The sto­ry of T&T’s Spir­i­tu­al Bap­tist Lib­er­a­tion Day hol­i­day is a sto­ry of the spec­trum of hu­man ex­pe­ri­ences, a sto­ry of re­jec­tion, strug­gle, vic­to­ry, ac­cep­tance and earned re­spect to which all can re­late.

So said Pres­i­dent Chris­tine Kan­ga­loo in de­liv­er­ing greet­ings for to­day’s Spir­i­tu­al Bap­tist Lib­er­a­tion Day 2023. She urged cit­i­zens to think about the mod­el the com­mu­ni­ty’s faith jour­ney pro­vides for every­one.

“Peo­ple tend to fear what they do not know. They al­so tend to fear what they can­not con­trol,” she said.

“On No­vem­ber 16, 1917, the colo­nial gov­ern­ment, suf­fer­ing from fear of what they did not know and could not con­trol, en­act­ed the Shouters Pro­hi­bi­tion Or­di­nance. The Or­di­nance banned the prac­tice in Trinidad and To­ba­go of the Spir­i­tu­al/Shouter Bap­tist faith.

“Strong peo­ple al­so tend to rise above the in­jus­tices and the bar­ri­ers that are put in their way. Strong peo­ple can­not be si­lenced. Luck­i­ly for Trinidad and To­ba­go, the peo­ple of the Spir­i­tu­al/Shouter Bap­tist faith rose above the in­jus­tice and the bar­ri­ers of the Shouters Pro­hi­bi­tion Or­di­nance. In do­ing so, they showed their strength and their com­mit­ment to their God. They would not be si­lenced.”

Kan­ga­loo not­ed that on March 30, 1951, the colo­nial gov­ern­ment yield­ed to the in­sis­tent cries of the peo­ple of the Spir­i­tu­al/Shouter Bap­tist faith, and of those who joined in ad­vo­cat­ing for their cause. The Shouters Pro­hi­bi­tion Or­di­nance was re­pealed. In 1996, Gov­ern­ment grant­ed the Spir­i­tu­al/Shouter Bap­tist faith their own pub­lic hol­i­day.

“His­to­ry had come full cir­cle. Fit­ting­ly, the hol­i­day is cel­e­brat­ed on the an­niver­sary of the re­peal of the Or­di­nance. The sto­ry of our Spir­i­tu­al Bap­tist Lib­er­a­tion Shouter Day hol­i­day is a sto­ry of the spec­trum of our hu­man ex­pe­ri­ences. It is a sto­ry of re­jec­tion, strug­gle, vic­to­ry, ac­cep­tance and earned re­spect. It is a sto­ry to which all of us can re­late. All of us have been through these ex­pe­ri­ences, in some form or an­oth­er.”

Pres­i­dent Kan­ga­loo con­tin­ued: “Hap­pi­ly for us, we have the ex­am­ple of the Spir­i­tu­al/Shouter Bap­tist faith, and of how to rise from the depths of re­jec­tion and ar­rive at the pin­na­cles of ac­cep­tance and earned re­spect.

As T&T ob­serves Spir­i­tu­al Bap­tist Lib­er­a­tion Shouter Day 2023, she urged: “Let us think about the mod­el that their faith jour­ney pro­vides for all of us. Let us think about the fear that we feel to­wards the things in our lives that we do not know and that we can­not con­trol. Of­ten, such fear brings anger and can some­times cause us to act in ways that in­flict harm on those around us. Let us, there­fore, try to let go of that fear. Let us try to be a strong peo­ple.

“Where in­jus­tices and bar­ri­ers are put in our way, let us try to rise above them. Let us sup­port each oth­er, and ad­vo­cate for one an­oth­er, in the face of every in­jus­tice and every bar­ri­er. Let us nev­er be si­lenced in our strug­gle against in­jus­tice.

“Most of all, let us nev­er wa­ver in our com­mit­ment to our God and our coun­try. Let us mod­el, in our dai­ly lives, the faith jour­ney of the Spir­i­tu­al/Shouter Bap­tist faith.

“I ex­tend to the Spir­i­tu­al/Shouter Bap­tist com­mu­ni­ty, and to all of Trinidad and To­ba­go, best wish­es for a safe and joy­ous cel­e­bra­tion of Spir­i­tu­al Bap­tist Lib­er­a­tion Shouter Day 2023.”