THE EDITOR, Sir:
I SEE where one of your readers is attempting to impose on Jamaica the farcical interpretation of separation of Church and State in his letter regarding the teaching of religion in Jamaican schools.
The reader, writing in the Saturday edition of The Gleaner, is suggesting that the Jamaican government ensures that Jamaican students be not coerced to remain seated in class when religious education is being taught. The reader should be reminded that the spirit of Christianity runs deeper in the culture of Jamaica than he obviously realises.
The National Anthem is a prayer to the Christian God, the only one of its kind in the world. I wonder if this ill-informed reader would suggest that students should leave the room when the anthem is being played.
On the issue of separation of Church and State, the reader, like so many other people have completely misinterpreted the words of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson did not mean that Christianity should be suppressed or silenced. Instead, he only wanted the country to understand that there would be no national religion, that the government would not favour any single Christian denomination over another.
Jefferson, who himself was an ardent Christian, and who insisted that the Bible be taught in public schools, was merely making it possible for American citizens to make their own choices. What now passes as "separation of Church and State" is an atheistic philosophy that wants to quiet the Christian church.
The government and people of Jamaica are quite capable of making decisions regarding the teaching of religion in the schools without importing foreign values and practices.
Finally, I would like to commend the teachers of religious education in Jamaica. These people are doing their best to introduce our young people to various worldviews and to allow the children to make their own choices. Leave well alone, Mziuka Mhango.
I am, etc.,
A. BAILEY
bridgeviewman@aol.com
Florida
