By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

ACTING Financial Secretary Marlon Johnson confirmed yesterday that he is an atheist, adding that his religious views should not matter when it comes to his public duties.

His comment came after a sermon from Mount Tabor Pastor Bishop Neil Ellis on Sunday which attacked elected officials, including Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, over the continuing COVID-19 restrictions.

At one point the bishop said: “Your one-man stand is killing our economy and it sure doesn’t help when the one in the chair does not believe in God.”

Many interpreted the remark as a shot at Dr Minnis, but Bishop Ellis reportedly told Eyewitness News that he was referring to a senior civil servant, not the nation’s leader.

In a public Facebook post yesterday, Mr Johnson said he is “atheist and a humanist” and has been so his entire adult life.

“While I have always been open about this fact, there are literally thousands of Bahamians who are unbelievers and agnostics,” he said.

“Most choose to keep quiet about it even as they work alongside you, or date you, or sit next to you in church.

“I am fortunate to have been appointed to senior executive positions in public entities under the Christie administration and the Minnis administration.

“I was first hired as a junior civil servant under the Pindling administration.

“I was selected and appointed by then-Prime Minister Ingraham to serve as a counsellor in the executive offices of the IDB in Washington, with an exception made because I did not meet the minimum age requirement.

“At no time did the Pindling, Ingraham, Christie or Minnis administration ever consider my religious views in their appointments to these various posts. These Prime Ministers and their representatives understood the freedoms and privileges afforded to all Bahamians – the very civil liberties for which our forefathers and foremothers had struggled to attain.

“Neither I – nor any public officer that I work alongside – bring our religious views to the execution of our duties. We understand the need for fidelity to the laws of the land and the policies of the government.

“We live in a civil secular democracy. The rights enshrined in our constitution are the foundation of our wonderful pluralistic society.

“We are privileged to live in a country where all opinions can be shared loudly and lustily – and daily on social media.

“It would be a shame if ever we sought to disqualify anyone from any public or private office – or even just castigate them personally – because they openly maintain a creed that does not align with that of our own.

“Such a disposition puts us on a road to tyranny. We do not want to travel that road.”