No to violence in God’s name. Self-criticism and transformation

Issue:
There are more than 70 ongoing armed conflicts in the world today and many of these are being fought in the name of God and justice. Community violence. In different areas human rights are being violated because of religious issues.

Proposal:
A deep process of self-analysis and self-criticism is required to recover spirituality and understand the message of peace and respect which unites all religions. Voices from all the beliefs represented urged that the true sense of the word of God be found and from that point a true process of peace and reconciliation be set up between the different faiths on the basis of recognition and acceptance of religious diversity. Voices representing all the religions called for an end to the use of God’s name to justify any kind of violent action. The true meaning of every religion should be spread through practices and messages and all links with violence and intolerance should be broken. There must be a commitment from all religious leaders to mediate with political and institutional powers in order to achieve peace.

Best practices:
The Interfaith movement. Firstly, the movement provides information to all communities about acts of religious violence and, secondly, organizes a meeting and a religious ceremony where the acts took place. Preventive measures are also carried out, such as organizing seminars and courses about other religions and creating inter-religious youth groupings.

Conclusions:
Throughout history God’s name has been used to justify acts of war, dictatorships, torture or any kind of action which violates human rights. Religions must put a stop to this and this can be achieved through a spiritual transformation leading to concrete actions.