Kenyatta Gibson tells the Carlton Francis' anti-gambling beliefs story

Gibson tells the Carlton Francis story
tribune242 editorial:



DURING the Budget debate, Kennedy MP Kenyatta Gibson, in putting the case for legalising gambling, told the tragic story of the political churchman who sacrificed himself to support his church's anti-gambling beliefs.

The irony was that the church never assisted him or protested his fall. Instead it became a firm supporter of the very government that had condemned their brother. It was the government that had introduced the evil that Baptists claimed they abhorred. Baptist churchmen took the position that neither they, nor their members, would ever support a government that depended on gambling as a source of national income.

Mr Gibson was, of course, referring to the late Carlton Francis, once Minister of Finance in the Pindling government, who was also a lay preacher in the Baptist church. Although Mr Gibson did not name the denomination to which he referred, he was talking of the Baptists. Because of the large vote the church controls at election time, all governments have been loath to take them on over one of the strictest tenants of their faith. Gambling is a capital sin which the church claims it will not tolerate, nor permit the indulgence of its members.

We recall the election of '67 when the PLP came to power for the first time. Just days before Bahamians were to go to the polls, the PLP sent in a release for publication. If the UBP were returned to power, it said, it would mean the extension of casino gambling. This was not true. As a matter of fact it was an unfair lie, because Sir Roland Symonette, this country's first premier, who was a staunch Methodist, was personally opposed to gambling. No such plan was on his party's agenda.

However, it spooked the Baptist community and, of course, churchmen stepped up their political opposition. There was hardly time to deny the story because Bahamians were getting ready to go to the polls. It was only with a PLP government, said the release, that Bahamians could be assured that gambling would be kept out of this country.

The PLP, of course, won the day, but it was not long afterwards that casino gambling was introduced and flourished in the Bahamas. And it was only six years after the PLP came to power that Mr Francis was put in the awkward position of having to choose between his government and his conscience. The issue was gambling. Here the politician had to give way to the conscience of the Baptist preacher. He voted against his government on the gambling issue and in 1973 had to resign from the Pindling cabinet.

That was bad enough, but a vindictive prime minister never forgave him his mortal sin. Thrown on the political trash heap, Mr Francis was hounded from pillar to post. A respected teacher before he entered politics, he could not get a job at the College of the Bahamas. As a matter of fact, he found it difficult after that to make a living.

As he crossed the street at one of Sir Lynden's political meetings, the "Chief" looked down from his lofty dais, spotted his former finance minister and sneered that there went Carlton Francis, but all he could see was a three-piece suit. It was true, Mr Francis then dying of cancer, was a shell of his former self and all one could see was a baggy suit. The crowd jeered. It was cruel.

But where was his church, which had declared that it would never support a government that got its revenue from gambling? Mr Gibson said that in his research, he could not find that Mr Francis' church came to his support when, having been abandoned by his party, he decided to run for parliament from the South Beach constituency. Of course, with his party against him and no help from his church, he lost the contest.

Mr Gibson said that "the record will show that they abandoned him and quickly realigned themselves with the same political party which he had abandoned on their behalf."

And, said Mr Gibson, "to complicate this issue many leading Churchmen of the day then accepted positions of significance from the same political party which had expanded casino gambling. These princes and princesses now piously sat as secretary generals and parliamentarians in the political organization which had ushered in the very same expansion, which they previously had vociferously argued against...

"And so the question begs an answer," said Mr Gibson, "what did they do for the Prince of their Church, Carlton Elisha Francis who sided with his Church on the gambling issue and gave up his cabinet portfolio? Absolutely nothing. The man could not even get the pastorship of a recognizable Church in this denomination."

Mr Gibson revived this bit of history to advise Bahamians to hold their own counsel in what they believed was best for them and their families and not be guided by special interest groups.

In the debate on whether gambling -- the numbers game -- should be made legal, he said the "people have the inalienable right to choose for themselves."

Mr Gibson ended his presentation in the House with a quote from Mr Francis: "They who stand on the sand banks of history trying to hold back the tide will be swept up in the flood gates of insurrection."

tribune242 editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Official Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) to consider position on gambling in The Bahamas for Bahamians

By Candia Dames~ Guardian News Editor ~ candia@nasguard.com:


Opposition Leader Perry Christie said yesterday the Progressive Liberal Party has not yet come to a position on whether gambling should be legalized in The Bahamas for Bahamians, but he said the issue is up for consideration now that it has been thrust back into the national spotlight.

"This is a vexing problem for the country because of the [number] of people we know certainly are involved in playing the games," he said. "A government faced with that reality must either do its best to advise the population that it will have strict enforcement or alternatively it has to consider some realities. Now the difficulty about gaming is that all governments up to now have sort of elected to avoid the calamitous social consequences and people who talk about having freedom, they say 'well you're interfering with our freedom', but governments knew from the experience of some other countries that it has a dire impact upon populations and people who are tempted to go for the big prize and spending even their children's lunch money. "

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told reporters yesterday that he had advised Christie that his government was considering legalizing gambling.

Christie said this was not a formal advisement, but took place during a social occasion.

"I raised the question as to whether it will be consideration for a referendum where the people will have an unfettered right to determine... but he said the consideration was being given to some kind of immediate amendment of the law," Christie said.

"Clearly, consultation with civil society and the church is necessary because it is an issue that could really divide the country into a bitter fight and it is important therefore that the government meets with the opposition, meets with the churches and other important groups in our society with a view to see if there is common ground."

Ingraham confirmed that he met recently with the Christian Council and indicated what the government was considering.

Asked whether the PLP would support legalizing gambling for Bahamians, Christie said, "The opposition has always up to this point treated gambling as it did with capital punishment where it's a vote of conscience... We have members who are church members in a meaningful way in our grouping in the PLP, who I know flatly will support the position of the church and there are others who will take a different point of view.

"And so, the opposition, based on the prime minister's casual conversation with me, has put it up for mention in our discussions but we have not had any deliberations beyond what is the position of some individuals within the group. And so, it's a matter for us to... stand and wait to see what is taking place."

April 14, 2010

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International