Editor’s Note: A Royal Gazette reader found this letter to the Editor recently came across this letter in the October 16, 1979 issue of The Royal Gazette and, struck by how many of the ideas and issues raised remain current more than a quarter of a century later, asked us to reprint it.October 16, 1979Dear Sir,The young people of Bermuda seem to be in the news quite often, and of course as I myself having been young once can relate to some of their frustrations.

Our frustration begins at home really. There we see our parents, who are supposed to have married each other because they loved each other, at each others’ throats. We often hear our parents tell us that we should not smoke and ruin our lungs while they puff one cigarette after the other. Then we have our parents telling us not to indulge in alcoholic beverages then rush to the kitchen cabinet before they can get their coat hung up after work.

So we usually go to our next door neighbour’s house for a bit of relaxation from the cursing only to find that our friend’s parents are also arguing. Then there are our political leaders telling us that we can have an Island of paradise if we can just pull together — only to find them always slitting each other throats.

So where do you turn?

There are no heroes for you to look at in your home or in Government, so you head for the streets and of course the street boys have found a hero — he might be a dead one but he is a hero to them. So they find out the story behind the man they want to look up to and find that you have to dress a special way, smoke a few joints and have your hair dirty and long — you have just graduated from bad to worse.

After you find that having your hair long and dirty and smoking marijuana is not really what you want, you look to perhaps the church and guess what you find — the different denominations are fighting each other. It looks as if there is no help anywhere because, after all, if God is love and Jesus Christ died for everyone what the devil are the different churches fighting about. They truly aren’t setting the example of Jesus Christ and his followers.

Arguing about what you eat, what you wear, and when you worship. So you figure not even Christians are happy.

What has happened? Instead of these ministers promoting the love of Jesus Christ they are promoting their own beliefs and are not showing the true love that Christians ought to show.

It doesn’t matter what you believe about the “Bible” — it is what God wants you to believe that is important. So some people think the sky is purple and others think it is bright red — that is no reason for me to stop loving them as a person (it simply means that they are colour blind).

Wearing long sleeves to show you are a Christian, and eating certain foods and worshipping on a special day sure won’t help the person who has a depressed mind or broken heart. This person needs to know more than that.

Then after all is said and done you wonder what is life really all about. The impression you get from your parents at home is that once Pop is promoted to manager of the company life will be better at home — he won’t curse Mom anymore and then he might even know that he has a son (or daughter) at home who needs to hear the simple words “I love you”. This just doesn’t happen.

After the promotion there is a new car, new home even (perhaps a swimming pool) and more expensive clothes and, of course, the best of food but the relationship at home has gotten worse. So here we are still frustrated.

Then of course Mom and Dad do not want you to know anything about God and perhaps will even tell you there is no God — so there you have just inherited a major problem. If there is no God, who made the sun, the moon and stars (the UBP and PLP didn’t make them!) So my own parents have set me back a bit further.

So Mom and Dad do not want me to believe in God, so who makes a chicken come from an egg and makes a tiny seed become a big pumpkin and most of all, how could I develop bones and flesh from two human eggs? Truly I am in a dilemma.

So I guess I’ll just check into evolution which says we evolved from monkeys (how come those at the Aquarium haven’t changed yet?) Another problem added to my life. And then I heard that the monkeys have refuted the statement on evolution saying that they never have in history beat their wives and starved their children and made war against other humans, and hate people because they are of a different nationality or language.

Sometimes I think that perhaps the older people have just messed up my world! I didn’t know anything about alcohol until I saw Mom and Dad drinking it. I didn’t know about marijuana until an older person offered me a joint. We young people have no way of getting it into the Island (perhaps it is grown here!) but then that is illegal so it must come from outside the country.

The country seems to be really going backward rather than frontward. And then it looks as if our court system is so backward. There are some people who can commit a crime and get one year and someone else can commit the same crime and pay a $50 fine. I think there is quite a bit of unfairness in this system. Then they tell me if I get married and have a wife I will have to get out and pay at least $350 rent for one bedroom and a bath (how about the kitchen?) If I put another $50 I can rent a whole house!

Do you know too that there are even grown men who lay on the streets in the main city? (I don’t think they are teenagers — they have grey beards). It looks as if the older folk have gone astray again. How can I just help the older people in this Island — there must be some way I can wake them up to see the need for true Christian people to get out and be what they are supposed to be — people whom anyone can turn to for help and not be scorned but a self-righteous attitude towards other people. I can hardly find a true Christian to converse with on the street (especially Court Street) after all we are the worst type of people if we sit around Court Street.

I guess if the true Christians had done their job over the years there would not be a Court Street (as it is today). I think they are actually scared of we young people on Court Street. But I thought they had a God that was powerful and strong and they didn’t have to fear any man. I guess I was wrong — they are all a bunch of chickens — scared of those who are supposed to be on Satan’s side — after all he has no power except to deceive.

I have seen a few Christians on Court Street — but you know I would have never known they were until my friend told me because they didn’t have the smallest smile on their faces. Doesn’t this man everyone talks about named Jesus Christ add joy to your life and peace of mind — what happened to those people without the smiles, I think perhaps they got religion instead of salvation.

Then there is the Bishop of Bermuda saying we need to put the young people in the stocks — doesn’t he profess to know that beautiful loving man Jesus Christ? He would never recommend that. Perhaps if he and his fellow Christians had just come by to say hello to the young people without officialdom we would at least know that they love us — but from what he has said he has no solution. Doesn’t he know that Jesus Christ can change a young person’s life and make it into something beautiful? How did he ever become Bishop!

Then all those religious fanatics running around quoting the Bible left right and centre — they sound like empty barrels. They have never in their life shown love to anyone — not even themselves. All they ever do is quote the scripture — perhaps if they stopped long enough God could get a word in edgewise and they could actually help some of the younger folk, and in the process it could rub off on the older folk.

What is with the older people anyway. They achieved all they wanted and yet they still go around looking like the lost tribe of Judea. Then of course we have some younger folk talking about a Bermuda “for only Bermudians”, so I guess I will have to return to Africa after they get through with their programme.

I think that if the PLP could change its PLP to mean: PEOPLE LOVING PEOPLE and the UBP could change its UBP to mean: UNITE BERMUDA’S PEOPLE, I could see a glimmer of hope for all of us but until then I think I will just find God for myself and pray hard for the older folk!

YOUNG ONCE!

Warwick