This is not war!
Adventists call summit to address religious rights infringement in workplaces, educational institutions
THE Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica, which has more than 307,000 members in some 738 congregations, while insisting that it is not declaring “war” on employers or institutions who continue to “disrespect” its “religious rights and beliefs”, says it will be using its upcoming January 30 summit to plead for understanding and flexibility.
The group, while making it clear that it is more than prepared to have the issue decided on by the courts, said the summit to be held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston is designed to foster dialogue and understanding among different religious groups here.
“When we look at the landscape and when we look at some challenges that are faced by Sabbath keepers, challenges in the workplace, challenges in some of our educational institutions, we think it is best that we do a summit, bring all the stakeholders together, and have the discussion. The stakeholders, of course, would include the public, the private sector, the public sector, the various church groups, umbrella groups, interfaith groups, because we are all in this,” Nigel Coke, public affairs and religious liberty director for the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, told the Jamaica Observer editors and reporters Monday.
According to Coke, who was addressing the weekly Monday Exchange forum of the newspaper at its Beechwood Avenue offices in Kingston, the Seventh-day Adventist membership has been coming under increased pressure in relation to going beyond hours on Fridays and Saturdays which is considered their Sabbath.
“In some cases, through ignorance, in other cases, blatant disrespect for the law, we have seen a little uptick where we get the concern from mostly our members that their religious rights at the workplace and in educational institutions are infringed, and so, in bringing this together, we are looking at promoting a better understanding of what religious liberty is about. We are looking at highlighting the fundamental rights that persons would have. The theme is ‘Fostering Unity, Respecting the Needs’,” Coke said.
He said the high-level meeting, which will feature presentations by Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Chief Justice Bryan Sykes as well as other religious leaders, will “highlight the challenges faced by some workers in the private and public sector and student challenges in tertiary institutions”.
“We are hoping that at the end of it we would have some networking opportunities to create a platform for stakeholders to connect, share experiences, collaborate, promote and respect religious beliefs. We also hope we can formulate actionable strategies to address challenges related to religious liberties,” Coke said.
The public affairs and religious liberty director, in the meantime, said the church group has taken its advocacy to all levels in the search for understanding which he said has left some members dispirited.
“We have basically explored all the routes, we have taken on some directly, and then there are others that we would have hoped would reach, maybe the courts, because we can do litigation and we have members who explored with the Ministry of Labour, but the kind of feeling that they get within the organisation, it’s like they are ostracised and so what you have happening in a number of situations is that they just quit the job because they can’t bother,” he told editors and reporters.
“We are disappointed at times because the members give up and we can’t blame them at times because we are not in the workspace that they are in and feel the way they feel when they are treated the way they are treated, when they are looked at as being odd and ridiculous when it is something that is in the constitution,” Coke said, adding that the summit will seek to get answers from the unions about the plight of its membership.
“I would like to know if somewhere within the trade union movement they can represent the worker whose religious right is infringed because as a people we all know that for the most part the unions relate to fringe benefits, your package, your pay et cetera. I would want them to help us. They have a presentation at the summit too to tell us how the trade unions can assist us in getting all of this sorted out,” Coke said.
Meanwhile, Bishop Alvin Bailey, president, Jamaica Evangelical Alliance, which is also onboard, noted that despite Jamaica being a place where different groupings with diverse doctrinal beliefs are not denied their right to worship, in the workplace different individuals are not allowed to recognise major observances of their faith.
“The Seventh-day Adventists because of their numbers would have more frequent incidents of restrictions and denial of right to worship. Monday to Friday is not the only time work takes place, for many persons work is on a Saturday and a Sunday, so we also face that. There are institutions that have their formal days of worship and education on a Sunday. There are other persons who for some reasons their major observances, practices, meals, foods and so on, they are not given the level of recognition to allow them to show due regard in public spaces to the restrictions that govern their form of worship,” Bailey said.
“Work must be with due regard to the rights of all the parties involved. So your work is the right and privilege and of your business to accomplish its established objectives. I exchange for you my gifts and talents and qualifications for your money, but it must be with due regard. We would want that to be a cordial outplay rather than any kind of exploitation or disenfranchisement among us,” the outspoken religious leader said.
Pastor Dr Omar Oliphant, public affairs and religious liberty director, East Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, is insisting that where working on Friday afternoons and Saturdays is a requirement of any organisation, the flexi workweek arrangement is the answer to the dilemma.
“Every employer has certain standards of work, any entity, however, must conform itself to the constitutional provisions…you have six other days within which an arrangement can be made and that is the core of the flexible workweek arrangement. It is not true that there is conflict between professional work endeavour and matters of faith; the two can coexist where individuals are willing,” Oliphant argued.
His argument was supported by Stacey Mitchell, chair of the Jamaica Council for Interfaith Fellowship and a member of the Bahai community.
“We are talking about everybody feeling vested in Jamaica and feeling that they are respected. My constituent is different and very diverse, the Jamaica Council for Inter-faith Fellowship is made up of not just Christians but Bahais, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and each has their own concern. How do we as a society allow everybody to feel respected and a part of this thing, we can be flexible,” Mitchell reasoned.
“In Sweden they have maternity leave for one year, so if they can work that out, we must can work out something like this. The major Christian holidays are public holidays — Easter, Christmas, so on and so forth. I have to apply for leave to take my holy days as do the Muslims, as do the Jews, as do the Hindus. There is more that we can do as a society to be accommodating. That’s not to say Jamaica is not a place of great religious freedom, it is; we have some things that most other people don’t have,” she said further.
“This is not a war. We engage and we negotiate. The flexi workweek engagement facilitates negotiations, many employers don’t know about it. We don’t want to be in a war in the courts, the educational approach is the better approach,” Wendel Wilkins, attorney-at-law, who has undertaken legal representation for several individuals, told the forum.