But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work,
Exodus 20:10
"THE Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church in Jamaica has launched the country's first ever National Religious Liberty Association to defend the rights of employees, students and every other Jamaican whose religious liberty is under threat.The association comes just months after the Government passed the controversial flexi-workweek Bill into law. The Bill, which set off a firestorm of controversy months before it was passed in Parliament, is seen by a number of religious groups as a threat to religious freedom, as they do not believe it sufficiently protects their day of worship.
However, Government has insisted that the law will not impact individuals' right to a day of worship, as it allows employees a 24-hour period which may be used as a worship day.
Though spearheaded by the Seventh-day Adventist church, the multi-denomination association will defend and seek to preserve religious liberty for all religions across the country.
The launch of the national association, which took place at the National Arena on Saturday, saw thousands of Adventists and members of other religious denominations coming together for what the SDA church dubbed a 'Festival of Religious Freedom', under the theme 'Our right... our freedom, let's celebrate'.
The festival, which was hosted by the Jamaica Union of Seventh-day Adventists, was the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Vice-president of the Inter-America Division of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor Leon B Wellington, said even in the United States, "where freedom of conscience is legislated, it is not always respected".
Shortly after the launch of the association, the Jamaica Union recognised both the Government and Opposition, Love 101 FM, the Press Association of Jamaica, and other private sector organisations for their contribution to the preservation of religious freedom." JamaicaObserver
