Religious Reconciliation and Spiritual Solidarity in the Age of Globalization
Proposal to Main Religions of the World from the Third World Congress of Global Civilization
The Organization for Promoting Global Civilization (OPGC) has announced that the Third World Congress of Global Civilization will be held in Jerusalem in the spring of 2009. The theme of this third congress will be “Religion in a Global Civilization.” and this proposal will be discussed and passed in this meeting. It follows the First World Congress in Sydney, Australia in 2001which focused on the theory and method of building a global civilization, in which the “Declaration of Global Civilization” was debated and passed, and the Second World Congress in New York City in 2005, which took as its theme “Politics in a Global Civilization”, in which the “An Open Letter to UN Proposing the Establishment of a World Coalition Government” was debated and passed.
This document, “Religious Reconciliation and Spiritual Solidarity in the Age of Globalization,” will serve as the starting point for deliberations and the basis for a common statement to be adopted at the Third World Congress. OPGC will be bringing together religious leaders and theologians, scholars of most of the world’s religions, politicians, representatives of the business community, and interested parties from a wide range of fields to take up this important topic and discuss this proposal during this unique global event.
Religion, in all its manifestations, has been a central feature in the development of every civilization in human history. Human spirituality, metaphysical speculation, expressions of the mythological imagination, the philosophy of ethics, and ritual practice have all taken innumerable forms in human history. But these are the products of human consciousness that have shaped the forms and created the content of human civilization. One could say that religion, in its role as elaborator of myth of and foundation of ethical and social norms, is the bedrock upon which all human civilizations are built.
Serving as the foundation of civilization, and thus of personal and group identity, it was also natural that religious differences, differences of culture, values and world-view, would become one of the primary fault-lines across which civilizations would come into conflict. On the one hand religious theory and practice has given human beings the tools to live together in an ethically ordered way, and it has provided the framework in which most humans have found meaning in their lives. On the other hand, religious ideology, dogmatism and intolerance have served to justify countless wars, colonial adventures and atrocities.
Today, in the first decade of the 21st century, it is hard to argue that the major civilizations of the world have moved past the most primitive and destructive use of religious identity and ideology to justify war, terrorism, colonialism and oppression. “Man’s inhumanity to man” continues on us or around us as it always has. In some cases religious fanaticism may in fact be the root cause, in other cases religious ideology may merely serve as a justification for actions that are actually motivated by more mundane obsessions such as hunger for power or resources. But while human violence and the use of religion to justify it may not have ebbed in the 21st century, what has certainly changed is the global context in which this violence is taking place.
The founder of the OPGC, Shaohua Zhang, has written, “in the globalized world, any action by a single nation that still indulges in political confrontation, religious conceit and cultural discrimination, will have a dramatic impact on the whole world simultaneously.” Today, human society has developed into an integrated global world of cultural and religious interdependence. In the past, when societies were relatively isolated, cultural and religious violence and wars produced great human suffering, but it could not engender the total destruction of the human race. In the global era, however, humankind can no longer afford its millennia-old narcissistic and chauvinistic modes of perceiving and dealing with inter-religious relations. If these self-absorbed and self-destructive modes of perception and behavior as well as religious violence arise from those modes persist, they will inevitably contribute to a dismal end for the whole human family.
Humanity, then, is now facing a critical choice. Along one path we can embrace a fundamental shift of perspective especially religious perspective that enables a true understanding of our common humanity, spirituality, and the shared world we inhabit. On this path we can prepare humankind to evolve toward a higher civilization, a universal brotherhood of world peace, prosperity and religious harmony. Along the other, well-beaten path, we will persist in the self-conceit and intolerance that inevitably leads to repeated old cultural clash, religious wars, and may eventually result in the total destruction of the human species. At this historical turning point, there is no doubt that we should, and must, choose the former.
