The establishment of a faith-based party in St. Maarten (see Monday paper) no doubt raised a few eyebrows. It is in itself nothing out of the ordinary, as worldwide there are many similar political organisations such as, for example,
Christian Democrats.
Important is to maintain a sharp distinction between religion and government, ensuring an adequate separation of church and state. Some probably won’t agree with the latter, but imagine prohibiting the teaching of the scientifically-backed evolution theory in favour of creationism at local schools.
Mind you, the two are not entirely without a connection certainly on the Dutch side, as taxpayers help cover the salaries of recognised clergy. Nevertheless, when plans were announced not too long ago to build a church at Belvedere with public funds, there understandably were quite a few objections and the whole thing was dropped.
One might even wonder whether the St. Maarten Christian Party will also welcome people of other religions and defend their interests as well, should one or more of its candidates be elected, although a political movement in principle does not have to represent everybody. Still, those involved would do well to make their exact intentions known to the population.
Church-goers also must be confident that monies collected during services at houses of worship don’t end up being used for election campaigns. After all, not everyone attending will necessarily be in support of the political movement.
The idea here is not to argue that there is anything wrong with a faith-based party. However, a bit of reassurance seems in order, that the people’s religious freedom also not to believe will be respected and, for example, that mandatory prayer isn’t imposed especially at public schools.
It remains important to get that message across to the voters loud and clear.
