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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>To inflame or to inform</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Claude Robinson
Sunday, January 28, 2007
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>In what the Sunday Observer (January 21) called "a fiery sermon" delivered at the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast Rev Karl Johnson challenged the society to transform, our public discourse from an arena of battle to a forum for dialogue.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=90 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Claude Robinson </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Mr Johnson, president of the Jamaica Council of Churches, was catholic in his distribution of blame for the coarsening of inter-personal relationships and a confrontational approach to problem solving: the Church, the state and the political system, national institutions and the business community were all part of the problem and must, therefore, be part of the solution.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I was particularly struck by his observations on the role and responsibility of the media as a contributor to Jamaicans becoming "too frontal and abusive" and a country where the "the public square" is fast becoming a battleground.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Let me say, there is something of a foul nature which is gaining too much popularity and visibility in this country, and that is, where persons take it upon themselves, oftentimes without provocation, without exploring other available channels, to just block a road, destroy property, take the law into their own hands. We are teetering on the brink of anarchy!<P class=StoryText align=justify>"This happens when the foundation is not right and a lot of these people are encouraged by media houses which are sometimes more concerned with the sensational rather than the substantial. In an era where every Dick and Jane now possesses some equipment to videotape, too many of our media practitioners are scouring the bottom of the barrel to find 'man bites dog' news."<P class=StoryText align=justify>Rev Johnson acknowledged that "in some cases" the protests and the demonstrations are justified and he saluted those organisations "which bring to the public fore anything that contributes to the dehumanisation of people."
But he questioned how it is that "the police are never right", or that the government "is always wrong; it cannot be that the people are always right; and it cannot be that there were no other unexplored avenues for resolution."<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=120 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>REV KARL JOHNSON.has done the media and the society a favour by putting back on the public agenda important professional questions like striking the balance between freedom of assembly and freedom of expression and public order </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>I hardly believe any right-thinking person could quarrel with Mr Johnson's main argument that a trend has been gaining ground in the society for some time now towards lawless becoming the norm and confrontation becoming the first choice in conflict resolution.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The evidence is there from the unacceptably high murder rate, to violence in the school yard, to extortionists openly gouging motorists who dare to travel through the Bog Walk gorge when it is supposed to close for repairs that may or may not take place during the announced time periods.
And he is right that protests and lock-downs have become a routine part of the c
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Claude Robinson
Sunday, January 28, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>In what the Sunday Observer (January 21) called "a fiery sermon" delivered at the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast Rev Karl Johnson challenged the society to transform, our public discourse from an arena of battle to a forum for dialogue.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=90 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Claude Robinson </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Mr Johnson, president of the Jamaica Council of Churches, was catholic in his distribution of blame for the coarsening of inter-personal relationships and a confrontational approach to problem solving: the Church, the state and the political system, national institutions and the business community were all part of the problem and must, therefore, be part of the solution.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I was particularly struck by his observations on the role and responsibility of the media as a contributor to Jamaicans becoming "too frontal and abusive" and a country where the "the public square" is fast becoming a battleground.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Let me say, there is something of a foul nature which is gaining too much popularity and visibility in this country, and that is, where persons take it upon themselves, oftentimes without provocation, without exploring other available channels, to just block a road, destroy property, take the law into their own hands. We are teetering on the brink of anarchy!<P class=StoryText align=justify>"This happens when the foundation is not right and a lot of these people are encouraged by media houses which are sometimes more concerned with the sensational rather than the substantial. In an era where every Dick and Jane now possesses some equipment to videotape, too many of our media practitioners are scouring the bottom of the barrel to find 'man bites dog' news."<P class=StoryText align=justify>Rev Johnson acknowledged that "in some cases" the protests and the demonstrations are justified and he saluted those organisations "which bring to the public fore anything that contributes to the dehumanisation of people." But he questioned how it is that "the police are never right", or that the government "is always wrong; it cannot be that the people are always right; and it cannot be that there were no other unexplored avenues for resolution."<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=120 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>REV KARL JOHNSON.has done the media and the society a favour by putting back on the public agenda important professional questions like striking the balance between freedom of assembly and freedom of expression and public order </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>I hardly believe any right-thinking person could quarrel with Mr Johnson's main argument that a trend has been gaining ground in the society for some time now towards lawless becoming the norm and confrontation becoming the first choice in conflict resolution.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The evidence is there from the unacceptably high murder rate, to violence in the school yard, to extortionists openly gouging motorists who dare to travel through the Bog Walk gorge when it is supposed to close for repairs that may or may not take place during the announced time periods. And he is right that protests and lock-downs have become a routine part of the c