Fiji VP: No need for Christian State
Fiji Times Online
(Wednesday, May 18, 2005)
People wanting to convert Fiji into a Christian State are overlooking the potential for division and conflict, Vice President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi believes.
Ratu Joni made the comment while opening the Religion and Governance Forum in Suva yesterday.
He said Fiji was a country where the overwhelming majority of people were religious in one way or another.
He said it would not be wise to establish one faith where there were many faiths.
"It would suggest a hierarchy where some are better than others," he said.
Ratu Joni said he was not dismissive of attempts by influential forces to convert Fiji into a Christian State.
He said the Christian State was a deeply held belief within elements of the Methodist Church and the Great Council of Chiefs.
Ratu Joni said this had its roots in the initial conversion of chiefs to Christianity and in the Deed of Cession.
"It partly concerns the Fijian preoccupation with form. As long as it is perceived as what it claims to be, all is well with the world," he said.
Ratu Joni said it did not matter if the substance did not accord with reality.
"Nor is there any suggestion of forcible conversion of others. It is perceived as a largely benign transformation," he said.
Ratu Joni said while Fiji had a secular Constitution, it recognised the place of religion in the life of the nation.
(Wednesday, May 18, 2005)
People wanting to convert Fiji into a Christian State are overlooking the potential for division and conflict, Vice President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi believes.
Ratu Joni made the comment while opening the Religion and Governance Forum in Suva yesterday.
He said Fiji was a country where the overwhelming majority of people were religious in one way or another.
He said it would not be wise to establish one faith where there were many faiths.
"It would suggest a hierarchy where some are better than others," he said.
Ratu Joni said he was not dismissive of attempts by influential forces to convert Fiji into a Christian State.
He said the Christian State was a deeply held belief within elements of the Methodist Church and the Great Council of Chiefs.
Ratu Joni said this had its roots in the initial conversion of chiefs to Christianity and in the Deed of Cession.
"It partly concerns the Fijian preoccupation with form. As long as it is perceived as what it claims to be, all is well with the world," he said.
Ratu Joni said it did not matter if the substance did not accord with reality.
"Nor is there any suggestion of forcible conversion of others. It is perceived as a largely benign transformation," he said.
Ratu Joni said while Fiji had a secular Constitution, it recognised the place of religion in the life of the nation.
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