We call it a "Rage". Descriptive indeed.

Just to "prove" it's not always idyllic on the bay ... this is a photo taken this afternoon of the waves crashing on the barrier islands about 5 miles north of us here.

Truly spectacular. And unusual indeed for April.

Bahamas Bucks what??

Larry Smith writes some thoughtful, researched and sometimes ROTFL funny columns in The Tribune. This is one of them: A Bahamian Political Review

This one kinda starts off in the same vane, but then veers into some rather currently conventional comments on Brokeback Mountain, Censorship, Religion, "Gayness" etc.

OK ... no real bone to pick with the column (any more than normal!) apart from the rampant generalisations - but they're equal opportunity generalisations, so we'll let 'em pass.

But a couple thoughts and comments about the whole Brokeback/Censorship/Gay Agenda controversy:

First ... Pastor Lyall Bethell, Apostle [??] Cedric Moss and Pastor Allan Lee wrote a letter to the editor which missed the point on censorship by a mile. In comparing the voluntary restraint of the Tribune in not printing pornographic photographs with the coercive imposition by government of a movie ban, they really don't quite get the point.

No matter what one's views on morality, the example of Jesus ... the really Christian approach to these things ... doesn't even come close to what I see the established church trying to do in the Bahamas today with marches on cruise ships and an extremely narrow focus on only ONE aspect of sexual sin. (To his credit, Cedric Moss has been very vocal in recent years about other condemnable aspects of the films passed for viewing).

I simply don't see anywhere in Holy Writ where Jesus used - or recommended the use of - civil government to impose an agenda on society. Matter of fact he ate with tax collectors and sinners without condemning them beforehand ... it's what got him trouble with the established clergy of his day.

It is not ... repeat NOT ... the Church's job to change society in any other way than by the attempted persuasion (dare I say conversion ?) of one person at a time ... and that, largely by example (see John 13 guys).

NOW ... to the point of the latter part of Larry's current article: While the Western press would have us believe that "gayness" is innate, the science is still not clear. Indeed, accompanying the original study noting the brain differences between gay and straight men was the qualifyer that it was not certain which came first ... that brain differences may indeed develop as a consequence of a lifestyle (as it does with other learned behaviours).

But be that as it may ... what REALLY concerns me ... is suppose we find (as studies have already shown) that criminals have brain differences. Do we then excuse criminal behaviour?

The horror of this scenario is that rapists, murderers and plain old "tiefs" would have to be excused by the justice system, wouldn't they? Not their fault!

So ... IF a behaviour is wrong (and I'm not pronouncing on gayness here, understand - it's immaterial to the essence of the question) it's wrong. PERIOD.

Don't people have ANY control over their impulses? Do we HAVE to always give in? Do we have no responsibility for our actions?

Again, I want to make it clear I am not pronouncing here on my personal view of a particular aspect of morality. But the questions need asked.

And there are serious implications in the answers which various societies eventually reach by consensus.

I see what they mean ...

From The Nassau Guardian's website today: www.thenassauguardian.com

A kinder komment on Kerzner

I sometimes get very tired of Atlantis bashing.

The Royal Towers certainly isn't the prettiest thing to ever grace a skyline ... at least from the New Providence side of the bridge.

But there's no denying that the Bahamas of the last 13+ years would not have been possible without the Kerzners.

I see and hear sooooo many negative remarks ... including one pseudo Bahamian poster on the Cruise Critic website's boards who said, in as many words, that [she] wished the man's island would sink into the sea!

Sweetie ... there wouldn't much of a tourism infrastructure left in place if it hadn't been for the "Russian Jew from South Africa" to quote from Larry Smith's "Tough Call" of Dec. 2005 (click on the text of the paragraph to see the whole hilarious article).

"Of course, we had to find a Russian Jew from South Africa with the smarts to build a replica of an Out Island village on Paradise Island, where a single drink costs $14 plus tip. But we managed to do it, and now tourists can safely browse the marina shops and listen to Bahamian music without fear of being harassed, cursed or spat upon."

And just in time to put the lie to those who continue to say the Kerzners give little back, Butch and co. donate $250,000 for a swimming pool/facility at St. Anne's - one of the local Anglican secondary schools.

Here's the article from the archives of the Nassau Guardian: Kerzner gives to St. Anne's

Say whaaaaaat?

