[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21761]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            THE CONGRESS ON WORLD AND TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 29, 2006

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I commend President Nursultan Nazarbayev 
for his vision and commitment that made possible the recent Congress on 
World and Traditional Religions. It was a historic event. The remarks 
recently by Pope Benedict XVI, quoting medieval text, and the fierce 
reaction in the Islamic world underscore the need for an open and 
candid discussion, as occurred in Astana.
  At this year's forum, there were 43 delegations from 20 countries, 
including 43 representatives of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, 
and other distinguished leaders. Though not all religious viewpoints 
may have been represented, the gathering had an impressive roster of 
participants--notably UNESCO Secretary General Koichiro Matsuura, 
United Nations Deputy Secretary General Sergei Ordjonikidze, 
particpated as well as NGOs dedicated to religious freedom issues. 
Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, past Archbishop of Washington, D.C. 
was among the delegates attending the event from the United States.
  The Second Congress on World and Traditional Religions convened at a 
time when the world is beset with conflict, regrettably much of it 
rooted in religious strife.
  At some point, religious leaders, and the governments who represent 
them, must rise above their differences, be they ethnic, cultural, 
geographic, religious, by seeking God's will as the best means of 
achieving peace and reconciliation in the world. And make no mistake, 
seeking common ground and mutual respect should not be viewed as a 
license for censure of thought or speech. Every human being has an 
inalienable right granted by God to believe as he or she chooses and to 
freely express that belief, whether as an act of worship or persuasion. 
Our common ground becomes soggy if we lose the ability to advocate for 
our viewpoint, while making sure we give due respect and deference to 
the viewpoints of others.
  President Nazarbayev, who is in Washington, D.C. this week at the 
personal invitation of President George Bush, and Speaker Nurtray 
Abikayev, Chairman of the Secretariat of the Congress, are to be 
commended for organizing this very important event.
  Mr. Speaker, though we may all have different ways to express or 
define what freedom of religious expression and worship means, we all 
agree that each individual must have the right to worship freely 
without intrusion of the government. Therefore, I commend gatherings 
such as the one that took place in Astana, Kazakhstan earlier this 
month, and I commend the country of Kazakhstan for hosting this event 
and believe many worthwhile and much needed issues were raised and 
discussed.
  I would also like to have included in my remarks the text of the 
Declaration of the II Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional 
Religions.

  Declaration of the II Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional 
                               Religions

