During the Cold War the combatants mostly fought their battles through proxy wars in other countries. Russia and its allies supported guerrilla movements against corrupt and incompetent third world governments held up by America and its allies. Any group that wanted funding only had to shout that they wanted to fight against “wicked capitalist pigs” or “treacherous communist infiltrators” and one side or the other would channel money, technical advisors and weapons, lots of deadly weapons, to them. This resulted in years of misery, a culture of bad governance and millions of blighted lives. Even after the Cold War ended the debris remained in the form of armed and powerful criminal gangs that switched their focus to other activities, especially trade in drugs, gold and precious stones.
Developing countries are now the focus of a new wave of proxy wars being fought in our territories by forces from outside. The Religious Right in America, having failed to breach the Church/State divide in their own constitution, are digging in to fight the US Culture Wars on foreign soil. Extremists of every denomination are sending out their foot soldiers to reconnoitre the territory. They can always find willing partners in the countries they invade especially since they come with overflowing war chests and technical expertise.
A country like Belize is an especially attractive target – English speaking, geographically close and with high levels of poverty, a strong culture of Christianity and even a Church/State education system it is practically irresistible. And so the evangelists arrive and before you know it a small country like Belize sprouts numerous radio and television stations to spread their messages. Gospel and evangelical campaigns multiply and the faithful are heartened. Who could find fault with these selfless missionaries who help the indigenous churches to reach out to their flocks? This, however, is only the beginning.
Soon the proxy war starts in earnest. The real prize is not primarily spiritual but rather to fight and win the culture wars of the US in easier terrain. The campaigns are broad ranging encompassing everything from controlling school curricula to directing a broad range of social policies. The war is not about the right of people to hold and proselytise a particular religious opinion but rather the power to dictate social policy. We see this in many areas. There is the push to control Health and Family Life Education in our schools to omit comprehensive sex education in favour of so-called abstinence only crusades, which have proven to be totally ineffective in preventing teenage pregnancy and other risky teen behavior. A concerted campaign to change our already restrictive laws on abortion to an even more restrictive regime is also being promoted. There are also those who wish to promote officially a less tolerant attitude to sexual minorities and other marginalized groups.
Religious groups have a right to promote their views within their congregations and to try to influence public opinion but they cannot set government policy. We may all agree that there are certain areas of life in Belize that are not functioning for the betterment of society but no one group can impose their solutions on Belize, especially when the methods they favour have not proven successful elsewhere and are restrictive of individual rights and freedoms.
There is a space for those who believe that prayer and church attendance can improve society since there are no restrictions on getting out any spiritual message. However, there is also a right to information and services that cannot be denied to our people, especially young people, and government has a duty to ensure that information and services are accessible to all. We have enough home grown problems here in Belize without importing and fighting proxy US Culture Wars that can only further divide us.
