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It is no secret that Jamaica is one of the nicest countries in the world (yes, I have been to a lot of other countries). As a matter of fact I am in complete agreement with Tony Rebel when he sings:

What a nice place to live, Sweet Jamdown
The only problem is, no dollars nah run

Yes, I thought Jamaica’s problem was the economy, and crime of course but the high crime rate is a direct result of the bad economy (A hungry man is an angry man).

While reading the comments on a recent blog discussion, I come to realize that if I should take some comments seriously, then the country I have grown to love is intolerant, disrespectful and bigoted. It is almost impossible to think of Jamaica being described by those words. Not the homeland of Marcus Garvey, Nanny and the Jamaican Maroons.

Jamaica is the land from whence came Dutty Boukman, a Maroon who left Jamaica and sparked a revolution in Haiti that brought death to all oppressors and achieved independence for Haiti. This is the country that produced the singer who sang “Africans a liberate Zimbabwe”, where later the Zimbabwe soldiers stated that the song was an inspiration to them while they fight for their liberation. We also can’t forget songs like:

Come mek wi trod down a South Africa
Bus gunshot under the boy Botha
Free Mandela wi a Free Mandela

Nothing above is exaggeration. Jamaica has produced her fair share of freedom fighters and liberators, whether it was with militancy like Dutty Boukman and Nanny of the Maroons or if it was through word, power and sound like Marcus Garvey or Bob Marley.

One thing though, homosexuality is illegal in Jamaica. Yes, not only homosexuality but buggery even between opposite sex is a crime. So does that make the Jamaican Government a bad one? Does that mean she is just as bad as South Africa was back in her apartheid era? I don’t think so. It is a Democratic country where the Government is voted in just like in the United States, so if the people were interested in homosexuality or buggering being legal then it would be.

So are Jamaicans bigoted then? I don’t think so either. Jamaicans are some of the nicest, sweetest and kindest people in the world.

I think it all comes down to difference in cultures. There are cultures in the world where it is normal for cousins to get married. So should the west embrace incest just because other places do?

So the question to be asked is: Should criminal laws be internationalized so that what is a crime in one place is a crime regardless of where in the world you are and what is legal in one place is also legal worldwide?

Let’s face it, the dilemma Jamaica is in right now, is nothing more than people telling her that since the United States and Great Britain say it alright for adults to play in feces, Jamaican should allow it.