Europe Vs America on Race Relations

This week news leaked that Microsoft edited a photo so it can be used as a commercial in Poland. The original photo contained a man of Asian descent, one of African descent and a woman of Caucasian decent which led to Microsoft issuing an apology for editing the photo and pledging to launch an investigation into the incident. It is rumoured that Microsoft edited the photo because of Poland’s ethnic homogeneity by replacing the photo of the man of African descent with the head of a Caucasian man however his hands remained the same colour in the photo.

One has to keep in mind that Poland is the same country where a black person on the national team had bananas thrown at him. So called liberals and minorities are always eager to use Europe as the epitome and shining example of social tolerance and acceptance and are quick to talk down America on her social and foreign policies.

Racial prejudice is far from being solved in America, but considering the fact that America now has a President who ‘looks black’ and I say looks black because Obama is white in as much as he is black, I would say America has made a great deal more progress where racial relations are concerned. Europe is not the epitome of social tolerance as a matter of fact contrary to popular belief much of Europe is still steeped in racism especially Eastern European countries like Poland and Russia.

I for one do not think that Microsoft has a racist agenda against people of colour but it seems that they are more than willing to bend to the forces of racial prejudice and bigotry if only to secure their market share in a racist economy. The question is how do Microsoft’s customers of colour deal with an organisation that engages in what I would call ‘racist commerce’? I think it’s high time critics of America give that country a break, if anything America is the only shining example of race relations as it exists in a country controlled by Caucasian Politic.

Biting Tongue

By saying less today....I'll gain more......many more...... - Incubus

The Incompatibility of Homosexuality, Religion and Biology

I promised someone to express my views on Reverend Knolly’s claims in the Express article God and the Gays in our ‘rainbow nation’, and truth be told it was my intention to not write it because this is a very controversial topic and my writing style is often blunt. However I was asked again and a promise is a promise. Let me start off by indicating this prose is not a discussion about whether homosexuality is right or wrong, it is a simple examination of the ‘lifestyle’ called homosexuality and my ‘personal’ opinion that it is incompatible with religion and biology. I say this not from a religious point of view because I’m not particularly religious and I couldn’t care for the practice in any form. I say it from a commonsense practical view and what I know for a ‘fact’ is stated about homosexuality in the Bible and God’s supposed views of it. My discussion will exclude other religious books such as the Koran, Shashtras, Vedas etc because I’m not familiar with any of these books although I’m told homosexuality is not something condoned by these religions either.

So for starters what is my position on homosexuality? My personal opinion is homosexuality is a vice plain and simple. I do not believe anyone is born a homosexual and adults who claim to be homosexuals are engaging in a vice albeit a sexual one. For those who say some children have homosexual tendencies at a young age, in my opinion that is no different to children who have extreme tempers at a young age it is a psychological issue that needs to be addressed. Homosexuality defies biology and anything that defies biology does not in my estimation deserve justification. A person’s gender is inseparable from their sexuality, there are no ifs or buts about this fact! Whether you believe in the big bang theory or whether you believe in God, a person being born with a penis but having the sexuality of a woman i.e. the sexual inclination to be with a man defies the very foundation of biological man.

Can you imagine if other species started to divert from their original sexual habits with the male being attracted to the male and the female being attracted to the female? Total chaos would reign and species would probably veer towards extinction due to non reproduction occurring between male and female species. Now granted that some species are asexual the fact of the matter is that’s their biological make up and I think it’s a really stupid argument for pro homosexual groups to use to justify homosexuality. Why? Because in asexual species reproduction actually occurs and it occurs without the copulation of same sexes. What that means is the continuation of the specie is ensured without a sexual encounter between differing or same sexes. To say that homosexuality is natural would mean that our physical and sexual attributes are random occurences. In other words we are born into human bodies and creation, or evolution executes this process without regard for our sexuality.

Human beings are not asexual, both male and female eggs are required for fertilization and only the female can give birth as only the female in the human race has a womb to carry a human child and allow it to develop in its earliest form. A woman cannot impregnate herself nor can she be impregnated by another female and a man cannot become impregnated period. The very existence and survival of the human race is dependent on the crucial sexual intimations between the male and female. As a matter of fact people who claim to be born homosexual were brought into this world via sexual intercourse occurring between a male and a female, not a male and male or female and female. Homosexuality or same sex relationships between two men or two women does nothing to enhance or ensure the continuation of the human race, that in itself tells all that it is a vice and contrary to our biological make up though being sexually stimulating to some.....and nothing is wrong with that.....those that are religious might beg to hugely differ.

