuned to modern evolutionary theory. It is just the Intelligent Design crowd don't listen to the explanations, they just grasp whatever they can that they think might help them to construct a superficially simple but scientifically vacuous theory. Yes, Darwin may have struggled to explain it, but we have moved a long way from Darwin as science understands more and more about the process of evolution.
A universe fine-tuned to be conducive to and sustain life which could not be produced by random chance are not of course empty words that make no sense" Life developed in a universe because the conditions of the physical laws lead to chemical reactions that created molecules and ultimately organisms that self-replicated. But you start with the end result. It is the logicial equivalent of saying "look humans need to breathe oxygen and our atmosphere is full of oxygen, someone must have designed us that way". Adaptation and development to suit prevailing conditions is the very essence of evolutionary theory, as the creatures living in and around hot vents in the ocean or the Lenski flask experiment show.
It is not long enough for evolutionary theory. That is the point. There are only speculations, not scientific explanations of it and certainly none that fit within Darwinian evolutionary theory.
Evidently you have not fully understood the finely-tuned universe point if you think it is explained in that way. Obviously life cannot evolve if the prevailing conditions do not permit life to exist in the first place.
"A bottom-up approach to cosmology either requires one to postulate an initial state of the Universe that is carefully fine-tuned — as if prescribed by an outside agency — or it requires one to invoke the notion of eternal inflation, a mighty speculative notion to the generation of many different Universes, which prevents one from predicting what a typical observer would see." — Stephen Hawking and Thomas Hertog.
You have got exactly turned around about whose mind is set by by their belief system:
"We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdidy of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravangant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstatiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It's not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counterintuitive, no matter how mystifying to the unitiated. Moreover, that Materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door." – Dr. Richard Lewontin, Harvard Biologist.
At least he was being honest.
Why would a science class try to do that? Science and mythology have nothing whatsoever to do with each other. No sane scientist would waste her time dealing with the meaningless postulations of a fairy tale having no empirical content.
By the way, that and the fact that you can't construct a proper sentence suggests your "science" is mixology and your ingredients rum and Coke. Granted it was 4:25 on a Friday afternoon, but really… Of course I've hoisted a few that early too, so it's no criticism from me. I just don't drink and post (well not usually anyway).
Some atheist scientists, like Richard Dawkins, suggest that science is incompatible with any religious belief, that's why. But I guess you are saying he is insane.
You have developed the extremist and distorting argumentation of the Christian fundamentalist to a high leve. Shame it is not what Jesus would do.
Perhaps you can point out the flaw in the logic.
1. Science has nothing to do with the 'myths' of religion and so no sane scientists would concern themselves with what religion has to say.
2. Richard Dawkins is a scientist who seems to have dedicated his life to trying to debunk what religion has to say.
Conclusion: Richard Dawkins is insane.
Well the last part of proposition 1 is obviously flawed and therefore cannot be used to draw any sustainable logically influence. Of course sane scientists can express their views about religion just as sane doctors, plumbers or bakers can. The point was that sane scientists would not try to conduct experiments to prove the existence of God or worse still waste time trying to prove the non-existence of God.
Dawkins is one of the modern world's great scientists whose contributions in his field have been massively influential. However since his field involved genteics and evolution, his work brought him into contact and conflict with creationist Christians (ie the mad fundamentalist ones). It was out of those interactions that he moved to expressing his views on God in writing. But you should read the Greatest Show On Earth, his book on evolution. Anyone who reads that and still does not accept evolution is brainwashed.
"The point was that sane scientists would not try to conduct experiments to prove the existence of God or worse still waste time trying to prove the non-existence of God."
I certainly agree on both counts! The trouble is that Richard Dawkins is by amateurish attempts at philosophy trying to disprove the existence of God. That is why he writes nonsense like "The God Delusion". So, by your standard, he is insane.
No, that is not what is being said. Dawkins is not trying to "disprove" God in any scientific sense, so your droning on about "sanity" is to misunderstand the point (probably deliberately). Rather he is pointing out his believe system and his opinions as to the negative effects of religioisity.
Let's review. The original poster said: "no sane scientist would waste her time dealing with the meaningless postulations of a fairy tale having no empirical content". He/she did not say anything about conducting scientific experiments. Richard Dawkins has written books and engaged in endless debates in his fervour to debunk theism in general and Christianity in particular. There was nothing at all wrong with my logic.
But I am glad that you acknowledge that his efforts are in fact based on his belief system and opinions rather than science. That is what atheists need to acknowledge – that claims about the non-existence of God is merely their opinion based on their materialist belief system.
