For some time now I have viewed with increasing concern the dramatic occurrences of irresponsible, mindless acts in our society. The recent reprehensible acts at St Cecilia's Chapel in Maracas Valley, St Joseph have added to my concern.
It is difficult to attribute such behaviour singularly to vandalism, anti-religious sentiment or robbery (particularly since items of value remained intact). I prefer to think, along with Jean-Paul Sartre, the French existentialist and literary giant, that such acts derive from a basic misconception of freedom and responsibility.
Sartre, of course, was an atheist, an unbeliever, but one who sought to explain in simple terms through his publication Existentialism is a Humanism that man is free, but that his freedom carries with it a responsibility for other human beings simply because the free choice of one individual's act may affect the freedom of another human being.
As a people, we do not seem to make a clear distinction between the conscious, rational human beings we are privileged to be and other creatures whose lives are guided by instinct. The law of our country grants citizens, at the age of 18, the freedom to choose their own path.
Unfortunately, there is nothing in the script that speaks of the limits of such freedom in the manner described by Jean-Paul Sartre. The result has been a blatant and irresponsible disregard for authority and fair play not only by members of any one sector of the society but at all levels. I am not an atheist. I am a believer.
But I have always had a profound admiration for Sartre who never hesitated to lend his full support to protests against injustice, whenever he deemed such protests to have pure motivation. I do believe that our society, for some time, has been showing signs of wear and tear, of immaturity, of a profound resistance to meaningful change and a reluctance to encourage and engage in healthy debate.
As parents, teachers and figures of authority, we need desperately to assume the responsibility of steering the ship, and in so doing, avoid playing the blame game. That is a recipe for disaster.
Randolph Hezekiah
St Joseph