Religious leaders to discuss how religion can help make a peaceful society

By Phatarawadee Phataranawik 
The Nation

 

The Koreabased NGO, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) will host an interfaith discussion on “The Eradication of Acts of Religious Discrimination” on February 24 at Wat That Thong.

 

Dozens of leaders from various faiths – Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, Christian, and Sikh – will gather at Wat Thatthong on Saturday afternoon for a seminar discussion on “The Eradication of Acts of Religious Discrimination” in the English language.

 

The event is hosted by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a non-governmental, non-profit organisation registered under the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event is held as part of the United Nations Interfaith Harmony Week held from January 5 to March 5.

 

Every year, the first week of February is designated as the “International Religious Harmony State” to promote understanding, harmony and cooperation among religions by conveying messages of harmony and goodwill between their adherents during the period.

 

The dialogues of religions hosted by HWPL, called the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Office meetings, have been conducted in 216 offices from 124 countries, including Bangkok, to pinpoint the commonality of human values designated in religious scriptures.

“As we celebrate 2018 UN World Interfaith Harmony Week with ‘The Eradication of Acts of Religious Discrimination’, the HWPL WARP office will urge the eradication of religious extremism, thereby attracting world-wide attention to the absurdities of religious discrimination,” Emjay Ha of HWPL told The Nation via e-mail.

 

Followed the interfaith dialogue discussions in Bangkok and the South last month, HWPL returns Bangkok again with a variety of activities in the interfaith event this weekend. Kicking off at 3pm, there will be video presentation about how people think about religious discrimination. Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, Christian, and Sikh leaders will discuss “The Eradication of Acts of Religious Discrimination”.

 

The panelists include Dr Prasert Suksaskawin, head of the Centre of Islamic Studies in Siam Technology College; Sathit Kumar, president of Ramakrishna Vedanta Association of Thailand; Dr Naw Kham La Dhammasami, founder of the Institute of Buddhist Psychology; pastor Virendra Arora of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; Ven Phramaha Wattana from Wat Mahathat; Pornthep SriNarula, president of NRI welfare society India, and Dr Husni Hamad, president of the Social Welfare Society.

 

The interfaith dialogue with religious representatives from Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism will discuss the relationship between human being and the spiritual world in the context of the role of religion in making a peaceful society.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30339551

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-02-24

you got to be FRICKIN' kidding me.

22 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

you got to be FRICKIN' kidding me.

Can that be taken to mean you won't be attending?

Have none of the religious leaders and experts realised that religion never causes peace.. in fact it just causes conflict, discrimination, hate, violence and all the wars on the planet!

 

So they think its fine for religion to discriminate and persecute people who don't believe in it, but they don't think is ok for anyone to say anything against them?

 

What a waste of time and money.

36 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

you got to be FRICKIN' kidding me.

Will they kick off with the decision that everyones version of the imaginary sky god is the same? If they managed that would that mean the rest of the week is a waste of time?

"The interfaith dialogue with religious representatives from Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism will discuss the relationship between human being and the spiritual world in the context of the role of religion in making a peaceful society."

 

The obvious omission, and the one that would most likely lead to a peaceful society, is Rastafari. Time to start my peaceful day...Cough, Cough.

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

in the context of the role of religion in making a peaceful society.

more lives have been lost in the name of organized religion than any other cause

If you want peace DO NOT KILL. You cannot 'cleanse' society by killing

22 minutes ago, jaltsc said:

"The interfaith dialogue with religious representatives from Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism will discuss the relationship between human being and the spiritual world in the context of the role of religion in making a peaceful society."

 

The obvious omission, and the one that would most likely lead to a peaceful society, is Rastafari. Time to start my peaceful day...Cough, Cough.

sadly no,  Rastas are often just stoned fundies, often murderously hostile to gays (battieboy must die)

If there was no religion, this world would be at peace. No wars, no nothing!

"Religion" and "peace" don't go hand-in-hand. 

29 minutes ago, the guest said:

If there was no religion, this world would be at peace. No wars, no nothing!

Nice idea but we would still find a good reason to kill each other.

1 minute ago, overherebc said:

Nice idea but we would still find a good reason to kill each other.

 

There'd be a lot less reasons though :)

1 minute ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

There'd be a lot less reasons though :)

Only one less I think. 

4 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Only one less I think. 

