Letter of the Day | Religious freedom shouldn’t be taken for granted
Published:Monday | October 31, 2022 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The recent event at Oberlin High School has created shockwaves and has raised consciousness about the misuse of religious freedom.
I am in agreement with the minister of education that school is not church, and I hold the opinion that students should not be exposed to any form of manipulation of glossolalia activities. Speaking in inexplicable gibberish, or witnessing hysterically unrestrained convulsions, levitating and being slain in the spirit has absolutely no place in our schools, and any ‘message’ received for students should be properly processed and channelled.
I have no issue with devotion in schools. Jamaica has always claimed to be a religious, God- fearing nation. However, consideration should be given to the fact that we live in a pluralistic society with multiple religious traditions, and so no one should foist upon a student population any doctrinal belief or practice. Devotion at school should be a motivational time for centring. It should be a time to connect with the higher power. From viewing footages on social media, that didn’t seem to be the case. What transpired, it seems to me, was that many faculty and students were left astounded and traumatised to the extent that school had to be prematurely dismissed, and teachers were soliciting the prayers of the public to help them to deal with this unusual phenomenon.
Schools should not ban devotions. When rightly executed, devotions can be beneficial and academically gratifying. When the students become aware that there is a supreme being that can help them weather the challenges of academia and of life in general, then perhaps all concerned would turn from vice to virtue. Those who are scheduled to do these devotions should be properly vetted for maturity and content. Schools could invite clergy and other motivational speakers to lead devotion.
We need prayers now more than ever in our schools. The psychosocial state of our nation tells us that students do need help from a source outside of human resource. Students go through a great deal of mind-boggling stress, plus the recent pandemic has left a number of students with weakened mental constitution. Many have had to contend with seeing murders, experiencing rapes, aggravated robberies, molestations and human trafficking. Think, also, of the frequent occurrence of student-teacher brawls, parental disrespect ad infinitum. Students therefore need a balm, they need hope, they need centring, but not a pseudo-spiritual experience that will exacerbate their already-fragile psyche and leave them traumatised. There are some students who are from an environment where they were never exposed to any form of worship. These have no exposure to how to connect their inner self with a higher power for guidance For some, all they are exposed to is the rude and the crude; but when they are exposed to things terrestrial, this could be a transformative moment in their lives.
Going forward, there should be a concerted effort to ensure that the atmosphere of worship be not detrimental to the social and psychological environment of students. Students are vulnerable and impressionable, and schools should not be perceived to be evangelical centres. What happened at Oberlin looks like a sign of exploitation. The powers that be were blindsided and ill-prepared for what was imposed on them by this teacher, without due consent.
BURNETT ROBINSON