Religious Opposition
- See main article: Religious reaction to the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill
The Roman Catholic Church, several Protestant churches, and numerous Hindu organizations have been extremely critical of the bill and have called on the government to withdraw it.
Archbishop Petero Mataca of the Roman Catholic Church spoke out against the bill on 22 June, reversing earlier support for it – support that he claimed had been based on a misleading presentation from the Prime Minister before the legislation was made public. He called the overthrow of a democratically elected government a serious crime, and said that "the coup cycle" would continue unless those involved faced the consequences of their crimes.
The Shree Sanatan Dharm Pratindhi Sabha Fiji and the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha are among the numerous organizations representing Hindu faith, which is followed by some 76 percent of the Indo-Fijian community, to have strongly condemned the legislation, especially its amnesty provisions.
Other religious groups to oppose the legislation include the Salvation Army, the Council of Interfaith Search Fiji, the Jesus Christ Apostolic Church, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and a dissident faction of the Methodist Church (as opposed to the official Methodist stance in support of the bill). Josateki Koroi, a former President of the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma is one of the critical voices.
Read more about this topic: Yellow Ribbon Campaign (Fiji)
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“The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always learns more from his opponents than from his fervent supporters. For his supporters will push him to disaster unless his opponents show him where the dangers are. So if he is wise he will often pray to be delivered from his friends, because they will ruin him. But though it hurts, he ought also to pray never to be left without opponents; for they keep him on the path of reason and good sense.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)