Whether we like it or not, Bermuda is, unofficially/officially, a Christian state, with Christian laws, Christian government, Christian morals, etc.  One of the main streets in our only city is called Church Street, and it seems there are about 75 churches on that street alone. Bermudians are proud of having more churches per square mile or per-capita than anywhere on earth.  Whether that's true or not isn't relevant - the fact that we think it is, and that we're proud of it is what counts.

 

But is our government really  acting in a Christian manner?  I don't claim to be a Christian scholar, but I can read. And there are as many interpretations of the bible as there are people who read it, so I'm sure some will disagree with me.  But to me, charity is perhaps the strongest message Jesus gives to his disciples, apart from instructing them to love God with all their strength.  Jesus tells his disciples that when you feed the hungry, clothe the needy, and care for the sick, you do these things unto him.  Jesus tells the disciples that caring for the least of our brothers and sisters is caring for Jesus. (Matthew 25).  

 

If that is true, then the current rhetoric from the Premier and this Government about the "culture of entitlement" is anything but Christian.  Responding to criticism for his decision to close the medical clinic for the disadvantaged, Dr. Brown says that:

 

"It's important to understand what happens to people in a welfare state. I have lived in the US and seen what happens when people have their entrepreneurial spirits and ability to self-sustain taken away from them because the state came in to provide for them. We don't want that and we are not going to have that in Bermuda."

 

Certainly this flies in the face of Christian wisdom.  How different the world would be if rather than heal the lepers, Jesus had told them to motivate themselves and find a job that provided full health and dental! If, rather than heal the blind, he'd said "Save your money and get Lasik, Jack."

This sentiment is anything but Christian.  Many people mistakenly attribute the quote, "God helps those that help themselves,"  to the bible.  In fact, this was said by Benjamin Franklin, who was by all accounts was not a churchgoing Christian (or even a Christian) at all.  So why is this the mentality that our government, and perhaps a lot of our society, espouses, while claiming to be Christian at the same time?

 

The current tack also flies in the face of what the Premier said in November 2006, that "people who need help will get it."  This was when it was announced that Government would establish a poverty line so we could see who these "truly" needy people were.  (Those living in an abandoned hotel in St. Georges are not needy enough.)  Why hasn't this "official" poverty line been released?  My guess is that Government will be too embarrassed to release figures that show 1/3 of Bermudians are living below that line in a nation with the world’s highest GDP/person.

 

So why the unchristian attitude?  My guess is good ol' fashioned greed.  Bermuda is a free market wet dream, where privatization rules.  Electricity, water, and health care are privatized, and the only decent education available is privatized.  Where there is money to be made, somebody should be making it, that's the sentiment.  If one of our cousins are too poor to pay for medical care, or school, or housing, then there is no money to be made from them.  Helping that person costs money, and we can't have that.  

 

So we let them suffer.  Is this the "Christian" Bermuda?  Maybe it's our take on Christianity.  But Jesus' admonition that the highest commandment is to treat our neighbours the way we would want to be treated. That message seems to have been lost on the way to the bank.