Friday, February 4, 2011

World Interfaith Harmony Week

"Recognizing that the moral imperatives of all religions, convictions and beliefs call for peace, tolerance and mutual understanding,

1. Reaffirms that mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace;

2. Proclaims the first week of February every year the World Interfaith Harmony Week between all religions, faiths and beliefs;

3. Encourages all States to support, on a voluntary basis, the spread of the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill in the world’s churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other places of worship during that week, based on love of God and love of one’s neighbour or on love of the good and love of one’s neighbour, each according to their own religious traditions or convictions; ..." - part of UN General Assembly Resolution 65/5 (my emphasis)

Note that part 3 is actually parsed to include secular humanists. It's a bit ironic that, while some of the registered events worldwide seem to focus on the Children of Abraham commonality in a specific subset of religions, local events (all two of them) during this week are being held in 1) a Unitarian Universalist church, and 2) a public library.

As I am unable to attend either of these events, I've decided to mark this week by finding and reviewing the seven other UN resolutions mentioned in this particular resolution. I'm a bit shocked that the UN General Assembly finds it necessary to repeatedly resolve to promote "a culture of peace and non-violence", and I'm curious as to the language of such resolutions...

Updates to this post after I digest the aforementioned data.