Extramarital affairs not good for family life

In a message marking Baptist Liberation Day, the non governmental organisation, Citizens for a Better Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT), issued a call for citizens to focus greater attention on family values and cited a breakdown in family as the main reason for crime. In a statement, CBTT said, “Everyone wants a better home, but this can only be achieved if we give God priority in our lives and be our own role models to our children.”

Head of CBTT Harrack Balramsingh said that husbands and wives need to stop being at war with each other if they want to make a positive contribution to family values both at home and in their respective communities. “Extra marital affairs and violence in the home are responsible for many broken marriages,” he said. “Children look on and naturally, many of them will emulate what their elders do, then we wonder how and where we went wrong. Couples don’t do what is required to keep a marriage going, yet they threaten to beat or kill their mates when their spouses leave or threaten to end the relationship.

No good, decent person with a stable family background will even attempt to kill a spouse and/or a child... whatever the circumstances.” He also stated that many marriages are now short-lived, adding to the instability of many homes, especially where children are involved. He said young people must be more selective in choosing a mate, for “the wrong husband or wife could make your life a living hell, not to mention the threat of AIDS. “Perpetrators of incest, domestic violence, rape, child sex abuse and corruption are very sick people who need urgent help. We must train our children properly so that when they grow up, they will make good marriage partners.” He ended his statement by calling on citizens to emulate the lives of true and genuine believers of both the Christian and Baptist faiths.