Friday, August 11, 2006 at 1:01am
Interfaith spiritual agenda of the UN
Column: All Paths
When I considered writing about an interfaith approach to global conflict, I thought about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his concept of a "world house," which was based on his Nobel Prize-winning lecture in 1966, when he said: "We have inherited a large house, a great world house in which we have to live together — black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Moslem and Hindu — a family unduly separated in ideas, culture and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace."
Forty years later, the world house and the family Dr King envisioned is more divided than ever.
There is war and strife in just about every region of the world. Most, if not all of these conflicts are rooted in religious intolerance. The clergy of the world should come together under an interfaith approach, to spread the good news that there are common threads running through most religions that link all of us to the Divine presence of one God.
There is an easy way to accomplishing this. It requires a fundamental shift in thinking where the global community will focus less on differences, and more on its shared moral and common values.
What are these shared moral and community values? Let me offer an example. In February of this year, The New Seminary, a United Nations Non-Government Organization (NGO), sponsored a Sacred Women's Circle.
This event was part of the annual meeting of The UN Commission on the Status of Women. The women who participated, sat in a circle and offered prayers and words of hope for their counties, families and the world. They were from Africa, China, The Caribbean, Europe, North America, South America, The Middle East and even Iraq.
Each woman discussed the type of life they wanted for their family and community. It seemed that they all wanted the same things. And, they were the same blessings that mothers over the ages in many tongues, cultures and religions have asked God to bestow upon their families and homelands.
They wanted their families to live without fear, the right to freely express their religious and cultural traditions, and to live in peaceful environments, which will nurture their children and allow them to reach their fullest potential. These are shared moral and community values.
The same can be said of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) listed below, that The United Nations adopted in 2000 at the urging of General Secretary, Kofi Annan:
* To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
* To achieve universal primary education.
* To promote gender equality and empower women.
* To reduce child mortality.
* To improve maternal health.
* To combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases.
* To ensure environmental sustainability.
* To develop a global partnership for development.
These MDG's translate the hopes and prayers of the women from The Sacred Circle, into a global public policy action agenda. The eight MDG's provide a perfect platform for the religions of the world to come together in the spirit of Interfaith to push for their global enactment.
Here are eight goals that would uplift all of mankind and move us closer to the world house Dr. King envisioned 40 years ago. If the clergy of the world would use their churches, mosques and temples to promote them, religion will be seen as a more viable tool for uniting the global community and not dividing it.
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Rev. Jay Speights is an Interfaith Minister and Main United Nations Representative for The New Seminary in New York. He has a MA in Public Policy. His email address is {email jayspeights@newseminary.org}jayspeights@newseminary.org{/email}. You can learn more about his work at The United Nations at The New Seminary website. © copyright 2006 by Jay Speights
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ReligionAndSpirituality.com is a big tent for all expressions
of faith and spirituality, neither excluding nor favoring any.
All opinions expressed belong to the writer alone, and are
not necessarily shared by ReligionAndSpirituality.com.
Forty years later, the world house and the family Dr King envisioned is more divided than ever.
There is war and strife in just about every region of the world. Most, if not all of these conflicts are rooted in religious intolerance. The clergy of the world should come together under an interfaith approach, to spread the good news that there are common threads running through most religions that link all of us to the Divine presence of one God.
There is an easy way to accomplishing this. It requires a fundamental shift in thinking where the global community will focus less on differences, and more on its shared moral and common values.
What are these shared moral and community values? Let me offer an example. In February of this year, The New Seminary, a United Nations Non-Government Organization (NGO), sponsored a Sacred Women's Circle.
This event was part of the annual meeting of The UN Commission on the Status of Women. The women who participated, sat in a circle and offered prayers and words of hope for their counties, families and the world. They were from Africa, China, The Caribbean, Europe, North America, South America, The Middle East and even Iraq.
Each woman discussed the type of life they wanted for their family and community. It seemed that they all wanted the same things. And, they were the same blessings that mothers over the ages in many tongues, cultures and religions have asked God to bestow upon their families and homelands.
They wanted their families to live without fear, the right to freely express their religious and cultural traditions, and to live in peaceful environments, which will nurture their children and allow them to reach their fullest potential. These are shared moral and community values.
The same can be said of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) listed below, that The United Nations adopted in 2000 at the urging of General Secretary, Kofi Annan:
* To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
* To achieve universal primary education.
* To promote gender equality and empower women.
* To reduce child mortality.
* To improve maternal health.
* To combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases.
* To ensure environmental sustainability.
* To develop a global partnership for development.
These MDG's translate the hopes and prayers of the women from The Sacred Circle, into a global public policy action agenda. The eight MDG's provide a perfect platform for the religions of the world to come together in the spirit of Interfaith to push for their global enactment.
Here are eight goals that would uplift all of mankind and move us closer to the world house Dr. King envisioned 40 years ago. If the clergy of the world would use their churches, mosques and temples to promote them, religion will be seen as a more viable tool for uniting the global community and not dividing it.
— — —
Rev. Jay Speights is an Interfaith Minister and Main United Nations Representative for The New Seminary in New York. He has a MA in Public Policy. His email address is {email jayspeights@newseminary.org}jayspeights@newseminary.org{/email}. You can learn more about his work at The United Nations at The New Seminary website. © copyright 2006 by Jay Speights
ReligionAndSpirituality.com is a big tent for all expressions
of faith and spirituality, neither excluding nor favoring any.
All opinions expressed belong to the writer alone, and are
not necessarily shared by ReligionAndSpirituality.com.