Please: Friday,08/23/2013-01:06
I once asked a friend of mine. Why is it, that whenever you see something disastrous about to happen you always say "Oh My God." His answer is always the same! "I DON'T KNOW". "HE" is an Atheist! So you see, even Atheists call on God once in a while! God Bless!!
"Oh God". Is that the best you can do?
and yet He never stops the disastrous thing from happening.
you could say "Oh my unicorns" to the same effect
even if atheistics say the expression (which they don't, agnostics might, but as a saying like "soon come") it seems His absence when called on proves He does not exist
But then you will just explain it away with "He moves in mysterious ways".
you truely have a weak argument if that is all you have
Atheists will usually seek higher education whereas a Christian will shun the ways of the world.
In that way Atheist are followers of the world and Christians are followers of Christ. Christians will not seek out worldly knowledge but concern themselves only with living in accordance with the teachings of the bible.
I say athiests too have faith in their textbooks while Christians have faith in thier bibles.
The point was made about IQ not education. Although studies all show that the more educated you are the less likely you are to believe in God. There is a inverse correlation between the number of years of education and a belief in God.
I agree that West Bay was special and I expect that it’s not so far away from being so again. Certainly many of the people that I respect most in Cayman are proud West Bayers who wouldn't live anywhere else. Even with all the trouble and disappointment. Obviously something serious needs to change for that event to take place.
It might be difficult to identify the number 1 problem that has led to the state described above but I would suggest that drugs have made the greatest contribution and pose the greatest threat for the future.
Since everybody seems to know who is in the drug business and nobody stops it I suspect that the biggest obstacle to saving West Bay is the lack of will on the part of a group of serious West Bayers determined to eradicate the root cause. Unfortunately it theirs to lose.
So many have died, so many are ruined, so many have been in or are in jail and so many have no futures. So Many, So many, so many. How can a community survive when 3 generations of its best and brightest are lost? How will it survive and build a future?
The term "drug War" describes a fight, a war for survival, the total eradication of the enemy in order to save a people, a culture, a life style and to reinstate its traditional cultural values. War is deadly and war is serious.
The only drug war that we have in Cayman is incarceration, rehabilitation and soon psychological evaluation and ongoing treatment. All very badly needed but not “a war on drugs”.
These are not solutions because they actually support the drug business by treating the result of its addictive product and criminal activity rather than eradicating the underlining cause.
Soon we will have a whole industry here treating the results of an out of control drug culture rather than stopping the business in its tracks and driving a stake in its heart before more deaths, more crime and more patients are produced. At some point so many people will be involve in the treatment industry that they will need more patients, not less. No treatment business wants to cure all of its patients and stop the flow of new ones. That will put them out of business. Success in an all out drug war will be bad for business.
I'm sure the Drug Lords and their protectors are avid supports of programs that preserve their enterprise and pays for the chaos and destruction that their business leaves in its wake. They have a big, profitable, illegal business that pays no taxes, no duty, no license fees, makes no pension contributions and pays no health insurance. Its independent distributors protect their territories and work on a sales commission and its products are lifetime addictive. Distributors know that the secret is to catch new customers young and milk them for as long as possible.
Those beautiful newborn babies, so loving and full of expectation, will by their early teenage years be addicts, tearing the heart out of their parent’s chest. How many mothers are crying over the graves of lost children?
Government programs under the guise of providing solutions actually support the drug dealer’s clients with ongoing welfare support programs and lifetime medical treatment and a police force that helps maintains order between the rival gangs that get out of control. The drug overlords don’t need to manage anything, the police take care ofthat for them.
The old adage that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure remains true but maybe it’s easier to “don’t rock the boat.” But that in this case the boat (West Bay) will sink under its rot and 50 years from now, when all of the West Bayers have left, the foreigners will move in, buy the derelict properties and a redeveloped West Bay will be a paradise again. To my friends in West Bay, this not a political problem, its a grass roots one, please don’t lose it, fix it.
blame the evil expats …and dart!
You make that sound like they are separate categories!
They are.
I think you have to accept that the days of "listening to the teaching of God's word" are gone and not coming back. All around the world, save for the most underdeveloped countries, people are better educated and have better access to information and are abandoning religion in droves. While it might have held the social fabric together in the past, it was also based on brainwashing, fear, guilt and ignorance. Moving forward means finding other ways to keep people on the right moral path.
