Why T&T's Prime Minister Quotes Scripture

November 15, 2009 by Edmund Gall

A friend asked on facebook recently why our Prime Minister frequently quotes scripture.  For example, the PM quoted from the Bible during his wide-ranging contribution in Parliament recently, and also claimed to be "drunk on God."

I tend to think anything a career politician does is linked in some way to politics. Check the statistics on the relative sizes of the constituencies based on the different religions.  Click on the People sub-section at T&T's page in the CIA World Factbook - you'll find that the total estimated size of the Christian constituency is nearly 58% (the sum of Roman Catholic (26%), Anglican (7.8%), Baptist (7.2%), Pentecostal (6.8%), Seventh Day Adventist (4%) and other Christian (5.8%)); the Hindu sector is next largest at 23%, and Muslim at 6%.

Perhaps our PM is channelling ex-US President George W. Bush by sounding like a pastor because it's more likely to appeal to the large Christian sector.  It is also why you won't find Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, or any politician who appears to be rooted in the non-Christian community, quoting as frequently from the other holy books (whose constituencies are relatively much smaller).

To a degree, religious belief requires its followers to suspend their logic - no matter what their senses tell them, they're asked to believe in some leader's version of a truth that's subject to human interpretation.  It's suspension of belief - belief in your senses must be overridden by faith in something extra that's unseen.

So perhaps it's no coincidence that some politicians weave religious scripture into their webs - they require immense suspension of the logic held by a discerning public in order to achieve the politicians' personal goals.  When the discerning public asks pertinent questions and expresses concern about what they sense as being wrong, they're called 'doubting Thomases' in search of wounds.  Or branded, pitifully, as being outside the circle of truth, but eventually they'll "understand the value of what we've done", even if it's spending TT$2M to install a national flag during a recession. Tragic.

Regarding politicians' use of religious quotes, I can allow for it in instances where they are arguing for/against certain principles which can also be supported rationally on moral/ethical grounds independent of religion.  After all, scriptures are largely stories which can effectively illustrate the definitions of human values, or ignite discussions about them.

I draw the line when it leads to developing policies wholly based on religious doctrine, or where it entrenches some form of god-/messiah-complex in the politician's view of himself and/or his Cabinet/party.  For this can lead folks to dangerously conclude that everything they do is right, just because they subscribe to some religious view - that is, they hold divine rights to do whatever the hell they want.

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