Religion in Barbados is predominantly Christian. Religious freedom is established by law and generally enforced in practice, although some minority religious groups have complaints about government practices that interfere with their beliefs. Speightstown 015

Religious affiliations 1970 and 2010

The reference work ''Religions of the World'' provides the following data for Barbados: Although Roman Catholics are missing from the above chart, the same reference book gives their percentage as 4 percent in 1980 and 4.2 percent in 2000. The

Rastafarian Movement Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...

was introduced to Barbados in 1975.

Religious freedom

The

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

provides for the freedom of religion and prohibits discrimination based on creed.
International Religious Freedom Report 2017 Barbados
'' US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. There is a law against "blasphemous libel" but it is unenforced. Religious groups are allowed to establish private schools and provide religious instruction, with some support from the government. Religious groups are not required to register with the government, but may do so for tax purposes. Rastafarians are unable to perform some religious rituals due to the illegality of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

. Representatives of the community have also objected to mandatory vaccinations for schoolchildren, and reported that Rastafarians face disproportionate scrutiny at security checkpoints, as well as facing some social discrimination. Muslims in Barbados have objected to being forced to pose without head coverings for identification and passport photographs. According to the government, these measures are purely for security reasons.

References

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Religious affiliations 1970 and 2010

Religious freedom

See also

References