Mr Eugene Nyameson writes to me on Presby Moderator!
Since the biggest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party(NPP), has declined or inordinately delayed to join battle with the ruling NDC on the issue of manifestoes, I entreat my loyal readers to take this fascinating fare for now.
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I received a very interesting letter in reaction to my last column on the outgoing Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana that I deem it my duty to share its contents with my readers. However, it is so long that I cannot publish it in its entirety here, only a few highlights to permit me to respond appropriately to the cited portions. I am also taking the liberty of publishing because the writer is yet to be located by me using my sources. The name appeared unknown so far in the upper ladders of the Presbyterian Church. Though I vehemently disagree with the reasoning, recitation of facts and the entire logic of the response, I must admit it was very well-written, and does ample justice to the persuasive powers of the writer. It is always a pleasure when you get reaction to what is written. Herewith the opening salvoes:
‘’I read your article in the Saturday 10th edition of the Daily Graphic on the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana[PCG], and to all intents and purposes, it is in bad taste.
I have followed your articles for some time and I have observed how much critical you have been of persons and groups [including a particular political party]. Sometimes, your criticisms are unfounded and needless, yet some of us have never dreamt of describing them as ‘’unwise’’. How on earth do you think you have the right to criticise others but think our moderator does not have the same right to criticise issues that go wrong in the nation? I don’t imagine yourself to be more human than him or more Ghanaian with a superior constitutional right than him. To describe his comments on the issues that have come up in the nation to be unwise is far below the belt. You may not respect him, but we do’’.
The writer seems completely unaware, either deliberately or genuinely, that this condemnation of me as being unwise reveals his complete ignorance of the recent pronouncements of the moderator. Unless of course, he genuinely puts me on the same social and political pedestal as the moderator which I am obviously not and have never sought to be. He may believe that I consider the reverend professor to be my equal but how can I be equal to someone I have described as my father?
He goes on to lambaste me for wading into the matter concerning the former Moderator, Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso, without bothering to check my facts. I grant him his recitation of the fact that the former church official resigned himself. I note ,however, that my facts came from this paper’s report on the matter published unchallenged to date. With that in mind ,therefore, I have to withdraw my view of what happened and in addition, remove and deny the connection I claimed in my column with a so-called similar incident in my own church, the Methodist Church.
Mr Nyameson further claims that I was in error when I stated in passing that the Presbyterian Church came to this country in 1827. It was rather 1828. I apologise for that mistake of fact too.
The tenor of the entire letter suffers grievously from a popular notion, completely misconceived and a delusion that criticism of a position implies criticism of the right of the person so criticised to contribute his bit to any discourse which seizes his fancy. The right to criticise is not and has never been under attack here. It is rather the worthiness of such contribution which I am disputing. Many adopt this strategy when their views are criticised but I am not fazed in the least. Mr Nyameson does not help us when he refuses or declines to provide the scriptural and religious justification for his and the moderator’s positions on the Montie Three and the Guantanamo detainees. Let me quote him extensively:
‘’As I read this comment from you, I was wondering who had made you the one who should determine what serious Christian leaders should and should not talk about…..I have also read you condemn, whether overtly or covertly, the incarceration of the Montie Three and you tried to oppose some of the justifications a section of the public gave in support of the sentence. In fact, you were against the jail term. Well, it was well within your constitutional right to have expressed your opinion on issues of public interest such as those enumerated above. It is ,therefore, rather sickening to suggest that my moderator should not exercise his right to comment on the same issues you supported or disagreed with….. The last paragraph betrays your bias and robs you of any moral right to suggest that the good professor should not or cannot criticise. If you have the right to criticise the party who[sic] promised one village one dam and one district one factory, what makes you think my moderator, a taxpayer just like yourself, does not have the right to speak out against issues that he deems undesirable to society?
It is laughable to read you suggest that the issues of the Gitmo two and the presidential pardons are not matters of scriptural injustice or of religious consequence in the terms that my moderator saw them and hence, commented on. The fact that you do not see these issues in those terms does not mean that those who see them in those terms are wrong……. It does not lie in your mouth to condemn somebody merely because the person holds a contrary view to what you believe in. I believe such a posture is a clear demonstration of intolerance, hypocrisy and dishonesty. These do not have any place in a free democratic country like ours….Priests, as well as parishioners all have equal right to participate in the democratic discourses of the republic……To the reform tradition of which we Presbyterians take our roots, the Christian life is not divided into political/secular and spiritual. Christian spirituality does not support this separation of life. We are having all the problems we are having today with politics, governance, social life, environment, etc., because of such views you have credited to Burke……The Church, and for that matter, the clergy are supposed to be the conscience of society. They possess the prophetic voice’’.
Mr Nyameson, these statements are all provable false assertions readily made by believers and non-believers alike to give the support of the allegedly incorruptible church to the travails of sinful man. It would be revealing to all of us what should be taught the faithful with regard to Christ’s preaching on turning the other cheek when slapped by these curious pseudo-believers. This country has been a secular country from day one and shall remain so. It would be safer and more harmonious for this country if those charged with our spiritual welfare give to Caeser what is Caeser’s and to God what is God’s.