No Shift or Change in Religious Statistics for Marshall Islands, Says Report

Christianity is a dominant social and cultural force in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), states the 2003 Report on International Religious Freedom. Nonbelievers and other religious groups account for less than 3% of the island population of 56,630 in 2002 and do not suffer discrimination.

There has been no change in the statistical breakdown of religions or denomination affiliations, according to the past four US State Department's reports. Although a large shift in demographics has not occurred in the Marshalls, there might be cause for the US to review the old statistics due to the influx of certain ethnic groups, as well as the exodus of Marshallese to the States and territories over the past five years. A RMI government survey released in 2002, showed that Assembly of God is "over-represented" in Arkansas, meaning that people of this religion are more likely than others to migrate there. Reports from 2000 through 2003, have specified the following breakdown of religious groups:

United Church of Christ (formerly Congregational), with 54.8 percent of the population;

the Assembly of God, with 25.8 percent;

the Roman Catholic Church, with 8.4 percent;

Bukot Nan Jesus (also known as Assembly of God Part Two), with 2.8 percent;

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), with 2.1 percent;

Seventh-day Adventists with 0.9 percent;

Full Gospel, with 0.7 percent;

Baha'i Faith, with 0.6 percent; and,

Persons without any religious affiliation account for 1.5 percent of the population, and another 1.4 percent belong to religions or religious groups not named in the 1999 census.

The 2002 and 2003 reports state that local religious leaders believe the latter to consist of Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Salvation Army.

The last two reports also point out that only Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses missionaries proselytize through door-to-door home visits.

There are other missionaries from the Roman Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventists, the Baptist Church, and other groups. Religious schools are operated by the Catholic Church, the United Church of Christ, the Assembly of God, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Baptist Church.

A national council of churches to include representatives of all faiths was established by the late President Amata Kabua. It exists in name but is inactive.

According to the reports, RMI Government policy continues to contribute to the generally free practice of religion, and there is no criteria for registering religious groups, nor are there ramifications for not registering.

The neighboring Freely Associated States of Palau and Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) also received a clean-bill of health for religious freedom, according to their country reports. For both, there has been no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion.

In the FSM, most Protestant denominations, as well as the Roman Catholic Church, are present on the four states of the country. On the island of Kosrae, 99 percent of the population are members of the United Church of Christ.On the island of Pohnpei, clan divisions mark religious boundaries in some measure. More Protestants live on the Western side of the island, while more Catholics live on the Eastern side, and most immigrants are Filipino Catholics.There is a small group of Buddhists on Pohnpei. On Chuuk and Yap, approximately 60 percent are Catholic and 40 percent are Protestant.

In Palau, there are 19 Christian denominations. The Roman Catholic Church is the dominant religion, and approximately 65 percent of the population are members. There are Bangladeshi Muslims in the country, and a primarily Catholic Filipino labor force (approximately 3,700 persons).

This is the fifth annual edition of the International Religious Freedom Report released by the US State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Introducing the report last week, Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State and Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford, stated that the Report attempts to establish a baseline of fact about the status of religious freedom world-wide.

On October 27, 1998, President Clinton signed into law the International Religious Freedom Act. Section 102 of that bill called for the submission to Congress of an Annual Report on International Religious Freedom to supplement the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom.

This year, five categories of religious freedom abuses internationally were identified.

First, totalitarian or authoritarian regimes to control religious belief or practice are manifest in countries such as North Korea, China, Vietnam and Burma.

Second, states with dominant religions that are hostile toward minority or non-approved religions, are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan and Turkmenistan.

Third, those states which neglect, discriminate or persecute minorities, include Egypt,Georgia, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Fourth, states that have discriminatory legislation or policies disadvantaging certain religions include Belarus, Russia and Eritrea.

Fifth, states are abusive if they stigmatize particular religions by wrongfully associating them with dangerous cults or sects.

--by Aenet Rowa, Yokwe Online, December 22, 2003