Jamaica in the 21st Century

Livingstone Thompson, PhD, lectured at universities in Ireland and is former President of the Executive Board (P.E.C.) of the Jamaican Province. He now has pastoral charges in Belfast and Hillsborough, Northern Ireland. Petal Thompson-Williams, M.Ed., is Lecturer in Social Studies and History at Bethlehem Moravian College, St Elizabeth, Jamaica

Dr. Livingstone Thompson’s Jamaica in the 21st Century provides a rich dig into what he describes as “a selective archaeological enterprise” of his commentaries published in the Daily and Sunday Gleaner newspapers between 2003 and 2007. This compendium not only shines a spotlight on the socio-economic and cultural issues that dominated public discourse during that specific period but also helps to put in context, nearly a decade later, discussions on the same topics of crime and violence, education, morality and sexuality, the death penalty and the role of the UK Privy Council in the life of independent Jamaica. Serious researchers should find this compilation a useful reference tool as they examine aspects of life in 21st century Jamaica.

• IntroductionChapter 1—National Issues and PoliciesUWI Trends and Policy NeedsThe Terrorism Prevention Act 2003A Sterile Budget DebateWhy the Fascination with Gambling?The Church, Party Leadership and UnityTeachers Need InspirationWhose Victory Is This? A Blow to Political Bigotry Ras Noah and the Hawk: Making Fun of GodAnd There Shall Be Rain!Dawn Ritch and the Educated Class Independence and Development The Ethics of Funding Education Is Hanging the Answer to Crime?Education of Persons with DisabilityThe Duppy Economic PolicyImplications of IndependenceThe Electoral Advisory Committee: Cosmetic Change?Crime and Divine InterventionChapter 2—Regional and International IssuesReligion on the Caribbean AgendaA Crisis in Human SexualityThe Death of Thousands: a Theological ProblemThe Church and Human SexualityLong Live the IRASexual Relations, Rape and Civil UnionsEconomic Success and Religious AffiliationApartheid is Dead, not its ChildrenCWC: Priced Beyond the OrdinaryMigrating to Ireland: Pull Factors and LimitationsChapter 3—Religion, Faith and the ChurchThe Church’s Influence on EmancipationInterfaith RelationsThe First Protestant Denomination in JamaicaMoravians in Wider SocietyThe Bishop of Rome and the Anti-PopesHappy New Year my foot!In the Beginning, GodA Female Primate to the Rescue? Religions and Economic SuccessChapter 4—Letters to the EditorComments on Religious ArticlesEarly Role of the MoraviansA Comment on C. Reynolds' Plea for "Sense”Re-interpreting Christian Tradition and HistoryMoravian Position on HomosexualityGanja Case Not Strong EnoughWhy the JLP is wary of the Social PartnershipThe Murder of Rev Dr RWM CuthbertReconsidering the Rights Law PostscriptJamaica’s Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education, by Petal Thompson-Williams