“Distinct but Inseparable”: Church and State in the Writings of Michael Manley

The question of how the Church and the State should relate to each other continues to be an important and enduring one and is answered in a variety of ways. Devon Dick, a Baptist Pastor, identifies five current views on the question in the Jamaican context. Among these views is a fairly sectarian perspective, which holds that the Church and State should be separate because they have two different agendas, and like oil and water, they cannot mix. This sectarian approach concludes therefore that the Church should not get involved in the affairs of the State nor be beneficiaries of the State apparatus. In contrast, Rev. Dick's preferred view is that the Church should be in solidarity with the nation and, therefore, must be involved with the State by working to transform the nation without "being conformed to the world." Dick speaks from the "Church side" of the equation, and reading his analysis led me to wonder how someone from on the "State side" might answer the same question. It is with this in mind that I intend to explore briefly the arguments on the Church-State question of a Statesman who was particularly influential in the development of the Jamaican nation, our former Prime Minister Michael Manley. I base my analysis on two of Manley's writings—first, The Politics of Change, which was published in 1973. It is essentially a manifesto of his political views, intentions and motives. Of particular interest for this presentation is his discussion of the institutions of democracy, which he saw making an important contribution to the social reconstruction that he envisioned for the Jamaican nation. He named the Church prominently as one of these nine institutions of democracy with a crucial role to play both in accelerating and mobilising for change through working in concert with the government. (Other institutions, which Manley saw as playing a crucial role in his strategy for change, included the political parties, trade unions, teachers, women, youth, and minorities). My second source is a speech entitled "From the Shackles of Domination and Oppression " that he gave at the Fifth General Assembly of the World Council