The Gleaner' and Deacon Thwaites

published in the Jamaica Gleaner : Wednesday | August 1, 2007

By Peter Espuet

I cannot recall any previous occasion - maybe I am not old enough - when the editor of The Gleaner castigates one of his own columnists in an editorial.

Last Friday, my editor wrote that Christians should "find disconcerting … the attempt by Mr. Thwaites' brother deacon, Peter Espeut, at bolstering Archbishop Burke's position". And that "the Christian God and many of His followers on Earth may be offended by Deacon Espeut's argument". It is good that my editor is so ready to come to God's defence.

What my editor did not know (since he did not seek clarification before his attack) was that 10 years ago when my friend and brother deacon privately sought my advice as to whether he should enter politics, my answer was almost identical to what was in my column last week. Shortly afterwards, he sought the advice of the brotherhood of deacons, and my very public position then was the same as it is now.

My position happens now to coincide with the position of Archbishop Burke, but a decade ago it conflicted with the position taken by the incumbent Archbishop Clarke, who raised no objections to Ronnie's candidacy. Archbishop Burke does not need me to bolster his position, and that was not in my mind when I wrote last week's column; my intention was to take personalities out of the discussion and to address principles.

Not devoid of error

Theeditorial was not devoid of error. It claimed that Ronnie "was forced to resign his seat for Central Kingston over a scandal that partly involved his church". This is quite false. Ronnie, to his credit, voluntarily resigned his parliamentary seat because of the apparent scandal over cheques drawn to the Postal Corporation of Jamaica; he also withdrew from his radio talk show while the issue was being investigated. Possibly, my editor is confusing the resignation with an entirely different incident where Ronnie was allowed to use some church land as collateral for a loan; during the public furore, Archbishop Clarke asked Ronnie to withdraw from diaconal functions until the issue was resolved. He soon returned to th>The Gleaner must be careful when persons leak information to them; they must get the whole story; persons who make leaks to the press often have a political agenda, and leak only the parts that suit them. The public needs to know that at the moment there is no ban on Deacon Thwaites preaching or otherwise functioning as a Roman Catholic deacon. Archbishop Burke has asked Deacon Ronnie to withdraw from diaconal functions starting on Nomination Day, August 7, to avoid the appearance that he might be campaigning from the pulpit. Now and after that date, Ronnie remains a Roman Catholic deacon in good standing.

Asked to withdraw

The Gleaner Company has majority shares in Power 106, the radio station on which Ronnie's programme 'Independent Talk' is broadcast. They have asked him to withdraw from the programme starting on Nomination Day.

I believe that my editor has misunderstood both Archbishop Burke and myself. He describes the Archbishop's concern as how to reconcile "the roles as witness for God and player in the gritty business of partisan politics". As I tried to show last week, Jamaican politics is far beyond being described as a "gritty business"; to fail to grasp this point is a testament to how garrisons and tribalism have been accepted as "normal".

The mission of tribalism is to get the whole society - Church and media included - to join one tribe or another; persons like myself who support neither tribe will always be vilified. But, thank God, there are forces more powerful than tribalism. Politics has not come between Ronnie and me; our brotherly bonds of faith and friendship are stronger than political tribalism. Archbishop Burke is wise to wish to prevent the Church from being infected by the tribalism in the wider society. He may already be too late.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and a Roman Catholic deacon.