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From our Ethiopia Golden Rule partner, Mussie Hailu, in the July 22, 2010 The Pan – African Newspaper, www.ssinformer.com: " The United Nations General Assembly recognizes the importance of engaging religious communities and adopted by consensus, at its 59th session, resolutions on the promotion of inter-religious dialogue; the promotion of religious and cultural understanding, harmony and cooperation; and the elimination of all forms of religious intolerance. The African Union also recently met with African Religious Leaders in Abuja, Nigeria and launched the first African Union-Interfaith Dialogue Forum. Among International interfaith Peace organization which are working actively on this issue is United Religions Initiative which celebrated its 10th Year Anniversary on June 26th. The Sub-Saharan Informer interviewed Ambassador Mussie Hailu, founding member of United Religions Initiative and Representative of the organization at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and Board Chairman of Interfaith Peace-building Initiative in Ethiopia on the work of the organization, the concept of interfaith effort for peace, and the engagement of interfaith organizations with the United Nations on peace and other relevant matters. Excerpts: SSI: To start with our interview could you please tell us what United Religions Initiative is?Amb. Mussie: United Religions Initiative (URI) is an international interfaith peace organization working to build global interfaith cooperation and network for a better world. The idea was conceived by the Episcopal Bishop Swing Bill, when he was invited by the United Nations to organize a one hour interfaith service at Grace Cathedral for the 50th anniversary of the signing of United Nations Charter. In is established officially in 2000 by people of diverse religions, spiritual expressions, and indigenous traditions throughout the world who strongly believe that a true Culture of Peace can be founded upon the heritage of religious and spiritual traditions and inter-religious dialogue which promotes understanding, tolerance, respect and friendship among people in all the diversity of their religious, beliefs, cultures and languages. Working across all continents, URI is creating unprecedented levels of enduring global interfaith cooperation to make this world a better place for all. Through its 495 member organizations called cooperation circle in over 76 countries, URI is joining hand with the United Nations in promoting a culture of peace and engaged in creating a world where the values and teachings of the great wisdom traditions guide peoples’ service, where people respect one another’s beliefs according to the teaching of the Golden Rule, and where the resourcefulness and passion of people working together bring healing and a more hopeful future to the earth’s community. SSI: What is the main purpose of URI? Amb: Mussie: The purpose of URI is to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings. SSI: How is URI working relationship with the United Nations?Amb: Mussie: As the quest for peace and justice, and the need to overcome violence, binds religions, governments and the United Nations together URI strongly believe that their partnership is appropriate as stakeholders in the achievement of peace and co-existence. Therefore URI has a very close working relationship with the United Nations. URI has Consultative Statues with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and has representative at the United Nations Head Quarters in New York and at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. URI is also actively represented at the Tripartite Forum for Interfaith at the United Nations. Through its members all over the world annually it celebrates the International Day of Peace of the UN. In order to promote more partnership between United Nations member states, UN agencies as well as religious communities, spiritual movements, organizations representing indigenous traditions and other pertinent value based civil society organization URI and its member organization in Ethiopia Interfaith Peace-building Initiative are working in the committee of the coalition which is working to get the UN Decade of Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation for Peace 2011-2020 to advance together sustainable world peaceSSI: In how many African countries URI has member organizations? Amb: Mussie: URI currently has 89 member organizations (CCs) in 24 African countries including Ethiopia. It has a regional Director for Africa and sub-regional coordinators. The plan for URI in Africa is to have Cooperation Circles in all 53 member states of the Africa Union. URI strongly supports the purpose and aim of the Africa Union and has working relationship with AU. URI in partnership with its member organization Interfaith Peace-building Initiative dedicated a peace monument to the African Union in the year 200 and organized the International Day of Peace at the African Union. Currently URI is working to have observer status at the AU in order to join hand more with AU on peace issue.URI’s aspire to build strong partnership with the Africa Union to strengthen the collaborative effort to build a peaceful and prosperous region. URI would like to join hands with the Africa Union to bring religions, faith-based organizations and interfaith organizations in Africa together to work toward conflict resolution, peace-building, reconciliation, and the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. By the way URI and IPI congratulate African Union, the President of Nigeria and the African Religious Leaders for launching an Interfaith Dialogue Forum at the African Union level. It is with great pleasure that both interfaith peace organizations welcome The African Union (AU) initiative in launching an Interfaith Dialogue Forum to harness the power of religious communities for the integration and development in Africa It is an idea whose time has come to establish a permanent consultative structure to the AU which will meet in every two years. URI and IPI will work very closely with AU on this noble initiative. We have been addressing for many years on the need of such structure at the AU. SSI: You said URI is working to promote a Culture of peace. How do you define a Culture of Peace? Amb: Mussie: As it is stated culture is