Whether it is education from society, the bible, the koran, or the vedas, there is always knowledge that is not wholesome and lead people to do bad things. Yes, even in the bible, there are things therein that do not apply to us this generation, nor protrays God in a pure light of righteousness. Indeed many see the "god" mentioned in the bible and koran as a tyrant that ordered peopleto kill other people as well as women, children, and slaves. But then again there is wholesome knowledge, good education that can be drawn from the bible, koran and vedas, and there are parts that portray God in a pure light, a God of purity, virtue, and love. I am not here to condemn religion, but we must not close our eyes to religion as well. Religions are a part of the world's cultures and is embedded in all societies. Rather we should be like the lotus flower. The lotus flower float on the surface of the lake, but beneath it in the waters is mud, bacteria, and decompositions.. however, the lotus has its roots and saps its nutrients in needs to survive. We need to realize that in this life, you will never have pure good and pure evil. You always have what is what, and it is for to draw out what you find for yourself that is wholesome and refrain from what you find for yourself that is not wholesome. Atheists need to understand this before they condemn religious books to the fire. We learn valuable lessons from these books. As well christians and muslims need to learn not to condemn "rational thinking" and free thought from athiest and freethinkers alike. We learn that some things / education is good and useful. See it this way, without evil or without pleasant circumstances, how will we ever know what is good and what is pleasant. So let us not condemn religion – let us learn from religion and draw out those goodies we find in it. God in His wisdom has allowed these things to be so.
It is too late! The Caymanians can not go back even if they wished to do so. We are too greedy, and it is greed that makes the world go 'round, not love.
Before going much further in West Bay think back when Mac arrived and Benson left. A lot has happened since then and much of the blame can be attributable to the clown prince of gardeners.
What in the world are you talking about – Sexual perversion has been happening in West Bay from the 60's and 70's. When I was in high school back in the early 70's there was a girl from West Bay in my class whose grandfather was her father – you cannot get much sicker than that. It was and has been happening for a long time it is just that people are now coming out and making these atrocities public. Shame on these perverts.
When I saw the words 'West Bay' followed by 'UH UH UH' the very first thought that came to mind was that it was the sound of their 'financial-dependency-umbillical-cord' finally being severed…
Nowadays WB and Cayman Brac are Caymanian Welfare states because of poor leadership buying support from voters, rampant drug use and the poor example set by its leaders who want the people to be dependent on their MLAs instead of teaching them that hard work is the key to success not waiting for government sponsored handouts.
How did this "poor leadership" come to be? Who put them in charge? (Yeah. There is that.)
We so easily deflect the blame for our predicament by pointing the finger at poor leaders. I would suggest that before we blame the leaders we shold stop living in a state of denial and blame thosewho have been responsible for empowering the poor leadership. All too often we speak as if these leaders fell out of the sky into their seats in government.
Yeah. That's right. As Caymanians we all need to stand before a mirror and look long and hard. In the mirror we will see the ones to blame. Point a finger at the image in the mirror and you will have identified the root of the problem.
"Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap."
Thank you. Good wholesome article. You stated that the CAUSE of the "awful things" that have creep into Caymanian society is from your words, "we became so occupied with the pursuit of material wealth that we could find no time for anything else." I think the key phrases are "so occupied" and "find[ing] no time for anything else." The pursuit of material wealth is just one out of many pursuits that I feel, have contributed to Cayman's spiritual condition where are children are being ignored. I think in summary we can say that the CAUSE of these awful things, are the result of people's minds so "occupied" in their own selfish fantasies, views, and irrational beliefs that awareness of nature, physical-social interaction, feelings or how one feels, is not noticed or given the attention like it should and this ends up clouding or corrupting pure human reasoning. Or, look at it this way, the more people are caught up in their mind-worlds, is the less they become aware of the real-world that is shared by everyone. And as a result, when there is little awareness, there is little of pure reasoning and understanding. Our very children, our health, our families, our moral principles are forgotten. The REMEDY is people need to wake up, and that means individuals. The chance that everyone wakes up is slim, but if a few are awakened like the Buddha was awakened, the words of Jesus would be fulfilled, "ye are the light of the world." Much good will come about when one person is aware of the real-world and is capable of true love. Peace
Amen.
