Fiji should be a Christian Nation, all citizens should be called Fijians, no to same sex marriage, and that Sunday be recognised as a day of rest and worship.
The lawyer for Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma, Simione Valenitabua stated this during their submission to the Constitution Review Commission, saying a majority of their divisions want marriage to continue to be defined as the union of one man and one woman at the constitutional level.
Insert: Valenitabua same sex marriage June 30
Valenitabua says what the Church will submit is that this needs to be elevated to a constitutional level so that they put it beyond all doubt, and if the Church submits that this nation be a Christian nation, then all other laws or all other parts of the Constitution must uphold Christian principles.
He says the Church is calling for Sunday to be recognized as a day of worship and rest with only essential services permitted, and they believe that this must be constitutionally enacted because it is an important factor on the essential doctrines of the Church.
On national identity, Valenitabua says majority of the Methodist Church divisions submit that all citizens are to be Fijians.
They say that the indigenous Fijians are to be the iTaukei as it is a matter of national unity and it brings all races, all denominations, all people of Fiji together, as we stand as one people, Fijians.
Valenitabua says the differentiation will be the indigenous iTaukei, although a minority of the division submitted that Fijians be left to the indigenous Fijians and for others to be Fijian islanders.
He says they ask the Commission through wider consultation to weigh and then submit to Parliament whatever the majority feel should be the position, but the position of the Church is that all citizens be Fijians.
