“Our health emanates from proper nourishment and strict obedience to the words of the Almighty Jah Rastafari”
PM: Bush medicine will not work against COVID
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Executive Council of the House of Rastafari Inter-Mansion Collective yesterday issued a statement claiming religious exemption from mandatory vaccination.
The statement did not specify whether the group is refraining from vaccination against COVID-19 in particular or all vaccines in general, and Eyewitness News inquiries to the Executive Council went unanswered up to press time.
In its statement, the council said: “Rastafari is an indigenous culture of African descendants that encompasses our belief system, faith, education, nutrition, health and work. Our way of life is biblically based…
“Rastafari has depended on the Bible and its ancestral knowledge for the preservation of health within our families. We use natural holistic remedies to maintain our health, preferring the use of herbs, tonics, natural foods, rest, nature and our body’s own immune system to maintain our vitality.”
The statement comes amid public discourse on vaccination of students ahead of the new school year.
Minister of Education Jeffrey told the media on Monday that “no child can enter the public school system without vaccination”, however, he later clarified that he was referring to pre-existing vaccine requirements and not the COVID-19 vaccine, which remains voluntary.
Still, the comments sparked national discussion as the nation now has Pfizer vaccines that can be administered to children 12 and over, with Lloyd encouraging parents of children in that age range to have them vaccinated.
But the Rastafari Executive Council provided its members with a written exemption form they can sign on behalf of themselves and their children, stating “my genuine and sincere religious beliefs prohibit me and my child(ren) from any or all vaccinations/immunizations”.
“I am a member of the House Of Rastafari Inter-Mansion Collective and request for a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement at any institution,” the written form reads.
The council also referenced several biblical passages, including Genesis 1:29, Ezekiel 47:12 and Revelation 22:2, as the basis of its belief in herbal medicine.
“Our health emanates from proper nourishment and strict obedience to the words of the Almighty Jah Rastafari,” it said.
“The popular ignorance of criminalizing the use of herbs and unfettered destruction of the earth’s forestry is only now being dispelled as human existence is threatened.”
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has recently come under fire for asserting widely used native “bush medicine” is not effective against COVID as he again urged Bahamians and residents to become inoculated against the deadly virus.
Many Bahamians remain hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine, which the government has maintained is offered on a voluntary basis.
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