Interfaith dialogue, driven by the desire to promote constructive interaction, unanimous understanding and fruitful cooperation between different beliefs, will be an essential lever that will help preserve humanity from the torments of suffering and division, said, Tuesday, King Mohammed VI.
In a message addressed to the participants of the Parliamentary Conference on “Interfaith dialogue: collaborating for our common future”, which is being held from June 13 to 15 in Marrakech, the Sovereign stressed that this objective can only be achieved “if we walk the talk; this is one of the major challenges of your conference”.
“It is also up to us to shed new light on the concept of interfaith dialogue; finally, it is up to us to strengthen collective awareness of the importance of dialogue and coexistence, of the dangers entailed by the persistence of a logic of introversion and fanaticism.continued the King to the address of the participants in this Conference which “brings together for the first time parliamentarians who have come in their capacity as legislators and representatives of their respective peoples and a large number of religious leaders, experts and renowned researchers from around the world”.
“We expect the Marrakesh Conference to provide a rational, informed and convincing response to currents which cultivate fanaticism, hatred and denigration of religions and which treat human beings according to their religion, their doctrine, their race or skin color”added the Sovereign in this message, which was read by the President of the House of Representatives, Rachid Talbi El Alami, saying that he was convinced that the diversity of the respective statuses of the participants and the variety of their political, intellectual and confessional backgrounds will be of invaluable help.
Indeed, the King said, the parliamentarians among you have the competence to pass laws intended to facilitate dialogue, to reject, even to penalize the speeches which praise fanaticism and withdrawal into oneself »noting that the leaders present here of religious institutions and chiefdoms can, for their part, avail themselves of their mission of guidance and awareness-raising and use their spiritual authority to warn of abuses likely to undermine the foundations of coexistence and constructive dialogue between religions.
“We must also understand that the fear of a religion or rather the phobia intentionally aroused around it eventually turns into a form of hatred towards all aspects of this religion or the civilization associated with it. »said the Sovereign.
“Then come the incitement to take a stand against the belief in question, the acts of discrimination against it and the violence that targets it”continued the King, expressing His deep regret to note that many media among the most followed only seek through their editorial line to feed the spiral of fanaticism and confrontation.
The Sovereign also expressed His wish to see the Marrakech Conference lead “on action plans whose three components that you represent will contribute decisively to ensure the implementationwork at the level of each country and internationally”.
The King stressed, in this regard, the need to create a mixed mechanism, the work of which will be coordinated by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, specifying that this mechanism will have the task of making interfaith dialogue between the different components of the international community a noble common objective, which should be promoted within international bodies.
“This objective will also serve as a criterion of democratic governance in parliamentary practice, and as an indicator of respect for pluralism and cultural diversity”, insisted the Sovereign, noting that religion, by constituting a bulwark against extremism, must be the basis of living together and not be exploited by extremist ideologies.
“However, the rooting of this ideal combined with respect for other faiths requires an educational effort that schools, universities, mass media, religious institutions and spaces for responsible public debate should deploy”, supported the Sovereign, expressing the wish to see the final document of the Conference include practical proposals with a view to achieving this objective.
Referring to several challenges and crises that are shaking Humanity as well as a number of very worrying clues as to the future of relations between the different confessions and the various civilizations, the King considered it necessary, in the face of these clues, that the living forces, acquired in the equality of religions, civilizations and, beyond that, of all human beings, are mobilizing to reverse the current trend and to adopt policies likely to stem this dangerous regression of human conscience.
“The institutions represented by the participants in this Conference are undeniably at the heart of this noble fight which aims to promote understanding, tolerance and coexistence”added the Sovereign, noting that institutional action and awareness-raising and educational work are also necessary.
“The gloomy picture of a world taking note of this conflict of beliefs should not obscure a more radiant reality”, considered the King, citing, in this regard, the bold initiatives that seek to promote communication and interaction between the components of the international community and the followers of the different faiths, thus helping to cultivate, among each other, a spirit of tolerance, a climate of harmony: the ideal of living together.
Rejoicing that the participants in this Conference “be part of these political elites, of these religious magisteriums, of these academic and intellectual circles acquired by the idea that the mission of populating the Earth, willed by God the Most High, must be accomplished in accordance with a will of interaction, mutual knowledge and living together, regardless of confessional and doctrinal differences”the Sovereign insisted that this responsibility “is incumbent on all mankind”.