Author wants more done to elevate Spiritual Baptists in SVG

Students, academics and practitioners of the Spiritual Baptist faith will have another publication to bolster knowledge of the religion following the official launch of ‘Against Toleration: Britain’s Persecution of Spiritual Baptists’, written by Historian, Dr Claudius Fergus.

The book breaks new ground in exposing how colonial powers in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) worked to deny Spiritual Baptists the right to practice their religion which led to the passage of the Prohibition Ordinance in 1912.

The book launch was held on Friday, October 18, 2024, at the Botanic Gardens and attended by practitioners of the religion, students of the SVG Community College as well as local historians.

The Trinidadian academic, who is a retired Senior Lecturer at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, and Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago National Committee on Reparations, told Spiritual Baptists at the gathering that “the book is dedicated to you”.

He said that after the publication of his first book, ‘Revolutionary Emancipation’ in 2013, he did not believe that he would undertake publishing again. He described the newest publication as a “life-long effort” considering the tremendous amount of research that went into the work.

His goal, the historian noted, was not just to write a book, but to create a document that could be used to build an argument for reparations for the group.

“The primary goal was not just to create a book but to create a document that Spiritual Baptists will use to address the British government and demand reparations. It is a call for reparatory justice for Spiritual Baptists.”

Dr Fergus praised the recent move made by the government of SVG in August this year to officially recognize May 21 as National Spiritual Baptist Day.

Speaking in Parliament at the time, Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, highlighted the many tribulations that confronted the group leading up to and after the Shouter Ordinance was passed into law.

Dr Fergus said that while the SVG government is not responsible for the persecution of those in the religion, he believes that more can be done to elevate their position.

“I think it is fantastic to award the public holiday because that raises the national consciousness about Spiritual Baptists, and it would raise the consciousness of the Spiritual Baptists about their own religion. While it wasn’t the government that banned them, it was the government of this place that banned them, and therefore the local government has a responsibility to do more than that.”

Local historian, Dr Cleve Scott, who offered an analysis of the text, described the publication as “rigorous, well-researched and detailed”.