The faith community in Jamaica used the recent religious liberty summit to remind employers, educational institutions, politicians, and other stakeholders to respect and accommodate citizens’ spiritual beliefs in practise, not just in policy.
“Religious discrimination has no face, no class or colour, no race or ethnicity… We have to work with governments, international organisations, and other partners to encourage religious freedom and tackle related challenges,” Nigel Coke, director of public affairs and religious liberty at Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said in his remarks at the January 30 summit at Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston.
The summit brought together representatives from various faiths, academia, corporations, government, and non-government organisations to discuss challenges people of faith face in various spheres.
Coke emphasised the challenges related to religious practices that some public and private sector employees and high school and college students face due to classes, exams, and course work scheduled on days of worship, and the restrictions on hairstyles linked to religious observance.