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RELIGIOUS leaders have rejected the notion that Jamaica's current crime situation demands a national state of emergency (SOE) to rectify it.The debate among the church folk follows a pronouncement made by criminologist Dr Jason McKay last week in the Sunday Observer that the imposition of a national SOE, instead of concentrating the anti-crime activity on geographical regions, would be more effective.Since the start of 2021 a total of 1,315 people have been murdered.An all-island SOE has only been declared once in Jamaica, and ran for one year - from June 19, 1976 to June 1977.Rt Rev Howard Gregory, Anglican bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and head of the Church in the Province of the West Indies, objected to the imposition of a national SOE."I would say no to the all-island state of emergency. At that time [1976] I actually visited persons who were detained. It was not directed at criminals; it was politically motivated in many ways and so the earliest people to be detained were parliamentarians, including Pearnel Charles. So, one has to be careful how you use a state of emergency and to what end," he told the Sunday Observer in a recent interview."I do not believe you can lock down the entire island under a state of emergency because, remember, it involves the sort of suppression of certain basic human rights. To do that to catch the criminals, I don't think it's appropriate," Rev Gregory added.Like most issues in this nation, he said, the issue of the state of emergency has been reduced to political partisanship."In other words, you're either with this side or you're with that side, once you articulate a position. So, it doesn't allow us to have really serious engagement of each other without putting labels on each other. The state of emergency is a temporary response to a crisis; it cannot be an ongoing way of responding to crime. Certainly, what we have in Jamaica today didn't happen last month, it didn't happen last year. It is something which has been building up over a period of time," he told the Sunday Observer.In the same breath he argued that the current SOEs lack the elements of surprise and confidentiality."You can't be announcing some of these things before they happen - and discuss it in the way we are doing - and expect that you will be cornering the primary perpetrators. At the same time, we know and hear things to suggest that by the time the security forces are in place, the guys have already been alerted, and they move. There has to be confidentiality and the element of surprise if it is to work."Bishop Grace Ade-Gold, founder and bishop of Arise Shine Apostolic and Deliverance Ministries told the Sunday Observer that it is a categorical "No" from her, considering what transpired during the 1976 all-island SOE."It was reported that many who witnessed it still live with the emotional effect to this day. To cut the story short, we do not wink at some positive that might have taken place; rather, we do not want a repeat of that episode," she stated."I must, first of all, commend the efforts of our political leaders who have been working assiduously to put measures in place to curb violence and crime, the state of public emergency being one of those measures though this can only do a little in comparison to the magnitude of incessant murder and grievous inhumane insults and assaults that have sent a stench to the nostrils of God. He actually had expressed to the church body from time to time that He is coming to cleanse, to remove, to uproot the evil and to judge the land."Bishop Ade-Gold lamented that there is no moral reasoning that can appeal to any criminal who is already "soaked in blood sacrifices" and has made covenant with "unseen forces of darkness through witchcrafts, cults and/or satanism.""There is hardly moral justice in the nation from the leadership of the nation who could not see that some so-called big shots in the land that befriended them have soaked their hands in sin and iniquities. God help us!"She added: "All of this precipitates the most outrageous evils - namely crime and violence, rape, abduction, academic failure, prison lifestyle, roadside lifestyle, madness, losses, joblessness, promiscuity, and the list goes on."Bishop Ade-Gold said the Government needs to "make a law" that will clean out traditional and digital media from promoting evil."Witchcraft, seductions, criminalise ungodly extra-curriculum programmes in our educational institutions such as homosexual books or indoctrination, yoga exercise, ganja smoking, false religions... these set to brainwash the innocent children who are the treasures of the land and future leaders. The Government should look to the law of the nations where crime and violence are rarely mentioned such as the Netherlands. St Barts, Anguilla and Montserrat - these are the ... safest Caribbean islands seen so far that we can emulate for the good of our land," she told the Sunday Observer.Rev Dr Peter Garth, president of the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance (JEA) and senior pastor of Hope Gospel Assembly, also lobbied against a national SOE."I am not in support of an all-island SOE as it would have devastating effects on the economy. I also do not think we have the resources to have an all-island SOE. The security forces have identified the main areas where the gangs are and where the murders are taking place. They can step up patrols islandwide but there is no need to have an all-island SOE," Garth told the Sunday Observer.However, Rev Garth said the Church is deeply concerned about the escalation of crime in Jamaica at this time."Crime and the fear of crime pervade our country in too many areas. The causes of crime are complex and the way to reduce it must be multidimensional. We should not wait until the situation gets out of control before responding with a range of measures. The involvement of the Church over the years has helped to a certain extent and is highly commendable," he said, noting that the Church is an institution with a mandate to cater for the spiritual and physical needs of people."The fact is that the expectation is that the Church is capable of moulding the moral values of the people through the word of God. The Church should not only speak out, but go into communities and make their presence felt in practical ways. The reality is that one of the most effective ways to reduce and prevent crime is to change the moral fabric and mindset of societies by fostering caring societies that emphasise individual moral responsibility, respect for life and the universal dignity of all human beings."Rev Canon Garth Minott, deputy president of United Theological College of the West Indies, pointed to other-crime fighting tools."The SOE has been challenged in court and hence, I will reserve comment on it. Nonetheless, the security forces have various other options to fight crime such as curfews. In addition, the proposed enhanced security measures (ESMA) which has been proposed to the Government as a midway between SOE and ZOSO is urgently required to address some of the immediate concerns of crime fighters," he told the Sunday Observer.Rev Minott said the criminals carrying out the killings were produced by "all of us"."Through our actions, silences or failure to act to protect the dignity of children, young people and their families, we have together failed to protect our children and the most vulnerable in society. The time has come for us to see the problem as not for 'them' [criminals], but for all of us to take steps to make Jamaica a place to live, work, raise family and do business."To this end, no one is a lost cause since with St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, we can pray and act to transform hearts and lives. This change begins with the Church and other well-thinking Jamaicans, and not the criminals. Eventually, we will need all hands on deck, including those who have run afoul of the law. In other words, now is not the time to point fingers but to begin with the man in the mirror," said Rev Minott.