Religion

Virgin Islanders are highly religious and churchgoing. Christian churches of nearly every persuasion exist in the Virgin Islands [1], although the Methodist, Moravian, Catholic, and Anglican have been here for the longest period of time. Statistics from the British Virgin Islands demonstrate this: Of 20,000 churchgoers, 97 percent are Christian. Of those, 37 percent are Methodist, 19 percent are Anglican, and 12 percent are Catholic.

There is no attempt at separating church and state in the British Virgin Islands. Prayers open House of Assembly meetings; school days begin with prayer; and references to God are common in political discourse.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, which are governed by U.S. laws including the separation of church and state doctrine, religion plays a less obvious but no less influential role in daily life.

There are small groups of non-Christians in both territories. Arab immigrants from Palestine and Syria form an Islamic society, while immigrants from Guyana and Trinidad practice Hinduism. There are also some Rastafarians. These groups do not suffer outright religious discrimination, although they are rendered nearly invisible by the sheer size and influence of the Christian community.