The Church Has Spoken!

Behold the church has taken a position on the raging spate of insults in our political milieu, of course on the side of decency and decorum.

The Most Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Asante and Rev. Dr. Fred Degbe have at different fora expressed opprobrium at the social degeneration on the local political plane.

It is interesting that their reaction is coming against the backdrop of the worst of the insults- Kobby Acheampong and Hannah Bissiw’s obscene remarks- against the leader of the largest opposition party in the country.

We think that given their stature in the spiritual environment and their understanding of the social setting, their concern must attract the attention and action of the President who is yet to really take a stand on the vexed subject even as it continues to foul local politics with disturbing rapidity.

If the President was waiting for an opportune moment to take action, perhaps the clergymen have offered one, failure to act upon which would lead to worrying conclusions such as “the president authorized the insults”.

The threat of the insults to our already depleted social mores and values cannot be over-looked if we really want to bequeath a truly decent tradition to our offspring.

We do not intend to descend into the gutter as have some politicians who continue to remain in the depths of the drains from which they hurl despicable words against their opponents.

What do we intend imparting to our children if we continue to conduct ourselves in this fashion, knowing too well that kids pick a lot from what they see and hear.

In a world driven very much by the social media such as the twitter, Facebook and the like, such utterances, as provoked this commentary and other interventions, would go a long way to shape the thinking of these children.

Would we have the moral right to rebuke or even discipline our children when they descend to this level of social misconduct by insulting other persons?

The Most Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Asante, Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, did not mince words about the aberration when he spoke on a radio station regarding the cankerworm.

He stated that if indeed Kobby Acheampong was the source of the invectives as quoted in the media, then President Mills must act on the issue by asking him to leave office.

His call bears no malice but our understanding of it is that he intends to have it serve as a deterrent to others so that the insult spree would be abated.

The clergyman sounded worried when he fielded questions on the subject and it is not surprising, considering his sermon when he officiated at the Independence Square during the National Thanksgiving Service recently.

An overheated political milieu cannot support development. Such a milieu would have all its projects, social and economic, stalled as those entrusted with the task of implementing the development agenda would have little or no time for their normal schedules, preferring to hop from one radio station to another insulting their political opponents.

The President has, by the demand for action from the clergymen and other respectable Ghanaians, been cornered and would have to act to restore respectability to his office and stature.