In my 2020 Christmas message, I said that I had tried my best for more than a quarter of a century in my annual essays to avoid any subject except the faith of man and his beliefs.
Unfortunately this year is no better than last.
Although we are living in a society in which ‘care and kindness’ remain the pillars of our humanity and way of life, our world is once again about to face a great challenge – living with a pandemic which is refusing to leave.
Is this a sort of illness that will stay with us forever or will, sooner or later, a scientist find a definitive cure for this viral attack as the discovery of penicillin did for bacterial infections in the last century?
So, all our hope is in the waiting for a miracle to take place.
But, during this period of waiting – which we have no idea of the timeframe involved – we have enormous responsibilities to perform to protect ourselves, our families, our colleagues and our communities.
MAN, by nature, has achieved a lot in every field of knowledge throughout time and across different civilisations.
Yet, we have not found a cure for evil or ignorance. Our world today is badly in need of great leaders – statesmen and women. This is a time for those in power to step up and meet the challenge, particularly those in some countries in the West.
For you and I, now is the time to listen to the experts and follow the science instead of those charlatans who attempt to persuade the masses to reject vaccines and even common sense instructions of taking precautions, such as wearing a face mask in crowded places.
Let me directly talk to the brokers of ‘human rights’. All of you must understand that the so-called democracy you are preaching is misleading your own followers. Are your own words not a violation of true democracy or human rights?
I personally belong to a country and a society in which care and kindness is a way of life, irrespective of colour, creed or religion. If evidence was needed, none is clearer than the recent opening of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia in a Muslim country, here in Bahrain.
Therefore, we are more qualified to weigh and measure the hardships of other nations, not by looking through the tinted glasses of democracy but by our sheer feelings and conviction.
In the West, it’s very clear that, nowadays, law and order is under the mercy of the ‘human rights’ lobby at a time when the majority of people in these countries appear more interested in personal freedom than community well-being.
What irresponsible selfishness. On the contrary, in our country, every faith is respected … especially in this season marking the birth of the Blessed Soul who said: ‘Just as I have loved you, so you must love one another’.
With the above words, I say to my Christian brothers and sisters, I wish you a Merry Christmas … and peace and happiness to the entire world.