How Can Religious Leaders Promote the Idea of a "Traditional" Family?

The Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions is a unique interfaith forum, convened every iii years in Astana at the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. For fifteen years, this forum has played an important role in the rapprochement of cultures and civilisations, in searching for answers to the key challenges of our time. "Religious Leaders for a Prophylactic Globe" is the main topic of the Sixth Congress, which will be held Oct. 10-xi in the capital of Kazakhstan.

The idea of convening the Congress was put forwards in 2003 against the backdrop of emerging crisis of the world social club afterward the Cold War, unprecedented 9/xi terrorist attacks in the The states and military operations in Afghanistan and Republic of iraq. These events take get consonant with a well-known hypothesis of Samuel Huntington almost the inevitable clash of civilisations. There was a real threat that the theory of inter-civilisational conflict would get a apace growing trend in modern international relations. We needed a decisive counter action.

The human civilisation continues to face a protracted crisis of moral values. Apparently in the 21st Century the concept of modernisation, which previously entailed total westernisation and secularisation of societies, requires deep afterthought, with an accent on respect for traditions of societies in unlike parts of the world. It turns out that religion has not lost its value in public and political life. Moreover, globalisation facilitates its revival.

Simply at the political level, the function of religion is often underestimated. Nowadays, even the United nations Charter, which is the legal basis of international relations, is quite uncertain nigh the place of religion and religious leaders in achieving the principal goals of the organization: strengthening peace and security, promoting international cooperation, ensuring sustainable development of states, protecting human rights.

Thus, at the turn of the century there was a dangerous global situation, straight affecting inter-religious relations in the world. Republic of kazakhstan with its multinational and multi-confessional gild, complex geopolitical surround, had not only to be involved, but also to take agile steps.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the rapprochement between cultures, religions and peoples was facilitated by the celebrated visit of Pope John Paul II to Astana in September 2001, by a major function of the first Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) top in Almaty in June 2002 and the International Briefing of Peace and Reconciliation in Feb 2003. These developments led to a new initiative on convening the Congress of the Leaders of Globe and Traditional Religions.

It would be a slap-up fallacy to consider the Congress a priori celebratory event equally it may seem from the Boob tube screens and the pages of magazines. First of all, it was difficult to convince the participants to come and sit down at the same table. In September 2003, on the sidelines of the First Congress taking identify in Astana, some delegates at private audience with the caput of Republic of kazakhstan made no secret of their complaints to other participants and openly expressed the boundaries of their tolerance. It should exist noted that in fact the disagreements were of a purely political, inter-state nature and did non raise any interfaith issues. In this situation, the credibility of President Nazarbayev played a key function in the success of both plenary sessions and the adoption of the Joint Declaration.

Eventually, the participants came to a mutual understanding that information technology is vital to identify the place of faith exterior the electric current and fifty-fifty long-term political conflicts. The civilisation of dialogue, as reflected in the documents of the Congress and the remarks of the participants, implies common respect of heads of denominations.

The essence of inter-religious dialogue was expressed by President Nazarbayev at the Commencement Congress, "We do not need, and information technology is impossible to set up whatever final goal. Y'all cannot create a single religious space. It is impossible to fully overcome the existing differences, specially because sometimes they affect the foundations of the great religions. However, the constant dialogue is needed because, despite the existing differences, nosotros still preserve the idea and procedure of finding a sort of 'gold mean.' And virtually chiefly, dialogue creates a territory of peace and reconciliation, fourth dimension of harmony and clarity."

Dialogue participants

An important feature of the Astana inter-religious forum is a wide and representative limerick of its participants. The Congress is attended by high-level followers of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shinto, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism, representatives of religious and public organisations, and influential earth politicians. The Congress has become not but a platform for inter-religious meetings, but likewise a dialogue between religious and political leaders. This transformation is of great importance for the existent positive impact of religious leaders on the situation around the globe.

In different years, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, King Abdullah Two of Jordan, President of Finland Sauli Niinistö, President of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shimon Peres, Prime number Minister of Malaysia Mahathir bin Mohamad, sometime Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, Thou Imam of al-Azhar Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, General Secretary of the Muslim World League Abdallah At-Turki addressed the Congress.

Among the prominent participants of the forum are Secretary General of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought Ayatollah Sheikh Mohsen Araki, Cardinals of the Catholic Church Jozef Tomko and Jean-Louis Tauran, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople in the Orthodox Church, Master Rabbis of Israel Yona Metzger, Shlomo Amar and Yitzhak Yosef, President of Jinja Honcho (the Japanese Association of Shinto Shrines) Tsunekiyo Tanaka, Chairman of the Institute for the Research of Indology and Inter-religious Dialogue, Member of the Council of Religious Leaders (India) Samir Shantilal Somaiya, Secretarial assistant Full general of the World Fellowship of Buddhists Phallop Thaiarry, Managing Director of Jinja Honcho (the Japanese Association of Shinto Shrines) Tanenori Terai, President of the Lutheran Earth Federation Munib Younan and many others.

