In his Sunday sermon on 12th June, leader of the Anglican Church, Canon Reid Simon, made a passionate plea for local churches – and society at large – to come together and stem the plight of gun violence in Anguilla, head-on.
His clarion call came (at the Pro Cathedral of St. Marry) on the heels of another fatal shooting in the area of the Keys on the evening of Sunday, 5th June, when another young life was taken by the hands of a gun wielding culprit who, in fact, is still at large.
“Remember, two weeks ago I commented that the shootings in Anguilla are increasing,” Canon Simon reflected. “Last week Sunday evening (after church) I could not stay and socialize,” he sombrely said, “because right down the road from where I reside somebody got shot. My son was at home, and I realised it was a possibility that while the perpetrator was fleeing from the police, or from whomever, my home could have been vulnerable. So I had to ‘dash out of port. I shoved off in a hurrry.”
“I don’t have the answers,” the Canon admitted, “but we need to come together as a society and stop all this. Do you see what it is doing to Anguilla? We are too small for this kind of carnage to be happening to us. Anguilla has too much of a proud history for this violence to be happening among us.” Then, in a tone of resolve, he passionately blurted, “We have too many churches for this behaviour to continue. We need a change!”
He remarked that while Anguilla is not the only place where gun violence exists, he must still be concerned about the trend because he lives here. “Here is not the only place,” he observed, “but right now I live here. I work here. I tabernacle here. My family and friends have become the people who are part of this body — the church of Jesus Christ.”
Canon Simon said that bishops of the church, about three years ago, had met and devised a forum for dealing with ills such as gun violence, and for promoting peace and justice among the people of the region, but Covid stepped in, he recounted. “In all of this,” he noted, “we were supposed to be on spot to interview bishops from various areas – and draw up ideas as to how we should go forward in advocating for peace and justice in our societies. I would love to hear it for Anguilla.”
Meanwhile, members of the public were commenting about how tight-lipped authorities, including the Police Force and the Government, were about the recent spate of shootings. In this regard, the Honourable Minister of Social Services, Ms. DeAnn Kentish-Rogers, has commented: “Many people don’t know this, but public statements on these incidents can lead to a trial being thrown out. This is not to say that no statement is possible but, in circumstances where the families need justice, people sometimes err on the side of caution.
“I don’t want to simply shout from my echo chamber to people who are already distraught by gun violence. So, my call to action is, instead of talking about the violence in this forum, let us meet on Thursday, June 16th at 6:00 p.m. at the Rodney McArthur Rey Auditorium. There we will put our heads and hearts together on the issue of gun violence.”
Most likely, Canon Reid Simon would be participating in that very important meeting.
