Kyoto: Religions for Peace World Assembly

Posted August 28, 2006 in News

The theme of the eigth Peace World Assembly is "confronting violence and advancing shared security." During the four day conference participants are discussing wasy to eliminate violence and work on developing shared security through conflict transformation, peace building and sustainable development. The four day conference is being attended by 2000 people from over 100 countries; including 500 religious leaders from 70 countries.

In the opening session, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizum is quoted as saying ""I believe it is possible for people to overcome differences in cultures and religions through dialogue and deepen mutual trust in order to overcome the difficulties and confrontations the world is confronted with."

The patriach of the Tendai school of Buddhism, Eshin Watanabe says it is "an urgent task and responsibility for the religious fields to deepen mutual understanding through dialogue and cooperate to bring peace at a time when religions are alleged to have caused conflicts directly or collaterally."

UN's General Secretary Kofi Annan wrote in his message of encouragement to the Assembly "By standing together in multi-religious alliances, you are well-placed to be effective agents for peace. By cooperating within the Religions for Peace networks, your effort is multiplied, and your impact in your communities magnified."

This is an excellent intiative, especially when there is a need to take on concepts such as "just war". This kind of meeting can help foster an integrated model that puts into context and encourages isolated intiatives such Walter Wink's postulations on "The myth of redemption violence".

LINKS: Daily Yomiuri Online The Hindu China View Yahoo Ekklesia

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