about how we live our lives; how we think, speak and behave. When we do all theses with positive values, then we live a culture of peace. It brings benefit to self and others. Peace means much more than absence of war. Peace is considered as set of values, attitudes and modes of behavior promoting the peaceful settlement of conflict and the quest for mutual understanding based on the teaching of the Golden Rule. Peace is a way of being, doing and living in society that can be taught, developed, and best of all, improved upon. Peace is living in harmony amidst diversity where and when we adopt a common platform of positive values. Peace implies that love, compassion, human dignity, and justice are fully preserved. Peace entails that we understand that we are all interdependent and related to one another. Peace demands that we respect Earth and all forms of life, especially human life. SSI: What is the difference between ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue? Amb: Mussie: Ecumenism is a way in which members of the many Christian Churches and denominations have sought to come together in dialogue for mutual understanding. Inter-religious dialogue referees to the wider arena of direct attempts by members of different faith traditions to come together in hope of deeper appreciation of their common interests. Inter-religious collaboration does not imply giving up one's own religious identity but is rather a journey of discovery. By engaging in inter-religious dialogue we learn to respect one another as members of the one human race. We learn to appreciate both our differences and the common values that bind us to one another. We are able to work together to strive to prevent conflict and to overcome the crises existing in different parts of the world. Collaboration among the different religions must be based on the rejection of fanaticism and extremism, which lead to violence. Our religious traditions have the necessary resources to overcome the fragmentations which we observe in the world and foster peaceful coexistence between peoples. Unless we recognize pluralism and respect diversity no peace is possible. We need to strive for the harmony and the Golden Rule which is at the very core of peace. Pluralism is an obvious fact of life. Mutual understanding is no longer a luxury but an absolute prerequisite for peace in the world. I think it is with this core understanding that the United Nations held high level dialogue on inter-religious and intercultural understanding and cooperation for peace. SSI: There are many people who say religion is a factor for many wars in the world?Amb: Mussie: Yes religious differences have often turned into divisiveness, self-righteousness, and fanaticism, contributing to conflict, atrocities, and war. As much as religions have contributed to the peace of the world, but they have also lead to division, hatred, and war as you said. But the basic teaching of all religions is peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, love, live for the seek of other, treat others the way you want to be treated. Therefore religion can no longer be an accomplice to war, to terrorism, or to any other forms of violence, organized or spontaneous, against any member of the human family. No body should be killed in the name of God or religion. Different religions should come together and play a major role in helping reduce conflict and in addressing the critical needs of humankind. They should be a healing force in the world. It is for this reason URI established and it is for this reason URI is promoting Inter-religious dialogue and understanding, tolerance and friendship among people in all the diversity of their religions, beliefs, cultures and languages. Such a dialogue is particularly needed in areas burdened by inter- or intra-religious conflicts resulting from mistrust, misunderstanding or lack of knowledge of spiritual traditions and their specific cultures and practices.SSI: Do you have any peace appeal to make?Amb: Mussie: On behalf of members of URI, IPI and Peace loving citizen of the world I would like to appeal to all religious leaders in the world to promote the spirit of dialogue within their respective communities and to be ready to engage in dialogue with other faith communities and to promote the teaching of the Golden Rule as a common denominator of all humanity and to work closely with interfaith peace organizations like URI and IPI in their respective countries. The threat posed to humanity and all other forms of life by the destructiveness of nuclear weapons presents an unacceptable risk for this and future generations. Therefore it is high time for world religious leaders to exercise their moral persuasion for the elimination of nuclear weapons and prevent the greatest environmental catastrophe. I call upon the Secretary-General of the UN to continue to bring the promotion of inter-religious dialogue to the attention of all Governments, regional organizations and relevant international organizations, including ways to strengthen the linkages and focus more on practical actions in the implementation of the initiatives on inter-religious dialogue and cooperation for peace; I also call upon all members' states of the UN to support the initiative for the UN Decade of Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation for peace, to develop curriculums, textbooks and activities that teach Peace, the Golden Rule, cultural and religious tolerance, ways of resolving Conflicts peacefully, and the Universal Deceleration of human rights as one practical ay toward preventive mechanism. I also appeal to all leaders of the world to work for world of true and lasting peace, to make the Golden Rule as the guiding principle of their administration and endorse the Golden Rule Day Proclamation which put forward to the UN and its member states by IPI, to recognize the role of religions in society for peace, ethics, moral values and harmony, to promote reconciliation where the painful experiences of the past have brought divisiveness and hatred, to eradicate poverty by implementing the MDGs, and strive for social and economic justice, to look after the environment and Mother Earth which sustain our lives, to join hand with Mayors for Peace to eliminate nuclear weapons by the year 2020. May Peace Prevail on Earth." |
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