Feb. 16, 1999

Port of Spain, Trinidad ... [ANN] The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Trinidad has dissociated itself from the actions of a splinter group who have attacked Hindu beliefs and provoked a combative response.

A group calling themselves the “Thusian Seventh-day Adventist Church” had targeted Hindus, distributing literature allegedly hostile to Hindu beliefs which prompted the declaration of a “holy war” from a prominent Hindu religious leader.

“We dissociate the Seventh-day Adventist Church from the reckless approach of Thusia, and state positively that we condemn their approach comprehensively,” said Clive Dottin, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the Adventist Church in Trinidad during a meeting with the Hindu group Maha Sabha on February 10.

As a result of the Adventist-Hindu meeting the two groups agreed a cooperative agenda to fight crime and drugs in the community, as well as developing projects focusing on health, family life and education, reports Dottin.

Speaking of the combative approach used by the Thusia, Israel Leito, president of the Adventist Church’s Inter-American Division called for higher principles of religious liberty.

“It is a sad thing when we find people with such low level of tolerance towards the beliefs of others,” said Leito. “They must understand that religious freedom is not only for any one group, but that we must respect the beliefs of other faiths as well.”

“Once again offshoot groups and extremists have used the name of Seventh-day Adventists in a way we cannot support and must condemn,” said John Graz, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the Adventist World Church. “Their lack of Christian courtesy and their provocative proselytism have caused much damage for the Church. Christian extremists, like others religious extremists, are enemies of religious freedom. The Seventh-day Adventist Church wants to make clear that we condemn this kind of approach.” [Jonathan Gallagher]

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