April 24, 2005

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa/GENEVA – 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."

Lutheran World Information