[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 152 (Tuesday, November 4, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2175-E2176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BISHOP WILLIAM SWING OF THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF CALIFORNIA DISCUSSES 
   THE UNITED RELIGIOUS INITIATIVE, AN EFFORT TO ENCOURAGE PEACE AND 
                        RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 4, 1997

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, the Right Reverend William Swing, Bishop of 
the Diocese of California of the Episcopal Church in the United States, 
is one of the outstanding religious leaders of our Nation. We in the 
bay area have the great blessing of having him in our city of San 
Francisco. Bishop Swing is an extraordinary man who is dedicated to 
promoting peace and respect for human rights around the globe. 
Throughout his life, he has also been sincerely dedicated to helping 
the homeless, the elderly, and the sick.
  Recently, Bishop Swing has launched the United Religions Initiative 
which seeks to unite all religions in order to establish peace among 
them. In a world where blood is often shed in the name of religious 
belief, the United Religions Initiative is working toward the 
reconciliation of religious groups for the good of all nations.
  Mr. Speaker, on October 29, Bishop Swing made a presentation at a 
briefing of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus to discuss the United 
Religions Initiative with Members of Congress and congressional staff. 
I had the pleasure of introducing Bishop Swing and spending time with 
him on that occasion as he presented his ideas for encouraging peace 
and respect for human rights.
  I ask, Mr. Speaker, that Bishop Swing's remarks at this recent 
meeting of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus be placed in the 
Congressional Record, and I urge my colleagues to give thoughtful and 
serious considerations to the ideas of this dedicated man of God.

   Remarks of Bishop William Swing to the Congressional Human Rights 
                                 Caucus

       I would like to call attention to an Initiative that could 
     have a profound influence on global peacemaking. I am 
     referring to the United Religions Initiative. This initiative 
     seeks to create a new global forum where the world's faith 
     communities, continuing to respect each others distinctness, 
     would meet together on a daily and permanent basis to deepen 
     mutual understanding, recognition and respect; to create an 
     open dialogue for exchanging ideas and finding a common 
     voice; and to cooperate in new ways to address urgent 
     suffering. This effort would create for the world's religions 
     a forum with the stature and visibility of the United 
     Nations.
       As the people of the world work together to shape a new 
     world order following the end of the Cold War, we confront 
     enormous questions. How can we ensure peace? How can 
     the world's people live together as neighbors? What 
     structures of cooperative effort can help us to secure a 
     decent world for our grandchildren? And what visions can 
     guide us as we consider these questions? Finding answers 
     together will require not only new ways of thinking and 
     new voices at the table, but also a firm foundation of 
     shared spiritual values. In this conversation, the world's 
     religions must necessarily be involved.
       When we look to our religious traditions for guidance, 
     however, we must first acknowledge a hard truth: while 
     religions historically have been an immense source of good, 
     they have also been the direct cause of much violent 
     conflict. When not actually fighting themselves, they have 
     all too often fanned the flames of hatred, or stood mute in 
     the presence of injustice. Not one of the original founders 
     of the world's religions taught murder, coercion or injustice 
     as a way of propagating the faith; and yet religious violence 
     continues to this day, deeply injuring the moral credibility 
     of our religious institutions. Moreover, such violence is 
     increasingly a major threat to world peace. Much of the large 
     scale violence in the world today--in Bosnia, Chechnya, 
     Palestine, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and East 
     Timor, for example--is caused, encouraged or abetted by 
     religion.
       And yet the world's religions are also humanity's great 
     treasure houses, where our deepest values, aspirations and 
     wisdom have been sustained. It is religion that reminds us 
     that life is ultimately larger than what we know; that life 
     is sacred; that each of us is called to act responsibly in 
     light of these truths; and that the deepest meanings of life 
     are to be found beyond narrow self-interest. Religions are 
     our window to a larger life, a life beyond ourselves. Drawing 
     on their deepest sources, could they themselves now set an 
     example of how we all might live with one another as 
     neighbors? It is the conviction of the United Religions 
     Initiative that this is indeed the challenge.
       The Initiative owes much to previous interfaith efforts. 
     Over the last 100 years, many have worked to begin dialogue 
     and cooperation among people of different faiths. On the 
     local level, interfaith cooperation is already rapidly 
     emerging in hospital ministries, jail ministries, and 
     university campus ministries. Cities around the world are 
     developing interfaith commissions. National interfaith 
     coalitions are beginning to appear. And a few groups, such as 
     the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, the 
     Temple of Understanding, the International Association for 
     Religious Freedom, and the World Conference on Religion and 
     Peace, have undertaken significant international dialogues 
     and action projects. All of these distinct efforts have begun 
     to provide an infrastructure of interfaith work throughout 
     the world; and all of this deserves to be acknowledged and 
     genuinely celebrated.
       Given this present level of interreligious activity, and 
     the world's search for a new foundation of shared values, is 
     there anything else that could happen among religions beyond 
     what already exists? The answer is an emphatic yes. There is 
     a vast untapped potential for partnership among the world's 
     religions that could be an enormous resource for peace-making 
     and community building. If religions themselves could move 
     just one step beyond their ancient competitions and attempt a 
     new dimension of religious cooperation, a great new focus for 
     global hope would be forthcoming. And if religions, 
     continuing to respect their differences, were then able to 
     join their enormous resources in a serious, mutual effort of 
     service to the world, a tremendous new force for global good 
     would come into being.
       The United Religions Initiative is an attempt to call 
     together members of the world's religions and spiritual 
     traditions to create a comprehensive global framework for 
     just such an effort. With the help of an organizational 
     development team from Case Western Reserve University, they 
     are building a worldwide network of supporters at the 
     grassroots level, while simultaneously overseeing a large 
     scale collaborative process of writing an organizational 
     charter for a United Religions Organization. This charter 
     will be formally signed on June 26, 2000, the 55th

[[Page E2176]]

     anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Currently, 
     the Initiative has active, committed groups on six 
     continents, and they will hold some 15 regional conferences 
     during the coming 18 months. They are committed to the 
     inclusion of youth, women and indigenous traditions as full 
     partners in this effort.
       One key initial project of the Initiative is a call for 
     twenty-four hours of non-violence and making peace among 
     faith communities on December 31st, 1999. Organized through a 
     large partnership of supporting organizations, this call will 
     invite people around the world to one day of individual and 
     community reflection, repentance, and resolution to offer 
     each faith's deepest values as a gift for the new millennium. 
     The logistical challenges of such an immense project are 
     daunting; on the other hand, the overriding vision is that 
     for this one day, the global hope of a United Religions could 
     actually become a lived reality.
       A United Religions would have much to offer the world as we 
     move into the next millennium. Where economic and political 
     solutions by themselves have proved inadequate, it could 
     offer deeper, value-based visions of global possibility. It 
     could directly address many of those deeper problems which 
     are beyond the capabilities of government. Most importantly, 
     as we move into an uncertain future, a United Religions could 
     offer the world a powerful new vision of hope--the vision 
     that the deepest stories we know can now cease to be causes 
     of separation between people, and become instead the 
     foundation for a reunited humanity.

     

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