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The Geneva Spiritual Appeal of 1999-October
Sponsored link.
An end to religion as a cause of violence:
Buddhist, Christian (Old Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic),
Jewish and Muslim religious leaders held a meeting Geneva Switzerland
during 1999-OCT. Also present were heads of secular groups: the President of the
Red Cross, UN High
Commissioners for Human Rights and for Refugees, and the General Director of the
World Health Organization.
Many conferences have been conducted in the
past to discuss how religious groups could ameliorate human suffering, and reduce
conflict. However, this was one of the first to dwell on religion as a cause of violence and
discrimination.
On OCT-24, they signed a document "The Geneva
Spiritual Appeal." They ask political and religious leaders and
organizations to ensure that religious faiths are not used to justify future violence.
The
Appeal followed the 1949 Geneva Conventions by 50 years. It
followed by 100 years the 1899-MAY Hague Peace Conference which the
leader of the U.S. delegation termed, "the first conference of the
entire world ever." 1
Text of the Appeal:
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Because our personal
convictions or the religions to which we owe allegiance have common a
respect for the integrity of humankind.
Because our personal convictions or the
religious to which we owe allegiance have common a rejection of hatred and
violence.
Because our personal convictions or the
religions to which we owe allegiance have common the hope for a better and
more just world.
Representing religious communities and
civil society we appeal to the leaders of the world, whatever their field
of influence, to strictly adhere to the following three principles:
1) A refusal to invoke a religious or
spiritual power to justify violence of any kind,
2) A refusal to invoke a religious or
spiritual source to justify discrimination and exclusion;
3) A refusal to exploit or dominate others
by means of strength, intellectual capacity or spiritual persuasion,
wealth or social status.
Grounded in the Genevan tradition of
welcome, refuge and compassion, our appeal is open to all whose
convictions are in accordance with these three demands. 2
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Two weeks before the signing of the Appeal, a service was held at St.
Peter's Cathedral. It commemorated the annual Festival of Geneva. That
year, it had the Tibetan people as their special guests. The Dalai Lama was
guest preacher. He said that those who waged war in the name of religion had
failed to look beyond their religion to other faiths which they opposed. If they
did examine other faiths, they would recognize the same desire for
transformation as in their own. He said: "It's not enough to belong to a
religion. You have to experience it. Spirituality is like a medicine. To heal
the illness, it is not sufficient to look at the medicine and talk about it. You
have to ingest it." He continued that in spite of their differing
methods, the great religions shared a common goal – to make people better. He
advised the congregation to follow seriously "your own spiritual path".
3
The Appeal was signed on Sunday,
1999-OCT-24. It coincided with an interfaith religious service that was also held in
St. Peter's Cathedral, Geneva on United Nations Day. The service was
"organized in close cooperation with the World Council of Churches (WCC)
and [was]...attended...by representatives of the Protestant, Roman Catholic, Old
Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Baha'i communities, and other
religious congregations present in Geneva." 4 According to Ecumenical News International, delegates claim that 56
current conflicts, civil disturbances, wars, etc have
significant religious elements. Protestant theologian William McComish said: "Religion is part
of the identity by which one ethnic group sets itself against one another."
One
web site allows interested visitors to sign a petition in support of the Geneva Spiritual
Appeal. 5 Visitors can also vote for or against the Appeal. Interestingly, as of
2001-JUN-7, 7% were opposed!
References:
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"1899: The first Hague peace conference," at: http://www.oneworld.org/euconflict/publicat/nl2.2/page2.html
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A copy of the text of the Appeal and a list of the participants is
online at: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/spirit.htm
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Edmund Doogue, "Try out your own faith, Dalai Lama tells Geneva
congregation," at: http://gbgm-umc.org/europe/
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WCC - Geneva 2000: Kofi Annan will attend service of worship," at: http://www.wfn.org/2000/06/msg00179.html
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Ecumenical News International report #ENI-99-0408
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Anyone who wishes to indicate their support for the Appeal can sign a petition at: http://160.53.186.12/appelgeneve/tbl_resultats_consult_an.asp
Copyright © 2000 & 2001 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-APR-24
Latest update: 2001-JUN-6-
Author: B.A. Robinson 
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