wfn.org | Faith Communities Cautioned Against Use of Holy Scriptures to

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

Faith Communities Cautioned Against Use of Holy Scriptures to Justify War
Religious Leaders Urged to Encourage Recognition of 'Oneness of God'

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa/GENEVA, 24 April 2005 (LWI) * Rev. Dr Samuel
Kobia, General Secretary of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches
(WCC), has cautioned faith communities in Africa against the use of holy
scriptures to justify war.

"As people of faith, we should not use holy scriptures to moralize wars,
as this makes it easier to fight," Kobia told delegates and invited guests
attending the Second Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) Summit
taking place near Johannesburg, April 21-25. Presentations at the meeting
include an overview of the conflict situation and peace making efforts in
different parts of Africa.

Presiding over a panel discussion on the use and abuse of holy scriptures
with respect to conflict, the WCC official affirmed the need to contextualize the meaning of the rich heritage and diversity of all religions.

Panelists included Sheikh Khaled Adlen Bentounes, representing the French
council of Muslim worship, who noted, "no religion today could pretend not
to contain any violence." Interpretation, he noted, was crucial as the
holy writings could be "viewed both positively and negatively."

Ms Gladys Quartey-Papafio, representing the Baha'i community in Ghana
noted that the diversity of religions and multiplicity of sects created
seemingly contradictory perceptions among human beings. Peace, she noted,
was a basic element of all religions. "It is the outward practices that
are so different, and it is these that cause conflicts, disputes and
enmity," she added.

Quartey-Papafio cited ignorance, human pride and unavailability of
authoritative interpretations of holy writings as factors that contribute
to the promotion of conflict. She thus challenged religious leaders to
encourage the recognition and acceptance of the oneness of God, religion
and mankind to help reduce conflict.

Mr Prabhudas Pattni, secretary general of the Hindu Council of Africa,
stressed the need for human beings to accept that there were many paths to
God. He called for more tolerance in accepting each other, and cautioned
against the "deliberate misinterpretation of what we read" if conflict was
to be avoided.

South African Anglican pastor, Rev. Sue Brittion, representing the World
Conference for Religion and Peace (WCRP) Diakonia in Durban, spoke of the
need to understand Christian scriptures with due regard to the historical,
socio-political and economic contexts in which they were written.

Holy scriptures, Brittion said, are often abused in the interests of those
using them, and their class or position in society. "Indeed there are
texts that incite to violence and others that promote peace and non-violence* you can find a text to suit your purpose," she remarked. She challenged
those in the church to be continuously aware and ready to challenge those
"who abuse our scriptures in the name of dealing with conflict."

An appeal was also made to religious institutions to revisit their
respective dogmas and practices to determine what was enhancing racism
especially in Europe and Asia, following the 11 September 2001 terrorist
attack against the United States of America.

There is an urgent need to initiate inter-religious dialogue to avert what
could develop into a conflict of civilization, Mr Doudou Diene, the United
Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, told participants in
the IFAPA summit.

In his presentation titled, "Racism, Religion and Dialogue," Diene
recommended the promotion of reciprocal knowledge and joint actions
between various religions for peace and understanding.

Over 240 participants from all over Africa, and observers from Europe and
North America are attending the summit coordinated by the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) and hosted by the National Religious Leaders Forum of
South Africa. LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, mooted the
African inter-faith peace initiative in early 2000. Eight faith traditions
are represented at the summit meeting under the theme "Working Together
for Peace in Africa." (643 words)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 66 million Christians. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication,
and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
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opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an
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