Bemoaning the country's high murder toll, a Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) pastor has called Jamaica one of the world's leaders of evil and destruction.

In a recent sermon, Pastor Carl Cunningham of the Penwood district of SDA Churches, said the country had lost its moral footing.

"The sophisticated 21st-century highway of luxuries, such as the state of the Earth's communication system; asphalt roads; fax machines; mobile phones; cable television and the Internet, has not been able to prevent us in this age from going down the precipitous path of world decadence, ethical decay and spiritual darkness," an energetic Cunningham told the congregation at the Ten Commandments Weekend held at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre recently.

"The world over [there is moral decay] and, indeed, Jamaica is among the leaders in evil and destruction in this time," he added.

Jamaica has forsaken God

Cunningham said Jamaica had forsaken God and should move urgently to rekindle its relationship with Him.

"We need to see the Doctor fast. There is a need for major surgery in our nation, quick fixes will not help ... We need to go back to the basics," he argued.

The pastor said statistics on major crime were shocking but ordinary Jamaicans were contributing to the problem by supporting the measures of those who drove immorality. He named consumers of the recent spate of child pornography as an example.

"There are some people who know that wrong is wrong and they may not be involved in doing it, but they have pleasure in them that do it," he told his congregation.

"They visit the places of entertainment, they visit the TV screen, they visit the Internet chat room, the cable ... and we share in the guilt of those who are actively doing them," he continued.