Christianity in all its forms
The Bahamian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and prohibits discrimination on the basis of creed. The country does not have a state religion, although the preamble to its constitution refers to "Christian values".
As a legacy of English colonization, Christianity alone accounts for some 95 per cent of the faithful, of whom nearly three quarters are Protestants, with Baptists (35 per cent), Anglicans (15 per cent), Pentecostals (8 per cent), followers of the Church of God (5 per cent), Seventh-day Adventists (5 per cent) and other Methodists (4 per cent). The Bahamas also has large Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox populations. All practice their faith in absolute freedom: respect, fervour and loyalty make possible a remarkable coexistence between all religions.
Religious life in the Bahamas is an integral part of the social life and daily life of the people, with religious affairs making the front page of local newspapers. Every town and city has one, sometimes even two churches! Religion is practiced throughout the archipelago with unparalleled fervour; taking part in a Sunday morning service is highly recommended to immerse yourself in Bahamian religious life! Be dressed accordingly, however, as men and women wear their finest suits, dresses, and hats; for several hours, the churches come alive with an incredible breath of spirituality! On weekday evenings, the flock also frequents the churches, repeating the songs of the weekend. Be sure to visit some of the beautiful and colourful churches that swarm the islands, as well as some of the most remarkable Anglican monuments in the Bahamas: the great Anglican church of Nassau in particular, or the Church of St. Mary, built by the Spaniards in the 17th century.Other religions and beliefs
Smaller communities (Jewish, Baha'i, Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslim) are also present on the archipelago. A small number of citizens also identify themselves as Rastafarians (a social, cultural and spiritual movement that developed from Jamaica in the 1930s), and some members of the Guyanese and Indian communities practice Hinduism and other South Asian religions.
Finally, a small community of Bahamians and Haitians, especially those living in the Out Islands, led by Cat Island, still practise Obeah, a kind of voodoo cult mixing traditional African religions and witchcraft, which owes its Bahamian roots to the Coromantee of Ghana, the Ashanti captive slaves of the Gold Coast region, who were deported to the European colonies of the Caribbean in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Theobi, or 'Obeah man', who embodies a spiritual master considered to be a healer, helps people possessed by spirits or who cannot find a cure for their illness. Those who know how to invoke him by offering him food or other potions of spiced water can obtain miraculous and almost instantaneous healings, it is said, regardless of the disease. The man Obeah is said to have powers to predict the future, to bring good luck, to protect evil spirits, and to arouse feelings of love. Once deeply rooted in the archipelago, the Obeah is nowadays not much developed in the Bahamas, and its followers practice it in a lighter form. Officially illegal in the country, punishable even by a prison sentence, the law is however rarely enforced.
