wfn.org | LWI 2009-055 Lead the Drive for Justice and Peace, Asian Faith Communities Urged

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

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Lead the Drive for Justice and Peace, Asian Faith Communities
Urged
LWF Interfaith Consultation Challenges Religious Leaders to
Promote Understanding

DHAKA, Bangladesh/GENEVA, 15 October 2009 (LWI) - Use your
institutions to develop opportunities for common action, a
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) consultation has urged religious
communities in Asia.  

Delegates called on the LWF to establish a platform to exchange
positive experiences of interfaith collaboration in the region.

The "Consultation on Interfaith Diapraxis: Building Communities
of Solidarity and Mutual Interest," held from 8 to 10 September
in Dhaka, Bangladesh, also called for religious, community and
political leaders to work for tolerance and reconciliation.

The 50 delegates attending the consultation represented LWF
member churches, ecumenical partners and religious groups
(Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim) from Bangladesh, Hong
Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Jordan, Korea and Thailand. 

The Asia desk of the LWF Department for Mission and Development
organized the meeting aimed at fostering interfaith relations. It
was hosted by the Department for World Service associate program
Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) in collaboration with the
Bangladesh Lutheran Church and the Bangladesh Northern
Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The final statement from the gathering affirmed the importance
of religious freedom; the need for joint social action among
faiths; and the urgency to develop leadership committed to
interfaith action. 

Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan, LWF vice president for the Asian
region, told the consultation that religious leaders have an
important role to play in promoting understanding among people of
diverse faith communities. The faith communities need to address
people’s suffering, challenge structures of injustice and help
build a modern, civil society, he said. 

The LWF vice president noted that diaparaxis emphasized the
practical dimension and visibility of dialogue among the
faithful. Religious leaders, he said, should utilize their faith
to speak the truth and promote justice. They should set an
example to their followers by their words and deeds, and by
opposing extremism, said Younan, bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. 

>Opportunity for Common Action

LWF Deputy General Secretary Rev. Chandran Paul Martin told the
consultation that the call to "feed the hungry" shared across
faiths offers opportunity for common affirmation and action among
religions. 

Interfaith groups in India, for example, are creating programs
that focus on promoting shared life in community, said Rev. Dr
Packiam Samuel, general secretary of the Interfaith Coalition for
Peace in India.

RDRS executive director, Mr Kamaluddin Akbar, explained that
despite Bangladesh’s large Muslim majority and some scattered
instances of discrimination, religious harmony exists in the
country. 

Still, he said, there was need for change before either dialogue
or common action among faiths could succeed. 

Ms Sally Lim, LWF regional expression officer for Asia, noted
that the 2005 Asian tsunami brought people of various faiths
together in solidarity and action. This kind of common action
should focus on creating solidarity, added Rev. Dr Martin Sinaga,
study secretary for theology and the church at the LWF Department
for Theology and Studies. 

Brother Jalarth D'Souza, who runs the Bangladesh Inter-Religious
Council for Peace and Justice talked about how Hindus look after
a Muslim shrine at Chittagong in the southeast. 

>Cultural Patterns

However, Rev. Martin Adhikary of the Leprosy Mission Bangladesh
warned against limiting religious belief to a particular culture
or pattern. 

There is "need to take action to stop propaganda," and
stereotypes about other religions, remarked Dr Syed Samsuzzaman,
RDRS director for resources and the environment. Muslim scholar
Prof. Shamsher Ali, vice chancellor of Southeast University in
Dhaka, illustrated the importance of stressing commonalities
among faiths groups. 

Indian Hindu scholar Dr Prabhakar Bhattacharya called for the
linking of faith with the current life situations of believers. 

Buddhists have long believed in the principle of diapraxis, said
Dr Parichat Suwanbubbha of Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom,
Thailand. Too often faiths teach by using texts. "But we should
link it with the present day situation of the people," he added.
(650 words)

(This article is compiled from reports by Ms Sabrina Sharmin of
RDRS Bangladesh.) 

The final statement from the diapraxis consultation is available
on the LWF web site at: 
www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF-2009_Dhaka_Consultation_on_Diapraxis-EN.pdf

>*        *          *

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