 

Well no, there are lots of reasons people kill other people, in the name of one or the other religions...

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The dialogues of religions hosted by HWPL, called the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP)

That is not a good acronym. 

58 minutes ago, the guest said:

If there was no religion, this world would be at peace. No wars, no nothing!

Religion has often been used to justify war, however the real causes are often more venal. 

 

If there was no religion, then other reasons would have been used.   

Too late. The war of civilizations started after 9/11. And don't even mention the Bhuddists xenophobes in Burma.

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

If there was no religion, this world would be at peace. No wars, no nothing!

 

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Religion has often been used to justify war, however the real causes are often more venal. 

 

If there was no religion, then other reasons would have been used.   

Strange comments, when one considers that the two bloodiest and most destructive wars in recent history, (and probably throughout man's entire history) were not started or waged in the name of religion, nor venality.

17 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

Strange comments, when one considers that the two bloodiest and most destructive wars in recent history, (and probably throughout man's entire history) were not started or waged in the name of religion, nor venality.

WW1 and WW2 had nothing to do with religion.

 

At it's heart neither did one of the bloodiest conflicts to strike Europe, the 30 years war, in the 17th century...it was a war where religion was used to justify empire building in the center of Europe.

Currently only one religion this century trying to kill non believers. Banning that death cult would be a good start

45 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Currently only one religion this century trying to kill non believers. Banning that death cult would be a good start

Am stunned that took the best part of two pages to throw up this type of comment. 

There is No God. Get a life and get over it. All religions are only about 3 things. Money, Power and Control of the population. Governments do not kill people, They enforce Justice. People kill people and many many times it is in the name of the religion.!!!

Good intentions. However,  talk is cheap!

 

A waste of time plus money. Yet again!

 

Religion is suppose to  assist society, in killing one another?!

 

I tend to feel it assists itself in more ways than one! Power. Domination. Greed. Indoctrination. 

 

The Bankers. The Politicians and the so called Faith, in my opinion, has, is and will always destroy humanity.

 

We as humans possess a very powerful thing, our minds, and yet look at our lives! 

 

Very sad...

 

Get rid of all of the above three,  that have been, and are still being, forcibly placed  upon humanity.

 

 

 

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Dozens of leaders from various faiths – Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, Christian, and Sikh –

Islam and Christianity have their origins in the Jewish faith.

But no leaders from the Jewish faith present?

The earliest mention of any Jewish presence in Siam dates from 1601 when Spanish missionaries reported on Jewish merchants who lived in the Kingdom of Ayuthaya where they maintained a synagogue and were “zealous in the Law of Moses”.  http://www.jewishthailand.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/301361/jewish/The-Jewish-Association-of-Thailand.htm

 

Let me guess. Go and kill all the competitors. Seems to have been the MO of religions for the last few millenia. Better get rid of all of them.

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Religious leaders to discuss how religion can help make a peaceful society

They could start by urging all their followers - and in Thailand, with about 95% of the population being practising Buddhists, that's about 60 million souls - to pray that the entire junta brigade die peacefully in their sleep . . . tonight would be good, I feel, since, if their prayer be answered, the country would immediately be a much more peaceful place. OK, a little tongue-in-cheek, maybe, but food for thought, at least, as a Sat. aft. beer slides down. Mrs o-Cha could always give Prayut's caviar on chips to the poor guys up the street.

6 hours ago, the guest said:

If there was no religion, this world would be at peace. No wars, no nothing!

Not quite, but then there would only be your everyday greed to contend with 

6 hours ago, the guest said:

If there was no religion, this world would be at peace. No wars, no nothing!

You've hit the nail on the head with 'nothing'. We'd all have eaten ourselves, in the final act of mankind's kamikaze self-destruction, if there were no religious creeds and 'ten commandments' style codes of conduct to live by. I believe that if our village had no temple and no religion, it would soon descend into anarchy . . . unless its Farang could save them from doom.

18 minutes ago, Ossy said:

You've hit the nail on the head with 'nothing'. We'd all have eaten ourselves, in the final act of mankind's kamikaze self-destruction, if there were no religious creeds and 'ten commandments' style codes of conduct to live by. I believe that if our village had no temple and no religion, it would soon descend into anarchy . . . unless its Farang could save them from doom.

Apart from the first one, what’s the problem with the Ten Commandments?

 

edit: just read them again and should have said apart from the first 4.