| Move to set up inclusive inter-faith body |
Several Islamic and non-Islamic groups in Malaysia are working together to set up Religions for Peace (RFP), an organisation affiliated to the World Conference of Religions and Peace (WCRP) – the largest inter-faith organisation in the world with presence in over 90 countries.
 United for peace ... ACRP secretary-general Suggon Kim, Cahill, honorary president Dr Mir Nawaz Khan, co-president N. Vasudevan, Philips, and co-president Hadja Lourdes Mastura. |
Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) president Rev. Dr Thomas Philips said a preparatory committee had been formed for RFP, whose main task would be to work for peace and harmony in the country and around the world.
"We need all the people to come together, sit together and work together for peace because politicians sometimes raise the temperature," he said at the end of the Asian Conference of Religions for Peace (ACRP) executive committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur on May 25. ACRP is part of WCRP.
Commenting on the many seeming attempts to politicise religious and racial issues in the media recently, Philips said that religion taught universal moral values and influenced believers to think broadly, but when racial issues were used for political gains, they stoked negative emotions among the public.
Philips ... There is a need to get rid of the "they against us" mentality. |
There is a need to get rid of the "they against us" mentality, he said. As such, RFP's first priority is to gather people from various religions to talk to one another and identify areas they could work together for peace.
"The time has come for us to think as Malaysians. We are accusing each other because we don't see ourselves as Malaysians and we take our race card with us first," he said.
Asked how RFP differed from existing inter-faith initiatives such as MCCBCHST and the Committee to Promote Understanding and Harmony among Adherents of Religions, Philips said the former did not include Islamic groups while the latter, although it has Muslim participants, focused on resolving issues involving various faiths within the country.
RFP will give a broader platform for believers of various faiths to work together at national and international levels based on shared values.
In the Asia Pacific region, RFP has conducted peace-building efforts, such as providing food assistance to flood victims in Democratic People's Republic of Korea to foster ties between the country and South Korea; building water tank stations where Muslim, Tamil and Singhalese communities live in Sri Lanka; training Iraqi doctors and providing treatment for injured Iraqi children; as well as undertaking disaster relief efforts in Indonesia, Pakistan and Japan.
This was the first time ACRP held its executive committee meeting in Malaysia.
Cahill … moderation is the "only antidote" to extremism. |
ACRP said in a press statement at the end of the meeting that there was a need to educate religious leaders especially in addressing religious extremism; recognise the potential of women in their contributions to social and economic development and the educational and employment aspirations of young people; and eradicate corruption.
ACRP co-president Prof Desmond Cahill said moderation was the "only antidote" to extremism.
"As people become more mobile, they become much more diverse than they were 20 or 30 years ago. That requires a lot of sensitivities in sermons, addresses and published statements (when) arguing for their own religious position, showing sensitivities to other religious traditions," said Cahill, a professor of intercultural studies at RMIT University, Australia.
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