Separation of Church and State in
T&T: Where we need it and where we don’t:
Trinidad and Tobago is a multicultural, multi-religious society with a melting pot of different religious groups that coexist in harmony. Separation of Church and state in Trinbago cannot be said to exist in the fashion that it does in the USA. The Constitutional basis of Separation of Church and State is found in the First Amendment to the US Constitution:
“"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"
Lacking any similar Constitutional or statutory provision our society can be said to lack the Separation of Church and state doctrine in any binding legal form.
The Government of T&T in fact has made several policies with respect to religion including the Concordat of 1960 regarding denominational schools. The government is also involved in funding religious festivals eg. $50,000 tt was given to celebrate Shouter Baptist Liberation day in 2013 and $250,000 in 2012.
Once the government starts being involved in religion it is inevitable that one group will be treated differently to another, whether it be by intentional discrimination or otherwise. Unequal treatment inevitably leads to contempt and ‘bachannal’ eg. Maha Sabha suing the state for being denied a radio license and winning 3 million in damages in Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha of Trinidad and Tobago Incorporated v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago H.C.1352/2002.
Different faiths inevitably receive the short end of the stick , Evangelical Christian ministers have complained in the past that they do not get invited to pray at state functions and are not given a fair share of land , funding and other resources that the state hands out to other religious faiths.
Several Evangelical churches in fact have to pay industrial rates for electricity from state owned T&TEC while other religious bodies receive concessions in this area.
We can see that government involvement in religion inevitably causes strife that would be avoided by a Separation of Church and State doctrine.
While I’m not advocating for the extreme degree of separation seen in the USA and other ‘secular’ nations, a very small degree of separation is important for a democracy to survive.
The government should also try to disengage themselves with religious institutions wherever possible. Government funding of Denominational public schools is of course important and in society’s best interest, however freely handing out millions of dollars to help celebrate religious festivals is arguably unnecessary.
All government policy should be therefore governed by two cardinal rules:
1. Equality of Treatment- Every effort should be made to treat every religious group equally with regards to privileges. This is in keeping with the rights enshrined in Section 4 of the Constitution including Equality of treatment from public authorities and equal protection of the law
2. Maintain Separation of Church and state unless government involvement with Religion is in the best interest of the nation.
In my opinion religious groups should be encouraged to fundraise amongst themselves and therefore stimulate the market economy by taking part in business, whether it be a series of small bake sales and barbecues or large business ventures as seen with Miracle Ministries.
Religious groups should also be encouraged to attract tourist dollars and foreign funding if possible. Festivals such as Phagwa and Divali could easily be used to bring foreign exchange in the country and attract tourists.
Of course, very small minority groups may need state funding in order to conduct basic activities; these may be seen as the exception to the general rule of Separating Church and State.
The end result of adopting a limited Separation of Church and state policy would be both increased equality amongst all religious groups and a tiny boost to the economy as religious groups take part in the economy through business and tourism and thus contribute to the GDP of the nation.
Trinidad and Tobago is a multicultural, multi-religious society with a melting pot of different religious groups that coexist in harmony. Separation of Church and state in Trinbago cannot be said to exist in the fashion that it does in the USA. The Constitutional basis of Separation of Church and State is found in the First Amendment to the US Constitution:
“"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"
Lacking any similar Constitutional or statutory provision our society can be said to lack the Separation of Church and state doctrine in any binding legal form.
The Government of T&T in fact has made several policies with respect to religion including the Concordat of 1960 regarding denominational schools. The government is also involved in funding religious festivals eg. $50,000 tt was given to celebrate Shouter Baptist Liberation day in 2013 and $250,000 in 2012.
Once the government starts being involved in religion it is inevitable that one group will be treated differently to another, whether it be by intentional discrimination or otherwise. Unequal treatment inevitably leads to contempt and ‘bachannal’ eg. Maha Sabha suing the state for being denied a radio license and winning 3 million in damages in Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha of Trinidad and Tobago Incorporated v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago H.C.1352/2002.
Different faiths inevitably receive the short end of the stick , Evangelical Christian ministers have complained in the past that they do not get invited to pray at state functions and are not given a fair share of land , funding and other resources that the state hands out to other religious faiths.
Several Evangelical churches in fact have to pay industrial rates for electricity from state owned T&TEC while other religious bodies receive concessions in this area.
We can see that government involvement in religion inevitably causes strife that would be avoided by a Separation of Church and State doctrine.
While I’m not advocating for the extreme degree of separation seen in the USA and other ‘secular’ nations, a very small degree of separation is important for a democracy to survive.
The government should also try to disengage themselves with religious institutions wherever possible. Government funding of Denominational public schools is of course important and in society’s best interest, however freely handing out millions of dollars to help celebrate religious festivals is arguably unnecessary.
All government policy should be therefore governed by two cardinal rules:
1. Equality of Treatment- Every effort should be made to treat every religious group equally with regards to privileges. This is in keeping with the rights enshrined in Section 4 of the Constitution including Equality of treatment from public authorities and equal protection of the law
2. Maintain Separation of Church and state unless government involvement with Religion is in the best interest of the nation.
In my opinion religious groups should be encouraged to fundraise amongst themselves and therefore stimulate the market economy by taking part in business, whether it be a series of small bake sales and barbecues or large business ventures as seen with Miracle Ministries.
Religious groups should also be encouraged to attract tourist dollars and foreign funding if possible. Festivals such as Phagwa and Divali could easily be used to bring foreign exchange in the country and attract tourists.
Of course, very small minority groups may need state funding in order to conduct basic activities; these may be seen as the exception to the general rule of Separating Church and State.
The end result of adopting a limited Separation of Church and state policy would be both increased equality amongst all religious groups and a tiny boost to the economy as religious groups take part in the economy through business and tourism and thus contribute to the GDP of the nation.
