Lead the Drive for Justice and Peace, Asian Faith Communities Urged

LWF Interfaith Consultation Challenges Religious Leaders to Promote Understanding

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 map of Bangladesh

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.

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