Stop pointing the finger at the parents

Dear Editor,

Re: Actions speak louder than words

If Deacon Leaupepe was inspired by Jesus Christ then he should understand that Jesus Christ in his days did more than just praying and giving out advice. 

Jesus Christ gave up everything he had for the poor and he put his life on the line for the oppressed. It’s a far cry from the comfortable and pleasant lifestyles of the faifeaus of today. 

If huge amounts of money go through the Church every week eg, through various schemes like ‘alofa’ and ‘taulaga’, shouldn’t there be an expectation of a balanced and symbiotic relationship between the Church and the people? 

In my humble opinion, if the Church is in the community and they take so much money from the community, then the people should expect more from the Church in terms of charity work, or be the voice of the weak to denounce Corruption in government and advocate Justice. 

It’s not enough to say that “the Church is playing its role which is preaching and reminding people about what God wants”. 

Well Deacon, God always want Justice and you have seen everything like O.P.C Report 2010 and (S.R.U) Audit Report 2012 and NCC have said nothing at all. Where is the “advice” for the people if the prison is overcrowded? 

Why are the prayers not working Deacon? 

So if nothing seemed to work if we can take into account the amount of lawlessness in the land and the fearless of some government officials to break the law and abuse public monies. 

My question then is what are you going to do next to compensate for the Church’s failure in the community? Are you going to just keep praying and take money from the community or is there a plan B in the pipeline? 

Here is one other thing to consider Mr. Deacon, if the children spend some evenings at ‘aoga faifeau’ and Sunday afternoons at ‘aoga aso Sa’. Then you just can’t turn around and blame the parents for ill disciplined children when the Church takes up a good part of the children’s daily or weekly routine. You’re not totally innocent. Perhaps you can cut down on ‘bingos’ and ‘housie’ so that parents can actually have quality time with their children. 

How about ‘autalavou’ and all these other Church meetings of various Church groups, which intrude into quality family time for parents and the children. These are some of the things that actually contributed to the diminishing value of family time and it’s all because of the Church. 

If you think Deacon Leaupepe that there’s value for the children participating in Church activities and for parents or families to play bingo or housie some evenings, then perhaps you should consider the effect of what the Church is doing to the traditional family unit and acknowledge the role of the Church in the community and stop pointing the finger at the parents...be honest with yourself.

 

Le Mafa P

 

Samoa Observer

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