As a tourist, I like West Bay. I know, most people will think that I have gone crazy, but, I always make sure to take a drive thru the neighborhoods at least once a visit. What do I like? It all starts at the 4 way stop. Where I am from, people would rather run you right over at a 4 way stop, but in GC, people are kind and wave you thru even if you are not sure if you were the first one there. There is just a kindness in their soul. Then, the flowers and view of the sea. I never see this back home. I roll my windows down (no, I am not afraid of being carjacked- I work in the city) and smell the fresh air. I love the sites of the chickens…the people on bikes, the women in dresses and unbrellas. To me, it all says peace, freedom, happiness. People wave. Wave to you, wave you in and out of traffic, wave to each other. The sound of music in the distance, the names of the streets,the colors of the houses, the pretty fruit trees are all my favorite things. I love to pass "The Shop" Simple, but always makes me smile. The view from Macabuca looking back onto 7MB or out into the sea….breath-taking. The cricket fields and football fields and do not forget Hell. There is so much to see and hear and smell. I enjoy West Bay. It is where the locals live and breathe and sure, there may be crime, but you should see where I work. West Bay is beautiful compared to what I drive thru every morning. If you live there, you may take it all for granted, but I find it a very enjoyable place to visit.
Side story to West Bay- my first visit to the island, I got lost in West Bay and I stopped on the side of the road and asked for directions. A kind older gentleman jumped in his car and had me follow his car all the way back to West Bay Rd. That would never happen where I am from. Kind folks in West Bay…and all of Cayman. Cayman as seen thru a tourists eyes.
Thurs 17:23 "As a Tourist…." Thank you so much for your gracious compliments! Those of us who grew up here and our parents and great, great, great, grandparents lived here know what a beautiful place this is – the folks that are destroying it have no appreciation for anything good neither those who are condeming us have any sense of appreciation. GOD bless you!!
So, some of you didn't like my view of West Bay where the local people live and breathe. Please let me take you on a tour of my drive to work. At the 4 way stop I drive thru in the morning, there is trash blowing in the breeze. On that corner, there are 2 burned out buildings. The main street is lined with barber shops, gas stations, store fronts all with bars because of crime and more burned out buildings. The hookers and crackheads are already walking down the street and it is only 7:00 a.m. Honking horns, people double parked, people running the red light, oh, this is normal. I pass 2 housing projects on my way to work with windows wide open and curtains hanging out- I know, it must be hot inside the cement buildings. Trash everywhere you look. The smell of the city in the summer- ugh! One thing different from West Bay, here- you do see lots of police cars….with sirens on, heading in one direction or the other.There is no peace. Will you have your car when you come out of work? How about your tires(tyres), that is the newest thing in the city- "they" take all 4 tires while you work, but are kind enough to put your car up on blocks.
Give me your thumbs down, but, I will take the waves from the locals at the 4 way instead of burned out buildings. I will take the smell of the sea instead of garbage and trash. I will take looking at the fruit trees and flowers instead of curtains hanging out windows and bars on windows. I will keep enjoying West Bay because I appreciate the beauty of that section of the island.
Thank you for your kind and uplifting words. I am not from West Bay, but I have many many friends in West Bay whom I went to Triple C School with back in the 6o's. Like everywhere else on the island there have been many changes and some changes were for worse and not better. I remember spending time with my friends and admiring the pretty sand yards and the "kind country folks". Cayman is unique in that even though only 26 miles long each district has their own nuances and personalities. No two districts are the same, I really find that interesting. Our entire island has changed negatively but all of us are to blame- we did not speak up and show up when little things like drivers throwing garbage from their cars, cursing in public, disrespect etc ,began to show its ugly face, we shrugged and hoped that it would'nt happen again- well it did happen again and got "bigger and badder" ( I know that is poor grammar but you get the picture) . To some of us it seems asif there is nothing we can do to turn it around but there is. If each one of us would dare to show up, stand up, speak up, "each one can teach one". It will take awhile, but we can do it. We have to feel that pride again instead of agreeing with those among us who would tear us down.
Thank you so much for your kind words about our island. My family is from West Bay and I have lived there my entire life. I remember the West Bay that you write about…and your post made me feel proud to be a West Bayer again. There'sabsolutely not reason why each and every one of us should not work together to make West Bay AND our entire island a better place.
Caymanians are a proud and strong people, we need to stop the apathy and get our island and community back on track.
For all those who thanked me for my view, although unnecessary, you are certainly welcome.
Let me go one step further. I have spoken to some teenagers while I am on holiday- small talk about community, education, sports. Although some of you may feel they are misdirected (and some of them may be), let me tell you that I know and can tell that they have been raised properly somewhere along the way as they address me as "mam" (i.e. "yes mam, no mam" after every question I ask). Each visit on the island, I am amazed, o.k. outright shocked ,at the manners of the youth-now if their pants weren't always "sagging"! 🙂
. Really impressive, Cayman parents!