So I say call a spade a spade, homosexuality is a vice and people need to stop justifying and trying to disguise it into something that it is not. Do I think it is wrong? I am not in a position to judge. Quite frankly I do not care who is gay or nay. If Peter wants to copulate with John that’s their business. Would I be friends with a homosexual? Honestly I haven’t had much homosexual friends but it’s not due to me avoiding homosexual people. Homosexual people tend to roll in their own circles as we may say and hang out certain places, places I do not go so I wouldn’t say I do not have much homosexual friends because I’m avoiding them rather I believe they are avoiding me and everyone else. There is also the possibility that I may have homosexual friends and I'm not aware of it because they are on the "down low" so to speak.

I had one homosexual friend who died from AIDS. He was a cool guy, a kind of childhood friend. We use to play together and lime and I wasn’t bothered by his vice. As long as no advances are made towards me, especially after I made it clear I’m not interested I have no problem with male homosexuals. I specifically said ‘male homosexuals’ because it is my intention to be as frank and honest in this prose, I’m all male and personally I find two girls being together hot and even better if I am included! (Sorry to disappoint those who thought this was going to be a crusade against homosexuals). What I do have a problem with however is people trying to justify it and tell me they were born that way when I know for a fact that their justifications defies logic, reasoning and science. Another thing that annoys me is people who say homosexuality spreads HIV. What utter garbage! It is a well known fact that the number one victim of HIV is not homosexual men or women. The number one victim is women period, and these women get it from men who are having sexual relations with several women.

But what of religion and homosexuality? They are incompatible and cannot be reconciled. The bible is perfectly clear with regards to God’s position on homosexuality. I only need to quote two scriptures to indicate such:-

Leviticus 20:13 - If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Romans 1:26-27 - For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their woman did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another: men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

Notice what Leviticus says, if a man lies with a man as he would with a woman it is an abomination and they shall be put to death. The mere fact that death in the bible is the consequence of homosexuality should indicate how strongly God feels about it. In the dictionary the word abomination means something that disgusts or something that one hates very much. The book of Romans speaks about ‘natural uses’, the men leaving the natural use of the women. So according to the bible sexual relations between a male and female is considered natural where as sexual relations between two men or two women are unnatural and is also referred to as an ‘error’. There is therefore no way the act of homosexuality can be reconciled with religion.

Any homosexual who demands to be accepted by religion and any Priest, Reverend or Father who embraces homosexuals are not being true to themselves. Christianity alone is a centuries old religion so it’s not as if what is written about homosexuality was only recently included. So when Reverend Knolly said to the young woman "The God we know is a God of compassion and love and your lifestyle is not going to interfere with your relationship with God. You are so scared that hell is in the offing for you when you have a relationship you care about. Sister, don't worry about that," he told her. "God is with you.”, he was in fact offering false hope and misleading the soul of another. According to the Bible that Reverend Knolly bases his sermons on homosexuality is an abomination to his God. He is therefore not being true to the faith he swore to impart and uphold and not being true to himself. He is betraying the trust granted to him by the ‘Holy Spirit’ he believes in, to impart and share with others the WORD OF GOD and the WORD OF GOD says homosexuality is something detestable to God.

Homosexuals who demand that religion embraces them are not being true to themselves either. Asking an ideology to embrace you, an ideology who’s Supreme Being has labelled your sexual preference as something detestable is like a child asking and demanding that a woman adopts and be its foster mother when said woman is spurned by the appearances of the child for whatever reasons. The only way homosexuality and religion can truly be reconciled is if the bible is re-written or certain scriptures struck from its pages. Until then homosexuals and priests alike are fooling themselves into thinking that the Christian God is accepting of either of them. As a non-religious person I was totally surprised that Reverend Knolly in his attempts to Christianise homosexuals would go to such lengths as saying God destroyed Sodom not because of homosexuality but because of inhospitality and I ask myself, how could a learned man of the cloth twist and misrepresent his faith in such a ghastly manner? And silly me thinking there was actually a link between the name ‘Sodom’ and the word ‘Sodomy’, the sexual act of inserting one’s penis into another’s anus, clearly I’m mistaken....I think not!!!!

Let us recap this story about Sodom, before the men (the angels whom God sent ahead to warn Lot because God had ALREADY DECIDED TO DESTORY SODOM BECAUSE OF THEIR IDOLATERY AND HOMOSEXUALITY) were even treated inhospitable and we must note that this inhospitality as Reverend Knolly called it was actually a demand by the men of Sodom for Lot to release his visitors (the angels) so they the men of Sodom, can have sexual relations with them so much so that Lot had to hide the men in his home and offer the men his virgin daughters to do as they please if only they spared the angels. This is the inhospitality to which Reverend Knolly so craftily says is the cause of Sodom being destroyed. However in Genesis 19 verse 13 the angels clearly stated that the Lord had SENT THEM FORTH to destroy Sodom that was before the men acted inhospitable and tried to 'jump' the male angels as Reverend Knolly claimed. Don’t believe me? Read the following scriptures: Genesis 19: 1-13.