When we look at the world’s major religions superficially it is true that we can find many differences of metaphysics, doctrine and practice. But if we analyze deeply, and look for their core values, we find that each religion reveals something about the essence of humanity, the meaning of life on a particular plane and from a unique perspective. All religions are the products of the human quest for wisdom, unity and meaningful purpose. Each religion in its own time and place has offered a world-view and way of life that was perfectly suited for a particular stage of human development or particular cultures; each religion in its own time and place has been perfectly suited to its followers. Each religion has revealed to its followers the deepest spiritual mysteries. All religions have advocated in their core values compassion, mercy, peace and universal harmony. All religions have guided human knowledge toward the most profound, transcendental levels. The spiritual quest has been the fundamental driving force in the development of humanity’s self-realization. In other words, different religious faiths are different paths towards the same ultimate goal.
For millennia, organized religions have put a great deal of emphasis on the forms of worship and discipline on their followers, they have often lost sight of the essence of what is worshipped. They viewed their own religious dogmas and rituals as reflecting the true faith. This naturally led to a sectarian view that saw “our own” forms of religious expression and “our own” god as the only valid path to spiritual progress. On the contrary, any tradition other than one’s own came to be seen as not only wrong, but as evil and intolerable. But this type of thinking arises from an overemphasis on superficial differences and completely overlooks the fundamental commonality of all faiths. This mode of thinking has produced a great deal of religious violence and sectarian wars. Therefore, our mission today must be to gain a deeper understanding of all the world’s reasonable faiths so that we can reconcile the many different paths that humans have chosen and see them as distinct but compatible expressions of human spirituality, and valid methods for seeking happiness, peace and ultimate reality.
From above, some conclusion can be made: Firstly, We can begin by reaffirming the common principles that we find at the heart of all great religious traditions: compassion, loving kindness, generosity, tolerance, forgiveness and understanding are a few of the principles we can all agree on. On the second, all religions should respect human rights, defend human life, and seek to elevate and safeguard the well-being of humankind. Thirdly, those who seek spiritual elevation must strive to forgive human frailty and seek to see through the eyes of their enemies, to replace anger with patience, superiority with a feeling of equality, and selfishness with a spirit of caring for those less fortunate. Although there can be many interpretations and ways to achieve these lofty goals, men and women of good will, from all faiths, can agree that these are and should be the fundamental principles of all faiths.
Since its founding in 1999, OPGC has advocated tolerance and understanding among the world’s religions in order to achieve religious solidarity and world harmony. For the same goal, we, attendants of the Third World Congress, take this initiative and propose to the world that global world requires a common civilization accepted by all mankind, at the core of a common human civilization must lie a deep appreciation for the fundamental commonality and shared essence of all the world’s faiths.
The goal is not to merge all religions into one, or to create a new religion, which will only bring more chaos to the world with more than enough chaos already., But rather to encourage all people of all faiths to broaden their spirituality, cultivate religious tolerance, human understanding, cultural solidarity, and spiritual harmony. Striving for these goals we can eventually reach the sacred shore of world peace and universal brotherhood. This is the goal of OPGC. We refuse to believe that this great goal is just wishful thinking or a dream that can never be realized. We believe that, by the tireless effort of each one of us, step by step, we will get there sooner or later. We pray that this meeting will become one important moment in the great journey we are undertaking to fulfill our responsibility to change the world for the better.
Based on all above, we, the attendants of the third world congress of global civilization, propose to all the religions of the world: “Religious Reconciliation and Spiritual Solidarity in the Age of Globalization” All religions should take in action to found a world coalition religion: an international organization, which will be composed by leaders or represents of all the religions especially world wide religions as well as religious scholars. The goal of this organization will be respecting all the religions of the world, promoting the communication between religions and uniting all religions. If all the attendants agree, OPGC will take this world congress as beginning step to make efforts for the foundation of this organization
Signatures of attendants of Third Global Civilization World Congress. ( signature sheet will be attached)
October 6th to November 6th, 2009. Jerusalem
This proposal was drafted by Prof. David Patt (USA), Prof. Alexander I. Ageev (Russia),
Prof. Mohsen Mohebi(Iran), Prof. David Mclellan (UK), Prof. Bernard Cajetan Rangel(Brazil), Prof. Octavian Gakuru (Kenya) and Prof. Michale Murphy (New Zealand), written by Prof. David Patt (USA) and revised finally by Prof. Shaohua Zhang(PRC). This proposal will be discussed and adopted in the third Global Civilization World Congress.
