“Whenever all of the enemies of our community extol the virtues of a candidate, that ought to tell us he’s not for us.”
Exerpt from Rev Nicholas Tweed’s Sunday, September 9, 2022 sermon.
Controversial St Paul’s AME pastor. Rev Nicholas Tweed, took occasion during last Sunday’s church service to convert the altar of religion into a political platform. He extolled the virtues and achievements of Premier David Burt, while rebuking Curtis Dickinson, challenger to the former’s position as Progressive Labour Party leader.
During a self-aggrandizing preamble, where Rev Tweed told of various favours he was not seeking as reward for his endorsement, as well as highlighting purported personal sacrifices made which he said: “… in large measure helped pave the way for this party to assume government.”
With Mr Burt among the congregants, Rev Tweed’s opening speech became that of prime cheerleader, emphasising the current Government’s achievement in diminishing negative financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic through dramatic, prudent social aid policies, as well as embarking on affirmative tax reform as a means of effecting more equitable wealth distribution.
He also lauded the Premier and his government in their efforts toward establishing a living wage.
“I speak, not because I have a vested personal interest. I’m not looking for a job, I’m not looking to get put on a board so that I can get some money. My comments aren’t a prelude to announcing that I’m prepared to run for public office. I’m not looking for a business deal that I’m pushing to get approved”, said Tweed.
“I can speak because the only thing that I’m interested in, more than anything else, is being faithful to God and seving the people that have been entrusted to my care.”
“I can speak because we don’t always agree on policy. And Lord knows all those White folk who say Tweed only criticises the OBA, have sort of had to redefine their understanding.
“But none of our policy decisions affect our personal relationship. He belongs to me. He’s us.”
“And so, what I want to say this morning not because he’s here is that under this Government even with all my differences with how things have been implemented but, with this Government, there’s no other Government that would have pushed a ‘living wage agenda’.
“No other Governement would have been prepared to even look at tax reform and restructuring. “No other Government would have looked at trying to interdict into our communities and deal with redistributive policies to make sure that poor people have food on their tables.”
“No other Government has been as committed to creating opportunities in an economy that has been contracting and marginalising our people … no other Government.”
Such having been said, the Minister turned attention to Mr Dickinson, who was not present, at once inferring him as an unknown quantity, before detailing, as if being of intimate understanding of the challenger’s political policy intentions, inferring him to be cloned in a conservative mantra as espoused by the ‘Reaganomic’ fiscal philosophy.
“And so, what I’m suggesting beloved, is that a tree is judged by its fruit,”
Tweed continued: “I can’t judge a person by how they make me feel, because that can change on the twinkling of an eye. But I’ve got to measure a person by what their commitment has been in service to our people.”
“And so, I’m not sayng anything personal about the alternative. What I am saying is that the alternative would never have had a ‘living wage agenda’.
“The alternative wll never restructure the tax system in this Island. The alternative does not believe in redistributive policies, but believes in trickle-down economics that didn’t work when the economy was good.”
“And so the choices that confront us are not about personalities, that’s something that children do in the sandbox. The choices that we have for those of us that have been entrusted with leadership is that we have been invested as curators of the future of our people.”
“The question is, ‘Are we really prepared to make the sacrifices; the difficult choices; and engage in conversation that nobody wants to have, in order to build and create a future that is yet unseen?”
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