Intrduction to the Youth Interfaith Leaders Forum on The United Nations, Interfaith Cooperation, and Human Rights, United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA, December 2, 2008

First of all, let me thank the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya and Nepal and thank you, Your Excellency, Mr. Chowdhury and Secretary General, Dr. Walsh for making this conference possible, and thank you, Genie Kagawa and the Universal Peace Federation for inviting me to moderate this session.

When I first came here to the United Nations six years ago, I didn’t hear Interfaith mentioned, even once. Now it’s everywhere…

What a miracle this is…this gathering in the name of Interfaith, Human Rights and Dignity. I am deeply honored to be here today.

What an important junction in time we have arrived at!

Our planet has never before been in such a state of turmoil and disharmony.

How vital is interfaith understanding in this world at this time.

Everywhere we look at conflicts on this planet, the most obvious causative factors are miscommunication and mistaken communication as well as a lack of understanding and respect for one another’s faith paths and religious imperatives.

What is it that we are to do?

What is it that we CAN do to somehow ameliorate all that which is used to separate us; to reverse the hijacking of religions that has caused such turmoil and discord?

What can we do to help change perspectives from hating in the name of the Divine to loving in the name of the Divine?

How do we fully live life in a Culture of Peace and promote the protection of human rights and dignity?

How do we achieve interfaith cooperation in our lives?

How do we promote the Culture of Peace within which we can promote the protection of human rights and dignity?

In the mystical tradition of my faith, we are taught to look at the individual letters of a word to understand their true meaning, and so, if I take the individual letters of Peace, what do I find?

I find that the

P-stands for Partnership. No one of us can accomplish this alone.
E-stands for Equality-the absolute understanding that there is no “US and THEM” but only “US.”
A-stands for Awareness. Our eyes must be open at all times to see every opportunity to act in harmony.
C-stands for cooperation. It is the compounding of our energies, acting together, that will bring about great change.
E-stands for Enthusiasm. Last, but not least, it is the strength of our hearts that can powerfully and positively create a culture of peace through interfaith dialogue and education.

How do we achieve interfaith understanding and respect?

Forgive me for not using the word “Tolerance,” because that word connotes an external “giving in” without any true internal change of being.

It is a conditional word and our focus must be on the unconditional.

The answer, I believe, to achieving interfaith understanding and respect is “Education.”

Interfaith education is the key to achieving harmony among all our brothers and sisters of the world, promoting cooperation and the protection of human rights and dignity within a Culture of Peace.

At The New Seminary for Interfaith Studies, the first and most respected Interfaith Seminary in the world, which I have the great honor to Co-Direct, we have been teaching the principles of Interfaith understanding and respect for nearly 30 years, and that work is paying dividends in the world with nearly 2500 graduates spreading the message.

While this is a wonderful accomplishment, there is one obvious lack that needs fulfilling.

With few exceptions, the age span of the participants who attend our seminary (and all the others that I know of) is from 30 to 80 years.

Adults have as much “unlearning” to do as the learning that we must do to change ourselves so we may effect change in the world.

What we need to have are sources and institutions for teaching our younger generations.

I challenge all the Interfaith learning centers to formulate plans and activities for our young people so they will begin THE work in the world.

Those for whom the ideals of a world of Interfaith cooperation, respect and understanding is a world that they believe in before they are taught differently by people and events that guide them away from such a unifying idea.

This part of our conference is, therefore, perhaps its most important segment.

The New Seminary for Interfaith Studies is committed to contributing to all the efforts here at the United Nations. It is necessary to share the baton with the younger generations willing to pick it up and to contribute to this most worthy of efforts.

This is the time to hear from the generations that will be the most active in shaping the attitudes of the world’s inhabitants in the very near future. To hear what they might plan, what they might seek, what they might expect, and what they are convinced they can achieve.

And so, my brothers and sisters gathered here in this effort, may I say in closing that, if we refrain in saying, “This is mine!” and say instead, “This is ours!” there CAN be peace.

I have always taught that blessed are the brief for they will be invited to speak again, so, in true humbleness and joy, I invite our younger participants to share their feelings, ideas and plans with us.

Thank you very much.

Rabbi Roger Ross, Exec. Director
The New Seminary for Interfaith Studies
www.newseminary.org