Sabbath keepers locally are lamenting what they consider an infringement of their fundamental rights by employers and educational institutions who disregard their religious freedoms, forcing them to choose between their faith and their livelihoods.
Despite the Jamaican Constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion, including the freedom of individuals to worship and express their religious beliefs, Nigel Coke, communications, public affairs, and religious liberty director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica, who spoke at this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange ahead of the Religious Liberty Summit, shared that there have been increased concerns among observers of the Sabbath regarding the infringement of their religious rights.
These challenges he attributed to a mixture of ignorance or blatant disrespect for the law.
“When we look at the landscape and when we look at some challenges that are faced by some keepers, challenges in the workplace, challenges in some of our educational institutions, we thought it is best that we do a summit instead. Bring all the stakeholders together and have a discussion.“