Dear Editor,
We live on a small little island called St. Maarten with a population of just about 45,000 people on the Dutch side. We are a nation of mixed cultures, people, as well as nationalities. According to our laws, adult establishments such as brothels, strip-clubs and other forms of adult entertainment are freely allowed to do business. But we live in a world where we have become quite tolerant or immune to various forms of sexual entertainment. Internet porn is widely shared across our network system, where porn stars without shame display themselves in the most shameful manner one can think of.
Nowadays even the gays are not staying at home, but are having their gay cruise throughout the Caribbean to proudly promote homosexual awareness. Bear in mind that the gay cruise industry has also labelled St. Maarten as a gay-friendly island. And don't forget we also have the nudists, who are attracted to our nude beaches, where they can freely walk in broad daylight on our beaches, even in the presence of young children, displaying their "Adam and Eve goodies" without shame. Yes, that proves that what the very Bible says has indeed turned out to be true, namely that we live in a world where man is calling good evil, and evil is considered as good. Men have become lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Morality and decency has fallen worldwide to an all-time low.
I want us to just look at things from a moral point of view. Last weekend an article that was published on the front pages of both our local newspapers stated that our government will be allowing two more brothels to open business here on our island. This now will bring the total number of brothels in Dutch St. Maarten to eight. Besides that, we also have four strip-clubs and God only knows how many more other clubs we have out there that, unknown to government, may also be in the sex-trade business of offering some form of adult entertainment.
Because of our tolerance of immorality, no consideration is therefore given to the possible psychological impact the lawlessness of increased immoral behaviour may have on marriage and family unity, and not to forget respect and consideration of women.
But one should also ask the question as to why so many brothels? Or what interest is there in expanding the sex industry here on this little island? Is there such a shortage of women here on this island for the men, so that more women from elsewhere have to be ordered or shipped in to meet their sexual needs, or are the women here perhaps not good enough to fulfil the sexual standards of certain men, so that more so-called "experienced" women are needed to do the job?
What message are we sending to our men, in particular even our young men on this island? Are we encouraging them to also engage in the same habitual, immoral lifestyle, by degrading the value and esteem of our decent, local women in preference for prostitutes? Or is it all because of commercial gain, or a lack of moral conscience? Now if it's okay, according to our law, for brothels and strip-clubs to operate on our island, then by all means sooner or later even the gays will also seek their rights in establishing their clubs as well.
Just recently I happened to read a book about the true life behind the scenes of prostitutes, strippers and porn stars, where these women talk about their real-life situations. Surprisingly most of these women don't really like their profession, but they only do it because it pays big bucks and it's a way of making fast money. But remarkably, when asked what they think about their clients who come to them for sex, some of them exclaimed that men are stupid, they are sick and that all they want from these men is just their money. It furthermore stated how prostitution and pornography were seriously affecting marriages, leading to divorce, infidelity, adultery and, in some other extreme psychological cases, even to incest as well as child abuse.
The prostitution trade is nothing more than a business where women and mostly women from poorer countries are lured into becoming sex slaves by money greed masters. We cannot hide our eyes from seeing the truth, because everyone has a conscience and knows the difference between right and wrong. St. Maarten is said to be a blessed island, but times are changing and we are unconsciously indulging deeper and deeper in immorality. Believe it or not, but, according to historical teachings from the Bible in Genesis to Revelations, man will never change his ways. That's why there will be an end to all things, because our ears have become dull of hearing and our eyes have been darkened, so that we cannot see.
A concerned citizen.
Name withheld on request.
