AME Church Appeals For ‘High Regard For Life’
Following the spate of deaths due to traffic collisions and gun violence, the island’s AME Church has appealed for the community to “reclaim a high regard for life.”
The first month of 2013 was marred with tragedy, with four men losing their lives in traffic accidents, while two young men were killed by gun violence.
The death of Andrew Peniston on Jan. 6 was the first road fatality of the year, the death of Haile Matthews on Jan. 18 was the second, the the death of Torrie Baker on Jan. 19 was the third, and the death of Jason Darrell following a motorcycle collision on Jan. 26 marked the fourth road fatality of the year.
In addition to the four road deaths, 34-year-old Haile “Star Child” Outerbridge and 25-year-old Rico Furbert were fatally wounded after a shooting at Belvin’s on January 23.
A statement from Rev. Lorne K.E. Bean on behalf of the Church said, “Gun deaths. Road fatalities. Such alarming disregard for the life that God has given to each one of us and for which the Lord Jesus Christ offered his own!
“The lives lost to violence are pointless. The AME Church offers continuing support to gun victims’ families who bear the burdens of living without their loved ones.
“The Church expresses gratitude to those who have come forward with information about these slayings and encourage those who have not come forward to do so. The Church prays that reconciliation will overcome the mind-sets that are so bent on revenge and retaliation.
“The AME Church appeals to the Government for a gun amnesty or a similar solution to take weapons off our streets. The Church will support such an initiative and will offer its facilities to the authorities to be used for that purpose. Lives lost on Bermuda’s roads are also pointless.
“Statistics show that traffic fatalities outpace gun deaths. The AME Church pleads with the community to reclaim a high regard for life by using caution on the roads,” concluded Rev. Bean.
Can someone explain how a gun amnesty works?
If you turn in a gun are you forgiven (legally) for possessing it in the first placE?
Yes, it a practice that has been used in many countries to give people an short opportunity to turn in guns with the goal being to get them out of homes and off the streets. I believe something like this was done in the 80s here in Bermuda.
People sometimes buy guns (as weapons or as antiques) are given guns or even find guns and keep them for whatever reason. As people mature, have children or as circiumstances in their lives change they want to get rid of them but don’t want to have to transport them anywhere so they might get buried or put in an attic, or wherever. Why people have them is not the main drive behind it. The main objective is to have people turn them so they don’t get found, stolen, resold, passed down, or used later on.
If one gun gets turned in, its a success.
Agreed
CHURCH ITS TIME to GO BEYOND the WALLS and have services in the PARKS, at CITY HALL and PUBLIC PLACES to SHARE the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPELS!! JESUS hardly ever preached in the CHURCH Building and you all need to do the same!!! PEOPLE are not coming to Church anymore, and the CHURCH needs to come to the people!!
Please, no! Stay within your walls! Religion is driving people crazy. Listening to so-called normal people say the things they say re: god/the bible/similar is mind boggling. How people believe such things is scary. Science is the way forward. Evolution is real. Dinosours happened.
And I guess you believe we came from Apes also,so one question.if we came from Apes why when a woman gets pregnant today she does not birth an Ape when given birth,better still do you have any pictures of yourself when you were a baby Ape.
What? I have no clue what point you are trying to make… Evolution takes time. Often longer than the 6,000 years you believe the earth to be. And do you really believe women were created from the rib of Adam? LOL!
Its called Evolution…. EVOLVE… Transform…. Ect. We evolved due to our region and climate…
Did you seriously say this?
You mean, if we came from apes, then why women (humans) are the only ones with monthly cycles…. I guess evolutionists will tell us this happens in the animal world as well….
We all should be worshipping, praising and serving one God and one Lord, Jesus Christ! But man has allowed the Religious Spirit to take over and very few, including the AME Church make no concerted efforts to Reach Outside the four walls following the example set by the Lord – Go Preach my Gospel to All the World! Religon isn’t what we are supposed to be looking at – we are supposed to be focused on Jesus for He and He alone is the Author and Finisher of our lives, for if not for Father God making the Sacrifice of His Son, where would you, me and Bermuda be. We are located in the right location in the Atlantic OCean for specific reason, go back in history up to present. It’s not about Religon, it is all about Jesus! The Pastors, Brothers, Sisters, Grand ma’s and Grand a’s sharing The Bible, Jesus Love, Jesus period to those who don’t believe. Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth – BIBLE!! Don’t knock the Lord until you try Him!!
good that the AME is doing this..seeing as though the majority of those victims and shooters are from areas that group themselves with the AME..maybe the church needs to look at its methods as they might not be working?
Must be running low on tithe…
We have more churches per square capita than most other countries. Is this really a good thing or does is just show how divided we are? Than we wonder why the children are in gangs when we are so separated ourselves. If Bermuda truly wants to see a change for the better we have to realize its takes a village to raise the children and churches have to do their part also and that means definitely going outside the walls and doing more in the community.