       We, the leaders of world and traditional religions, 
     gathered at our Second Congress in Astana, the capital of 
     Kazakhstan:
       Building on the success of the First Congress, which took 
     place in the city of Astana on 23-24 September 2003 and 
     engaged internationally recognized world religious leaders in 
     an important initiative of inter-religious dialogue; wishing 
     to help strengthen mutual understanding between cultures, 
     religions and ethnic groups which form the basic components 
     of world civilizations, and aiming to prevent conflicts based 
     on cultural and religious differences; acknowledging that 
     religion, having always been a fundamental element of human 
     life and society has, at the beginning of the new century, 
     assumed a significant new role in establishing and preserving 
     peace; recognizing the great responsibility held by religious 
     leaders for spiritual teaching and advocacy on behalf of 
     current and future generations, and their vital role in 
     establishing a spirit of mutual respect, understanding and 
     acceptance in the face of new challenges; underlining the 
     unique character of every religion and culture, and 
     considering cultural and religious diversity to be an 
     important feature of human society; expressing concern about 
     increasing inter-religious and interethnic tensions in the 
     world deriving from the exploitation of religious and 
     national differences as a justification for violence which 
     causes suffering to innocent victims; stressing that 
     extremism and fanaticism find no justification in a genuine 
     understanding of religion and that the vocation of all 
     religions demands the refusal of violence and appeals to 
     respect and peaceful co-existence with peoples and religions; 
     believing that the difficulties in inter-religious and 
     intercultural relations are related both to a fundamental 
     imbalance in international politics, economics, social, 
     humanitarian and information resources, and to the 
     manipulation of religion for political ends; discussing and 
     debating the above-mentioned concerns within the main theme 
     of the Congress--``Religion, society and international 
     security'' in the context of two special blocs.
       I. ``Freedom of religion and recognition of others'';
       II. ``Role of religious leaders in enhancing international 
     security''
       Appeal to people of all religions and people of good will 
     across the globe, and:
       Call upon them to abandon enmity, discord and hatred; and 
     embrace common respect and generosity, recognizing the 
     reality of cultural, religious and civilizational diversity; 
     declare our determination together to tackle and ultimately 
     eliminate prejudice, ignorance and misrepresentation of other 
     religions by placing particular focus on what religions hold 
     in common as well as what distinguishes them; condemn all 
     forms of terrorism on the basis that justice can never be 
     established through fear and bloodshed and that the use of 
     such means in the name of religion is a violation and 
     betrayal of any religion that appeals to human goodness and 
     dialogue; reject all false inventions and wrongly created 
     stereotypes about the violent nature of religions and 
     attempts to attribute terrorism to any particular religion; 
     call upon all to work together to address and eliminate all 
     causes of terrorism, thus promoting human flourishing, 
     dignity and unity; declare our rejection of any form of 
     pressure or violence to convert followers of one religion to 
     another; reaffirm the pivotal role of education, youth policy 
     and cultural activity for understanding, solidarity and 
     social cohesion.
       We also call upon the global community, international and 
     regional organizations, states and governments all over the 
     world to:
       Actively support the process of intercivilizational 
     dialogue; exert sustainable efforts towards creating a 
     culture of peace, strengthening its principles as a firm 
     basis of international politics and the life of all people; 
     work to establish a more fair world, to consolidate 
     international law and justice, and to implement UN 
     resolutions and signed international agreements, and to find 
     effective means of establishing peace and security all over 
     the world; heed the voices of victims of oppression and 
     terrorism and use all means to seek a just settlement of the 
     existing conflicts, thus addressing the grievances that 
     nurture violence; reject totally the development, production 
     and possession of weapons of mass destruction and promote the 
     strengthening of non-proliferation regimes; respect and 
     protect the sanctity of religious symbols and places and take 
     appropriate measures.
       Based upon the abovementioned, we, the leaders of world and 
     traditional religions, resolved to:
       Take concrete collective measures for encouraging and 
     highlighting positive perceptions of inter-religious 
     relations by organizing joint meetings, seminars and 
     addresses in the mass media, the Internet and other places of 
     influence; strongly promote interreligious tolerance among 
     younger generations to make them more devoted to dialogue and 
     encourage them recognize universal values; integrate 
     questions of the dialogue between civilizations and religions 
     into curricula at all educational levels with a view to 
     helping young people to respect and understand religious and 
     cultural difference without hostility; use our spiritual 
     influence, authority and resources to further establish 
     peace, security, stability and contacts between each other in 
     order to make a combined contribution to the prevention and 
     resolution of disputes among different religious communities; 
     offer our experience and best efforts to governments and 
     people or groups and powers involved into conflicts in order 
     to assist them in easing tensions, forming where appropriate 
     joint delegations to conduct negotiations with them; commit 
     to make efforts to promote and realize the goals stated in 
     this Declaration, and to assign the Congress Secretariat to 
     propose a plan for the best possible translation of these 
     recommendations into reality; conduct the Congress of 
     religions on a permanent basis and hold the third Congress of 
     the leaders of world and traditional religions in 2009. For 
     the Secretariat to present proposals on time and place of the 
     next forum; bring to the attention of the General Assembly of 
     the United Nations the conceptual and practical role 
     performed by the Congress in promoting dialogue among 
     civilizations, cultures and religions and its considerable 
     achievements in interreligious understanding, inviting 
     support for the further activity of the Congress.

                          ____________________