Dear Editor,
In the aftermath of the killing of nine African-Americans by alleged suspect Dylann Roof, a young lady remarked that her mother always said, "God allows what he hates to accomplish what he loves." I couldn't understand what would a loving God accomplish through such a horrifying act.
I had to travel to a slaughterhouse to collect animal blood to do serological tests at the UWI and witnessed the screams and blood gushing as they killed these animals for food. I could understand the reasoning, but not for human beings -- that seemed so senseless. But there is a deeper meaning which I failed to grasp.
Now the South Carolina House has approved a Bill removing the Confederate flag from the State House grounds after 13 hours of debate. Symbolic one may say, but it is a start that unfortunately required the shedding of precious human blood.
In Jamaica, we have become used to the shedding of precious human blood, Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams said that he was only joking when he rated himself 10 out of 10 for his 10 months in office with over 600 Jamaicans killed, the majority with the gun. But I am willing to forgive the policeman's error since he later apologised on a television programme. It takes a real man to admit so quickly to a genuine mistake.
Jamaica diaspora consultant Denis St Bernard recently remarked at the Sixth Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference 2015 that "Jamaica does not have a monopoly on crime and violence...crime and violence is a problem all over the world". In developed countries, which have much larger population and far more guns, the statistics are far better: Germany, 281; France, 255; Canada, 165; United Kingdom, 68; Australia, 65; Japan, 39; but the United States has 11. That might be true, but we can still live in a country with far less murders. We are not hiding the facts from tourists, they already know what is happening here when they plan a vacation and they come nonetheless.
Canada's population is 30 million, they have seven million guns; Japan, over 100 million people, 39 deaths annually by the gun. It makes you wonder if the old adage that guns don't kill people, people kill people isn't true.
The commissioner's plan to offer an award for guns supported by other crime-fighting methods, can help to reduce the scourge, but we shouldn't rely too much on the Americans -- they cannot control their own gun problems.
Mark Clarke
Siloah PO, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
Gun battle against crime
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In the aftermath of the killing of nine African-Americans by alleged suspect Dylann Roof, a young lady remarked that her mother always said, "God allows what he hates to accomplish what he loves." I couldn't understand what would a loving God accomplish through such a horrifying act.
I had to travel to a slaughterhouse to collect animal blood to do serological tests at the UWI and witnessed the screams and blood gushing as they killed these animals for food. I could understand the reasoning, but not for human beings -- that seemed so senseless. But there is a deeper meaning which I failed to grasp.
Now the South Carolina House has approved a Bill removing the Confederate flag from the State House grounds after 13 hours of debate. Symbolic one may say, but it is a start that unfortunately required the shedding of precious human blood.
In Jamaica, we have become used to the shedding of precious human blood, Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams said that he was only joking when he rated himself 10 out of 10 for his 10 months in office with over 600 Jamaicans killed, the majority with the gun. But I am willing to forgive the policeman's error since he later apologised on a television programme. It takes a real man to admit so quickly to a genuine mistake.
Jamaica diaspora consultant Denis St Bernard recently remarked at the Sixth Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference 2015 that "Jamaica does not have a monopoly on crime and violence...crime and violence is a problem all over the world". In developed countries, which have much larger population and far more guns, the statistics are far better: Germany, 281; France, 255; Canada, 165; United Kingdom, 68; Australia, 65; Japan, 39; but the United States has 11. That might be true, but we can still live in a country with far less murders. We are not hiding the facts from tourists, they already know what is happening here when they plan a vacation and they come nonetheless.
Canada's population is 30 million, they have seven million guns; Japan, over 100 million people, 39 deaths annually by the gun. It makes you wonder if the old adage that guns don't kill people, people kill people isn't true.
The commissioner's plan to offer an award for guns supported by other crime-fighting methods, can help to reduce the scourge, but we shouldn't rely too much on the Americans -- they cannot control their own gun problems.
Mark Clarke
Siloah PO, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
Gun battle against crime
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