PROPHETIC POLITICS
The Dangers Of Presidential Double-Speak
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18“When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19“Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul” (Ezekiel 3:17-19)
My Dear reader my subject for our discussion today is: The Dangers of Double-Speak.
Our theses text Ps. 15:3c- “…… And speaks the truth in his heart”.
In order to get the meaning within the context, please permit me to quote the full text of Ps. 15 (from the New King James Version of the Bible). I have highlighted the 15:3c:
Psalm 15
1 LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
2 He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
3 He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the LORD;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
The other verses will be the subjects of future discussions.
The Question in verse one: “Lord who shall abide in your tabernacle?”- could be stated in so many other forms. I will however want to state it this way: “Lord, who shall carry your favor with him always?”
The Psalter provides eleven qualities that must be vigorously pursued by anyone who wants to be used of God. Amongst these is subject of our discussion: “And SPEAKS the TRUTH in his HEART”.
This simply means that such a person must be sincere. The following synonyms are provided for Sincerity: genuineness, honesty, seriousness, earnestness, naturalness, unaffectedness, authenticity. One of its antonyms is insincerity.
A Sincere Person may not be a man without fault. He may not be perfect. But he at least sets off from a premise of honesty. He is always on the side of fairness and objectivity. He does not set off to deceive. His failing may just be because of his limitation as a man. He is always true to himself and to his neighbors. This quality is especially accentuated if he is a leader of any social grouping: family, community, tribe, church, business, nation, school etc.
Whiles all of us are exhorted to pursue this virtue with ‘all of our hearts’; I want us to especially put our dear President- Professor Atta-Mills under the microscope today. This is because, as a Prophet, I am completely convinced that, his wholehearted embrace of this virtue will go a long way to help him navigate the ship-of-state through the rather rough waters we are sailing through.
My President, irrespective of his past, which some people believe was painted in the ‘Atta Mortuary-man’ satire by former President Rawlings at Tamale; is today trying to be seen as a fine Christian gentleman and statesman. Many even want to paint him as being more ‘saintly’ than his great mentor- Papa Jaye. Anyone who attempts to be more saintly than our great Wofa Agyiwodin- must be in one BIIG-TROUBLE indeed!!!
In any case Uncle Atta, the Ofarinyi Kwaegya is trying very hard to HELP Ghanaians and the whole WORLD to see and know that, he reeally ‘looves’ the LORD, and is VERRY VERRY HUMBLE; and is not like the ‘CORRUPT and THIEVING’ Kufour in anyway. He also wants to be seen as a VERRY VERRY STRONGMAN who can ‘keep Papa Jaye confined to his corner’. He has done well so far- right? Or is it all a ‘huge game plan’ to pretend antagonizing Papa Jaye- whiles indeed, when they meet in private, they have big laughs over the whole ‘show’?
Whatever it is, friend, this Prophet is becoming very worried about the Prof’s sincerity as captured in the following examples:
• He presents documents to the IMF and the World Bank to signify that his predecessor has made Ghana’s economy Credit-Worthy; and by so doing succeeds in securing support from the IMF and the World Bank.
Back home however, he and his supporters will cease every opportunity to call Kufour and his government ‘criminals’, and threaten them with prosecutions;
• He claims to be the father-of-all-Ghanaians; and yet through his very ‘loud-silence’ observes his supporters and friends attack almost every opponent within their reach- without winking his eye.
• He has appointed into office some of the most verbally offensive, insulting and disrespectful personalities in our political history into office. Most of these people are motivated by tribal-hate, ethnocentrism, jealousy, greed and just anything that is offensive to the sensibilities of a great majority of Ghanaians- interestingly- including Papa Jaye himself!
And in spite of these, the President every now and then comes out in his usual ‘humble-talk’ manner to make ‘appeals’ mainly targeted to his opponents, to keep their ‘utterances free from insults’- Wow!
• The Judiciary and especially the Chief Justice are under siege from the President’s men. Everywhere, they are maligning, defaming, libeling, threatening, and obviously bringing the Judges and Magistrates of this country under the contempt of the general public. And yet the President makes a ‘lame’ statement of his commitment to ‘upholding the independence of the judiciary’, without calling his Party and his people to refrain from their taunts and jeers.
The Prophet’s Call:
Every matured and sound-minded Ghanaian knows that the President is confronted with a difficult task of managing the contradictions in his own party; and the challenges of governing a country at this very difficult time of the world’s history. But these are even the more reasons that he must be sincere; and stop immediately the double-speak and pretence which are gradually developing into a profession and an art- one which even he himself will not purchase- if presented to him by another!
The Prophet means no harm- only the good of the learned Prof and our dear country.
God richly bless us all. Amen!!!
Prophet Micaiah
PS: Read the column on Thursdays in the Daily Searchlight!
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