Wow! I'm still trying to digest *** this article *** in today's Nassau Guardian by former policeman, politician and leader of the Abaco Resistance, Errington Watkins.

This is pure claptrap, born of ignorance [i.e. a lack of knowledge] of the outside world.

Father forgive him, for he knows not what he says.

¡Basta ya!

Read it and weep.

Hyprophetically Speaking ...

This could actually be a fun thread here, if anyone else jumps in.

Given that our population is scattered over so many islands ... and that for years individual settlements on some of those islands were so separated from each other physically ... different dialects and accents grew naturally.

When I was a boy I could tell which settlement someone from Eleuthera was from just by their accent, and sometimes by word usage. I always used to think the folks from Point (that's Palmetto Point to the uninitiated) sounded so erudite ... they'd never say "I got your letter." It was "I received your letter." People from the Current were ever so sing-songy and "chile" was thrown in every other word, pronounced "choile".

'Conians (Abaconians) dropped the "H" off of ham and added one to "eggs" for "'am 'n' haigs" ... and they still do today. Some, as do Eleutherans, switch "v" and "w". Indeed we had a recent Prime Minister who always spoke about how important the "vimmen" were to his party! (Still does)

Besides that there are some phrases which we just seem to have a ton of fun messing around with.

"Old timers disease" ... when you forget a lot.
"High precious blood" can be really serious.
"Very close veins" are uncomfortable for some women. And some men, too.
How about "he spent three successful days in the intensive care unit"? I dunno ... maybe he did.

Today I heard a frequent caller on the noon-time call-in show begin a question with "hyprophetically speaking". I couldn't help but think that may even be something close to a true true "freudian slip".

In church I've heard of the "whale in the temple" and the "cup a rat" (Oh yeah, "th" often becomes just "t" ... like an old friend of Norwegian extraction used to say, too. He was right at home speaking to Bahamians.) How about "the hodour of the erntment filled the room"? (prounouncing "oil" as "earl" is not a Bahamian exclusive!) And the fact that the three wise men brought "gold, frankenstein and myrrh"?

Leave a note with translations, if you can.

It'd be fun to see what others have heard and experienced (and say themselves ...)

All of this reminds me of a pastor from California who couldn't say "wash" for the life of him. It always came out "warsh" or "warshed".

Kind of hard on a preacher, dontcha think?

For some wonderful exposure to things culturally Bahamian read here about Patricia Glinton Meicholas.

Roll over DaVinci

.
O.K.

The paperback of the DaVinci Code is now available, so all those folks who didn't want to spend the money for the hard cover can now spend less for a great fiction read.

But ... be not mistaken ... that's all it is.

In keeping with my contrarian bent ... check out this site:

www.thedavincidialogue.com

And hold your breath for more noise with the release of the movie later this month. If it's as good as most of Ron Howard's stuff it'll be well worth the ticket.

Oh ... and if you haven't read any of Dan Brown's other books, a fave is Digital Fortress. Tons of fun ... and it helps that a huge chunk of the book is set in Sevilla.

Oh ... and why would DaVinci roll over? OK .. so people don't really roll over in their graves. But I bet if he were here the so-called "code" named after him would have him doubled over with laughter. The man was way too smart to skate on ice this thin.

Enough mixed metaphors for one post ...

Look out for ...

One of the things which always fascinates me is the accuracy of what I'll call "received wisdom" ... what we see on TV, hear on the radio, see in the newspapers, etc.

This is kinda consequential to my last post. In hopes that people will stop and think when they hear things like "worst hurricane ever" attached to Katrina, or the continuing bugaboo that somehow religion is for people who don't/can't think, or that Christianity has been destructive for society, etc.

So over the next few weeks I want to look at a couple things.

First will be Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America by John Barry. That one beat Katrina by a country mile.

Next, I came across a provocative title while reading Books & Culture Magazine (one of Christianity Today's titles) - Lamin Sanneh's Whose Religion is Christianity?: the Gospel Beyond the West. Take a look at some of his other titles by clicking here

By the way, the article which quotes from that book is fascinating in and of itself: Saints Rising Is Mormonism the first new world religion since the birth of Islam?

After all that I want to take a look at a couple of sociologist Rodney Stark's books: the provocatively titled For the Glory of God How Monotheism led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts and the end of Slavery and The Victory of Reason How Christianity led to Freedom, Capitalism and Western Success.

The common thread here is that there are alternative views to the "big voices" out there, and we ought to give them serious consideration.