The Cross is rooted in violence

THE EDITOR: The debate has once again emerged with the name of our highest award — The Trinity Cross. Pros and cons have been forwarded for the retention of the award and semantics have been the order of the day with respect to the words “Trinity” and “Cross.” There is no doubt that Trinity is part of our history and the “root” word in the name of our country — Tobago excluded. The Cross however, is a misnomer for an award which is given “for distinguished and outstanding service to Trinidad and Tobago.”

The Cross is a symbol which is rooted in violence, bloodshed and suffering. It is synonymous with the “Red Cross,” so evident on our ambulances which carry those who have been violently hurt in war, or those who bleed and suffer through man’s violence to man. At no time in the history of the world has the Cross ever been a symbol of peace as some writers have expressed. Even the crusaders of the Middle Ages who carried the symbol of the Red Cross, carried it with the intention of bringing about bloodshed on the “infidels” in the name of God.

Today, our distinguished clergy in the Christina faith, carry the emblem of the Cross in humility, to personify the suffering of Jesus, brought about by the violence which was inflicted upon him. The Cross as a symbol, therefore does not lend itself “for distinguished and outstanding service.” Perhaps a more appropriate award “for distinguished and outstanding service” is “The Golden Heart” — a name suggested to the authorities more than a decade ago, by the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at-I-Islam Inc.

IMAAM  IQBAL HYDAL
Ahmadiyya Anjuman