A force for unity . . . Commonwealth members urged to see beyond their differences

There are people of many different races, religious denominations and social backgrounds within the Commonwealth of nations, but those differences should be respected and used as a force to unite us rather than keep us apart.

This was the view of Assistant Curate of the St. Mary’s Anglican Church Reverend Roslyn Harper-Johnson as she addressed the Multi-Faith Observance of Commonwealth Day this morning.

Speaking on the theme, Delivering a common future: Connecting, innovating, transforming, Reverend Johnson stated, “Many of us understand self starting with the individual, but the Commonwealth movement and most religions say to us we are not individuals one onto another. We are constantly being reminded that we exist and operate because we are a community, each of us dependent on and responsible to another.”

She noted that Commonwealth Day fell on a day recognised within Anglican circles as the celebration of St. Gregory, who promoted the belief that all humanity shared a common bond, something considered controversial in his day, and still an issue many people frown upon in modern times.

“St. Gregory said take care of people with needs first, at a time when people believed they only had to look out for themselves. In the year 2020, we have not really moved beyond this, as recent crises, such as the mass immigration movement brought out some distressing characteristics of humanity, with people separating themselves from others.

“The current COVID-19 outbreak is also bringing back such language, with people on social media saying, ‘shut the ports, do not let them in, we need to protect ourselves from them’. As we gather together as a Commonwealth, we have to move away from using that type of language.”

The cleric said while inclusiveness was important, it had to move beyond mere tokenism and it was crucial those who represented ‘special groups’ be given a chance to express their views and have their views respected and taken into consideration during any decision-making process.

“When we connect and forge bonds of unity, we should not disrespect unique flavours, not promoting tokenism. Often, we want to place people from different backgrounds in a room just to check a box, for example women, competencies, races, religions. But you must respect what those people bring, so when they share their views, don’t shut them down; when different voices bring their different ideas, if we have genuinely connected, we should respect the views they offer to the discussions.”

During the service, where Governor General Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason delivered the address from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the congregation also heard addresses from representatives of the Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Baha’i and Christian faiths, and the George Lamming Primary School choir performed two songs. (DH)