Reverend Knolly and other priests like him are doing their faith an injustice. They are making a mockery of their beliefs and of their God. Which is probably one of the reasons I don’t subscribe to their ideologies because I’m like that, it’s either you’re for something or against it. You cannot be for something when your core beliefs and teachings are against it that’s called being confused! I see homosexual’s demands for religion to embrace them as an attack on people’s religion. You cannot demand that someone changes their religion to accept you especially when your life style is contrary to the beliefs of their religion. If homosexuals want to be embraced by God then they should form their own church and write their own bibles exclusive of the scriptures that clearly and out rightly condemns them in the eyes of God. People like Reverend Knolly make a mockery of their own God’s mercy because it was the same merciful God who destroyed Sodom for its wicked ways. Mercy does not equate to accepting a wrong doer in the eyes of God, especially when that wrong doer is willingly and purposefully doing that which is contrary to the wishes of the God he wishes to embrace him.

All that said I have another proposition of my own for the ‘cause’ of homosexuality. I know on the onset I specifically stated that I think homosexuality is a Vice, but I do have one scientific assumption of my own (layman’s style) which I have no studies or evidence to support whatsoever. :-) There is the claim that the world is becoming overpopulated with human beings, has anyone ever considered that maybe planet earth is triggering a chemical reaction within the human race that is causing some to be sexually attracted to the same sex and therefore hinder any further promulgation of the human race if only temporarily until population levels return to a sustainable level? Yea I know.....its real sci-fish......it’s just a thought. Someone should do a study on that! ©

Perfectville

Unless you are a resident of Perfectville you have no right to judge me so bugger off..... Author - Oke Zachary ©

Standstill Police

What do some police officers in T&T have in common with mannequins? The ability to stand pretty still while simultaneously executing the difficult task of doing absolutely nothing. Now don’t get me wrong, I have some friends in the Police Service who are quite passionate about their jobs. There is one female officer I went to school with who is connected to the patrol branch downtown, she is well known on Frederick Street. Missy doh make joke with errant motorists and illegal vendors. I remember once I was walking down Frederick street and I saw her in action dealing with the illegal vendors....can you believe my heart actually went out a little to the vendors.

But the law is the law and it must be upheld. Despite there being officers like my friend mentioned above, there are just too many lazy mediocre police men and women in the service. While I believe criminals should be solely held accountable for their nefarious actions, I believe the overall mediocre performance of T&T’s Police Service plays a significant role in actually boosting the confidence of T&T’s criminals. Criminals commit crimes with the confidence that the police will respond nonchalantly to investigating and apprehending them for their miss-deeds. It is this reluctance of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to deal with minor offenders that is fostering a feeling of comfort amongst the criminals in this country and I have photos to prove such.

Decay in society and the disrespect shown for the rule of law does not begin with violent crime it begins with the committing of and the allowing of small crimes. Small crimes such as littering, speeding, parking badly, drinking and driving are all committed in abundance in this country and certain police officers are notorious for turning a blind eye to their practice. As a matter of fact, dealing with petty offenders in New York City was one of the ways that city was able to turn around its rising crime rate. Dealing with petty offenders prevented them from branching off to becoming seasoned offenders. Regular road blocks and dealing with reckless drivers and persons committing other petty transgressions was also one of the ways New York City was able to apprehend some of their seasoned criminals as seasoned criminals are often repeat offenders of petty crimes.

This week I was having lunch with a friend upstairs Excellent City Centre, and we were sitting at the outer balcony were you have an overhead view of Fredrick Street. Low and behold there was this black car parked directly in front of a fire hydrant and two ‘stand still’ police officers standing outside Aboutique Mall in full view of this clear breach of the law. According to the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act it is unlawful to park within three (3) metres of a fire hydrant, but here is this motorist parked directly in front of a fire hydrant in full view of T&T’s finest who do absolutely nothing.

My friend and I were upstairs Excellent Stores for approximately forty five minutes and those officers stood there for close to 20 minutes before walking away leaving the vehicle still on spot. So if there was a fire and the Fire Services had to utilize that hydrant what would have been the situation? If I were the Fire Officer I know the answer, the hose was passing straight over that vehicle scratching paint job and windscreen! When our law enforcement officers fail to even address little transgressions like these on a daily basis what they are indirectly doing is espousing the chronic lawlessness currently plaguing our society. I do hope that the senior police officers take note of this mediocrity that persists amongst its rank and file and addresses it in an appropriate manner.