Thanks for the prayers, but no thanks

Many people could not sleep last night. For some it was the heat. It was so damn hot and not everyone can afford to have an air conditioning unit in their homes. Some people rely on fans alone. My fan is like  a jet engine, loud and blows so powerfully I have to tuck the sheets in to make sure they do not blow away.

Still, some people, myself included, could not sleep for another more sinister reason.

Yesterday, our nation was shocked, yet again, at the brutal murder of an innocent child. When the news hit, people cried, people got angry. People wanted to pray. Best use those goddamn hands to make justice work instead of being on your knees praying. Prayers did not help the child go home, or help the police find her in time. Prayers will not help find her killer. Investigation will. Prayers will not rehabilitate the killer. A noose around his neck will. So, stop praying for the children being killed in our country. Does not seem to do jack shit. Want results? Do something.

Tell those pompous idiots from Belize Action to take all the money they are getting to fight gay people into possible investing in better crime investigation for our very under prepared police. Instead of people worrying who I am sleeping with, is it not better to band together to make sure we have a country worth living in?

Now before any of you sanctimonious pious people tell me I have gone too far in my words, maybe I have not gone far enough. Maybe it is time to stop being nice about all this and pretending like praying is gonna save us. We pray to feel good that we sit back and do nothing, thinking that if we pray, then at least we tried. Tell that to the families of those victims. Tell that to the victims themselves, how sorry you are that your prayers were not heard in time.

Want results? Do something. Better police training, better investigation, better use of resources, that is what we need. Do we want to feel trapped in our own country? Should we always feel fear that our children will not come home? What happens if we all leave to find a more peaceful place to live? Then this Belize you are all praying for, will cease to exist. Don’t bother praying for me either, tried and failed method. I will continue to say what I damn well please.

September Celebrations, Belize - What's the fuss?

So September approaches. Soon it will be time for the same songs we hear every year, that as a kid use to instil me with pride and excitement. Soon there would be parades and fireworks and floats and festivals. September is the month we celebrate the anniversary of our independence from Britain, and the anniversary of the Battle of St. George’s Caye, a fight where the British settlers and slaves banded together to tackle the incoming Spanish. All has a nice movie ring to it right? Every year, there is also a theme to go along with it, something proud and patriotic. Every year the theme gets worse and more comical, but not for the reason you think. The words are ok, the idea is good, it’s just not real.

They usually sound something like this:

"Our Heritage, Our Cultures -- Living and Celebrating in Unity and Peace"

"Building on Heritage, Renewing our Identity -- Living Anew... Celebrating with Pride!"

Oh but those are so nice and make you feel proud to be Belizean. Truth is, they do not really reflect the country as it is. Nobody wants to be the Debbie Downer, and in Belize there is a disease the people have, where they think so many true things, but are scared to speak it because it might be controversial or unpopular. Well, thank god you have me right?

My ideas for themes this year include:

“Belize at 31 and on life support.”

“Belize at 31 – Busy praying the gay away to combat violence.”

“Our heritage and cultures – Trying in vain to polish that faded jewel.”

So go ahead all of you living in delusion and still wanna march and wave your little flags, go ahead and call me unpatriotic. You know damn well I am right. Belize is going to hell in a hand basket. Makes you wonder if we should hand ourselves over to Guatemala or give ourselves back to England. Obviously we are doing a piss poor job of showing how proud we are as a nation, simply be refusing to love each other, be proud of each other, stop killing each other, and something as simple as not throwing fucking trash everywhere.

Go ahead, let the hate mail come.