[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 121 (Monday, September 25, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RESOLUTION TO CALL FOR INTERRELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING AND DIALOGUE

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 25, 2006

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a 
resolution calling on the people of the world and their religious and 
political leaders to work towards ecumenical understanding and 
interfaith dialogue.
  Usually, it is not my habit to address religious issues on the floor. 
I strongly believe in a person's right to religious freedom, as well as 
the separation of church and state. However, due to recent incidents in 
various parts of the world I am deeply concerned about the apparent 
lack of religious respect and tolerance. Therefore, I could not stand 
by without introducing this resolution.
  Not just Christians and Jews, but also Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and 
the followers of many other religions believe in values like peace, 
respect, tolerance and dignity. These are values that bring people 
together and enable us to build responsible and solid communities. I 
strongly believe that this is what religion is, or should be about. 
People all over the world share these universal values.
  While few religious leaders and scholars would doubt the 
commonalities that exist among the various religious groups, the 
followers of these religions unfortunately struggle in their effort to 
peacefully coexist. It is my impression that too often, the differences 
in belief are stressed instead of their common grounds. Too frequently, 
religious feelings get hurt--sometimes intentionally, but more often, 
unintentionally.
  In the last few weeks, we have again witnessed a lack of mutual 
understanding and misled reaction. These recent events have shown that 
even religious leaders are sometimes prone to lacking the adequate 
sensitivity in dealing with other people's beliefs. The reaction to 
this incident on the other hand was definitely disproportional, which 
indicates that the situation was used for political reasons.
  The specific incident I am referring to is this: His Holiness Pope 
Benedict's debatable statement about the prophet Muhammad at a German 
university two weeks ago and the following unrest in parts of the Arab 
world. The subsequent unrest resulted in the murder of a nun in Somalia 
and the burning of churches in the Gaza Strip.
  Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned that many regions of this world 
are suffering from the effects of armed conflicts with religious 
aspects. I believe that the differences of faith are not the real 
reason for these conflicts. As a matter of fact, religious differences 
are actually exploited to convince people to participate in primarily 
political conflicts.
  Given the fact that most religions share basic values, it is most 
unfortunate that religious people can be played off against each other 
so easily. One possible reason for this may be that people do not know 
enough about other people's beliefs.
  This resolution encourages the peoples of the world and their 
political leaders, including the ones in our country, to learn about 
their neighbor's beliefs.
  I am convinced that religious and spiritual understanding plays a 
positive role in facilitating trust and overcoming political 
differences.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution expresses our assistance for all 
projects that support a productive and constructive inter-faith 
dialogue. I know that there are people here in the States and in many 
other countries of the world, working hard on this issue. I am aware of 
the fact that some of them risk their political and social credibility 
or even their lives. All of them deserve our deepest recognition.
  Moreover, I want us to urge political and religious leaders, and all 
peoples of the world, to move forward in a conciliatory spirit, to deal 
with religious matters in a responsible and balanced way, and to focus 
on their common grounds.
  We all know that there will be no peace among the nations without 
peace among the religions, and we also know that there will be no peace 
among the religions without a dialogue among the religions. To support 
this dialogue and to show that we are conscious of its importance, I 
ask you to support this resolution.

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