Traditionally, the Congresses of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions were likewise attended past UNESCO Directors General Koïchiro Matsuura and Irina Bokova, OSCE Secretaries Full general Marc Perrin de Brichambaut and Lamberto Zannier, High Representative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, Secretarial assistant General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Iyad Amin Madani.

The Start Congress was attended by religious leaders and honorary guests from xiii countries; the 5th Congress in Astana was attended by over fourscore delegations from 42 countries of the globe.

Documents of the Congress

In 15 years, the Congress has gained considerable documentary framework apropos cooperation between unlike religions. In this regard, the Annunciation of the Beginning Congress played a key role, since it highlighted primary common grounds and identified shared values of leading world and traditional religions. For Kazakh diplomacy, harmonisation of the offset confessional document was a expert test for professionalism, considering information technology was necessary to identify common bug for the unabridged human civilization from the perspective of the religious leaders. It was necessary to advisedly take into account the specific features of each denomination, to avoid debate about interfaith differences, and most importantly – to formulate a joint vision of cooperation of different religions.

This very delicate work was launched in accelerate past the Presidential Administration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the elaboration of the certificate, nosotros created a working group of representatives of major world and traditional religions participating in the Fifth Congress. After the text was submitted for the approval of the forum, its participants and personally President Nursultan Nazarbayev made a number of meaningful amendments. Thus, the Annunciation has become a key starting bespeak for interfaith dialogue in Astana.

"Variety of religious beliefs and confessions should bring not to common suspicion, discrimination and humiliation, merely to mutual perception and harmony, demonstrating the originality of each religion and culture. Religions should work for the ameliorate cooperation, accepting the tolerance and mutual acceptance as essential instruments of peaceful co-being of all peoples," states the get-go document of the Congress. In other words, the religious leaders stated that in that location are no contradictions betwixt religions, simply there is a need for dialogue and cooperation for the benefit of the modern earth.

At the Second Congress, the participants adopted the Principles of Inter-Religious Dialogue – a code of the participants of the Congress. "Dialogue shall be based upon honesty, tolerance, humility and mutual respect. … Dialogue shall assume equality of all partners and create the room for free expression of opinions, perspectives and beliefs, including the integrity of each culture, linguistic communication and traditions. Dialogue shall not be aimed at the conversion to some other faith, every bit well equally to abuse or demonstrate the superiority of one faith over another," state the Principles. Religious leaders emphasised the fundamental need for interfaith dialogue for future generations.

In some other certificate, the Annunciation of the 2nd Congress , the participants expressed their shared stance that "the difficulties in inter-religious and intercultural relations are related both to a fundamental imbalance in international politics, economic science, social, humanitarian and information resource, and to the manipulation of religion for political ends."

The document of the 3rd Congress as well contains a number of cardinal provisions apropos the part of all religions in the development of modern societies and countering threats to security. The Appeal of the Participants emphasised that "peaceful coexistence of people of dissimilar indigenous origins and religious affiliations is an important basis for human security." And, "inter-religious dialogue helps to prevent stereotyping, prejudices and religious conflicts." Spiritual leaders underlined the need "to protect the nobility of human beings and their central rights, in particular those of liberty of conscience and of religion." They condemned "all forms of extremism and terrorism, especially those perpetrated in the name of religion."

The Appeal of the Fourth Congress  contains a number of consolidated approaches to social evolution, morality, upbringing and education. Religious figures "are united in their recognition of the divine design for human beings and their nobility and inalienable rights." And, "religion is ane of the most of import and influential means of addressing contemporary social issues also as of achieving comprehensive peace and prosperity." The participants expressed "readiness, along with political and public figures to appropriately address electric current spiritual, upstanding and moral challenges including extremism and terrorism that use religion as a camouflage."

Information technology is emphasised that strengthening of the moral and spiritual framework of society and the revival of traditional family values are indispensable weather for the sustainable development of the world. The full general belief is expressed that "the effective role of women in family and society must savor deep respect." It is also noted that "immature people from babyhood should take the right to acquire fundamental knowledge of their own faith the same fashion every bit they study their native tongue, history and civilization." The document likewise notes that "a person who knows his or her ain religion never treats whatsoever other religion with disrespect."

The Declaration of the Fifth Congress brought the forum to a qualitatively new level, equally it focused on the near pertinent political issues of the modern globe. The document consists of a preamble and 16 paragraphs, including "5 appeals" of President Nazarbayev presented at the opening of the forum. In particular, the participants undertook to facilitate dialogue of religious leaders and politicians, international organisations and civil club "to ensure stability and security, forestall and resolve conflicts."

