By Prior Beharry
POLITICAL Leader of the Progressive Empowerment Party Phillip Edward Alexander is calling on citizens to use the message of Easter to do the right thing.
In his Easter message, Alexander said, “I ask all of Trinidad and Tobago today to reflect on the state of our broken nation and what brought us here, and resolve to not only move away from wrongdoing, but to stand together in right doing.
“To those to whom much is given, much is expected. This is the call on all our lives today, and wherever you see poverty or people being taken advantage of, use your blessings to make a better world.
“That is the message of the life of Christ.”
Alexander said, “Jesus died at the hands of the occupying Roman army at the behest of the corrupt Sanhedrin. His death was supposed to scare all the people into submission, but his defiance even in the face of death and his rising from the dead did the opposite, and created a religious movement so powerful that it was eventually adopted by even the occupying force and went on to become the largest religion in the world.”
He said the message of Easter was about hope in the face of insurmountable odds.
Alexander said Christ’s life celebrated the triumph of the oppressed against their oppressors.
He said, “When you celebrate Easter Sunday today ask yourself if you are oppressed or oppressor. If you are being scourged, or if you hold the whip.
“If you are oppressed, do like Christ and stand up. The Christians who built your religion were crucified, fed to lions and torn limb from limb, yet they stood strong in their faith to the very end even through paralyzing fear. Jesus it is said sweat blood in agony in the garden when He was told what he would endure and even He begged that that cup be removed.
“If you are the cause of oppression today, change your wicked ways. All the chocolate eggs and donations to the church will not save you from knowingly causing pain for others and you and those like you are promised forever in the fires of hell.
“We live in a blessed world made difficult by the greed and actions of little men. We need to return to the teachings of love and generosity. To do like the Good Samaritan and help all others, even people different to you and your beliefs.”
He said, “Today I find little to celebrate on such a joyous day as the greed of little men continue to rob this nation of its happiness. I look around at our country broken by the cancer of corruption of politicians and their co-conspirators in the business community and among the professional class of lawyers and accountants.
“Many justify their actions by saying others do it too, but to those with crosses around their necks and crucifixes in their homes who knowingly benefit from wrongdoing I ask, what would Christ do?”
