Bridging The Divide: Religious Dialogue And Universal Ethics

Book Summary

Believing that religious misunderstanding has led to world conflict, the Council, led by Helmut Schmidt, former chancellor of the federal republic of Germany, has developed a research agenda to ask the following questions: Can religious become a force for peace? Can the virtue of tolerance be taught? Do world religions share a core ethic? What can be done to thwart those who exploit and abuse faith for their own ends? Bridging the Divide makes available the results of these explorations. The first two sections present perspectives on Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Shinto. Religious practitioners and scholars look beyond the differences toward a common goal - a global ethic of mutual respect, compassion, and peace. In the third section, politicians and academics discuss the possibility of a universal ethic, while the forth section presents a culmination of this work - a draft of a Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities. Contributors include Hans Kung (Global Ethic Foundation, emeritus, Tubingen University), Tu Weiming (Harvard-Yenching Institute), Koshin Ohtani (Japan Buddhist Federation, Monshu of Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha), Rabbi Jonathan Magonet (Leo Baeck College), Acharya Shrivatsa Goswami (Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana), Mettanando Bhikkhu (World Conference of Religions for Peace), Abodolkarim Soroush (International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World; Academy of Philosophy), Kamal Aboulmagd (Attorney at Law, Egypt), Osamu Yoshida (Toyo University), Stephan Schlensog (Global Ethic Foundation), Archbishop Damianos Hegumen (Archbishop of Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery), Helmut Schmidt (Former Chancellor ofGermany), Oscar Arias (President of Costa Rica), Seiken Sugiura (Former Minister of Justice of Japan), and Malcolm Fraser (Former Prime Minister of Australia), Thomas S. Axworthy (Centre for the Study of Democracy, Queen's; InterAction Council).

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