Richard Randerson: Respect for religions key to peace

Richard Randerson

"Clerics vow action on terrorism" read the post-conference headline in the Jakarta Post following last week's interfaith dialogue in Indonesia.

Sponsored by the Indonesian and Australian Governments, with the support of the New Zealand Government, the conference brought together 124 delegates from 10 religions and 13 nations in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.

Growing concern over threats to regional peace and security spurred the governmental sponsorship of this inter-religious event. In his opening address, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stated the concern succinctly: "When ethnic and religious prejudice is compounded by economic and political rivalries, as well as by mutual grievances deemed unforgivable, the resulting situation can be explosive."

The concern is felt deeply by Indonesia and Australia following the terrorist attacks in Bali and Jakarta. Indonesia is a nation of 223 million people stretching from the troubled province of Aceh in northern Sumatra across 47 degrees of longitude to Papua. It is 88 per cent Muslim, 8 per cent Christian, 2 per cent Buddhist and Hindu.

Indonesia is careful to affirm minority groups. The Indonesian doctrine of Pancasila (five principles) names belief in one god as its first principle, and promotes the inclusion and understanding of different religions as official policy. Indonesia recognises that if a minority group becomes marginalised and embittered, the likely outcome is community conflict and violence.

Singapore affirms the secular nature of the state but declares that religious harmony is vital for peace, progress and prosperity in a multiracial and multireligious nation. Official policy is to "respect each other's freedom of religion ... and thereby ensure that religion will not be abused to create conflict and disharmony".

It was the unanimous view of the conference that no religion could properly be used as the basis for terrorist activity. Common to all religions is a belief in one god and one human family and a commitment to unity, justice and peace for all, irrespective of country, culture or creed.

Though religion has often been claimed as the basis for crusades and holy wars, delegates believed such claims could never be justified. Meeting in Norway in June last year, an international panel of experts on terrorism declared that suicide terrorism was not caused by religion, even though some might claim religion as a rationale.

Instead, said the panel, the causes more often related to rapid social, political and economic changes, or other forces that left minorities believing they were excluded from access to power or economic opportunity. A related cause is when a group feels its identity is undermined by the obstruction of cultural or religious freedoms.

In the light of such analysis, the official policies of Singapore and Indonesia are good strategy.

A Thai delegate who asked if we could see the light of truth in all religions, or whether we saw it exclusively in our own, revealed one of the potential barriers to interfaith dialogue. At the heart of any faith lies a core commitment to God as discovered in the rituals and scriptures of that faith.

Fifty years ago Auckland was a predominantly Pakeha and Christian city. To see faith exclusively through the eyes of western Christianity seemed natural. But that has changed. Maori urbanisation, the influx of Pacific Islanders, and recent waves of new citizens from Asia, South Africa and Europe have led to a society where Pakeha are now less than 65 per cent of the total. Different languages are heard in the streets. Mosques and temples are scattered among the churches, which themselves accommodate congregations with many languages.

To contend that truth is to be found only in the culture and creed of one's upbringing is difficult in the face of this plethora of other religions and ethnic groups. Yet to abandon the faith that lies at the heart of a lifetime's experience is equally undesirable.

Some years ago, an English bishop, the late John Robinson, suggested that good faith has a firm centre but open edges. Such an approach affirms the continuing commitment to the faith of one's upbringing, while at the same time encouraging engagement with those of different faiths.

It is this dynamic that regional governments seek to promote. Government sponsorship of interfaith dialogue stems from the recognition that peace and security depend on more than military muscle, beefed-up security and new trade deals. Peace requires a community awareness that our shared humanity not merely transcends cultural and credal differences but is also enriched by such diversity.

Asian and Pacific governments see the need to promote community attitudes built on the positive values of the majority rather than the minority views of extremists. They see religious communities as significant in terms of both breadth of representation and shared commitments to peace and inclusion. The 2001 census showed 60 per cent of New Zealanders affirmed a religious belief, including 41,000 Buddhists, 39,000 Hindus, 23,000 Muslims and 6400 Jews.

New Zealanders cannot be complacent. The recent desecration of Jewish graves in Wellington, the rising influence of the religious right and the National Front, hate mail directed to Muslim leaders following the September 11 attacks in New York, and the anti-migrant attitudes that thread through much of our popular discourse are signs that prejudice and ignorance lie close to the surface.

Among several recommendations the New Zealand delegation will put to the Government is that we develop a national statement on religious tolerance and harmony, along the lines of those of Indonesia or Singapore. Another is that programmes be devised to inform and educate New Zealanders on religious and cultural diversity.

On the closing night of the conference Rabbi Michael Weisser, of Auckland, lit a candle and sang the blessings to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and other delegates gathered round to share in this Jewish festival of dedication. No one felt their faith diminished.

The experience was rather one of partnership between people of different faiths committed to values they could work for together.

* Richard Randerson is dean of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell and the assistant Anglican bishop of Auckland. He was co-facilitator of the inter-faith dialogue.