The Congress chosen on the parties involved in conflicts "to cease violence, declare a truce and through negotiations reach an agreement to finish hostility, protect civilians, and find a peaceful resolution to all contradiction." Religious leaders oppose strongly the use of force to resolve whatsoever political and religious disagreements. They called on political leaders of earth powers "to end the growing abyss of distrust in the world today, to finish mutual sanctions and to use the mechanisms of the United Nations and other international organisations, to overcome the divisions and restore peace and security in accordance with international law."

"The fight against extremism and terrorism has not turned into a war confronting religions and their followers," the forum participants warned. According to the participants, the Congress intends to develop further interaction with the Un and other international organisations to foster global dialogue for peace and development. It encouraged media owners and publishers to finish using their media outlets, including web-based ones, equally a tool to incite religious and sectarian divisions.

Over 15 years, also the development and adoption of final documents of the Congress itself, the Congress Secretariat dealt with a considerable corporeality of documentation. It was mainly of procedural and organisational nature, and likewise reflected discussions of delegations between congresses. The Statement of the Participants of the International Conference Religions Confronting Terrorism held on May 31, 2016 in Astana has become a pregnant contribution of the Congress. This comprehensive document reflects a joint vision of religious figures, parliamentarians and experts on countering international terrorism.

Congress documents are unique due to the fact that religious figures themselves were directly involved in their development. When adopting documents of the Congress, religious leaders morally commit to make efforts for their implementation. All the main documents were duly circulated to the UN, OSCE and other international forums.

Institutionalising Dialogue

Another significant result of the fifteen years of the Congress'south existence was its consistent institutional development. The Congress has become a sort of "inter-confessional Davos," as today it is the most representative dialogue platform for all religions, international organizations, politicians and experts. It is distinguished past a diverse agenda, an unusual format of participants, besides as political flexibility.

Every bit the number of participants increases and the agenda of issues discussed is adult, the plan of forums has likewise significantly expanded. Today, Astana congresses non but include plenary sessions, merely likewise several parallel sectional meetings.

Following the Third Congress, the forum participants established the Council of Religious Leaders, which became ane of the main institutions of the Astana inter-religious top, its governing body. The Council consists of representatives of fourteen religions. The Council is designed to deepen mutual agreement and cooperation betwixt unlike faiths and strengthen the conceptual framework of the dialogue platform of the Congress. Moreover, the Quango is authorized to take decisions on pivotal problems relating to the Congress, as well as on cooperation with other international organisations and forums.

Thanks to its unique format, the Congress drew considerable international attention. The Tertiary Congress was held in 2009 with the technical assistance of the United nations, as well as the wide interest of the OSCE secretariat and institutions. Prior to Kazakhstan'due south chairmanship in the OSCE, the almanac Mediterranean Seminar of this pan-European organization was held in the framework of the Congress. As a follow-up to the idea of the Congress, the UN General Associates proclaimed the menstruation 2013-2022 as the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures. The presentation of the forthcoming Sixth Congress was held in the United nations Headquarters in May.

Parliamentary diplomacy plays an active function in the framework of the Congress, primarily in the work of the forum Secretariat. The importance of the parliamentary dimension in "spiritual diplomacy" was underlined at the conference Religions confronting Terrorism that welcomed parliamentarians from different countries, members of the Congress Secretariat and experts.

Since its inception, the Congress Secretariat has been the forum's main working body. It meets annually and considers the implementation of decisions of the Congress, coordinates the agenda, and draft concluding documents of the forum. It also coordinates interaction between the Congress and other international dialogue bodies, such as the United nations Alliance of Civilizations, the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, and others. The President of Republic of kazakhstan instructed to found the International Centre of Cultures and Religions.

Congresses and sessions of the Secretariat are held in a building unique in its architecture, the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation in Astana. Currently, the Secretariat is considering the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev to institute the Astana International Award for interreligious dialogue, the Medal of Honor of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, and open the Museum of Peace and Reconciliation.

Over the past three years, world religions have fulfilled considerable preparatory work for the Sixth Congress. The Secretariat proposed Religious Leaders for a Safe World as a theme of the upcoming forum. Sessions of the Sixth Congress will be held in the following areas: Manifesto "The World. The 21st Century" as a concept of global security; Religions in a changing geopolitical landscape: new opportunities to unite humanity; Religion and globalisation: challenges and responses; Religious and political leaders overcoming extremism and terrorism. Thus, the forum agenda will exist built around well-nigh pressing problems.

The global leader, President Nursultan Nazarbayev, offers the international community new untapped opportunities for improving the earth order. Only goodwill, articulation hard work of the participants tin ensure the success of the overall procedure. Astana is committed to serve every bit a platform to this noble cause.

The author is Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan and Caput of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions

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Source: https://astanatimes.com/2018/10/congress-of-the-leaders-of-world-and-traditional-religions-from-idea-to-inclusive-dialogue/

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