Alliance
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The “Filling the Moral Vacuum Alliance” was formed at the end of the “Filling the Moral Vacuum Conference” in May 2002.
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The subject for this conference was surveyed among many different religious groups to ascertain what topic the groups thought should be addressed.The conference launched a dialogue to address central social problems in society and their underlying causes.
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Drugs, criminality and other social problems often have a common denominator – a lack or loss of moral understanding by those involved.
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Conclusions
Several conclusions came out of the conference, as agreed upon by many of the participants:
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- 1. The momentum generated by the conference should be the start of a bigger movement to improve social conditions, with groups and individuals working together using whatever solutions and means were shown to be workable.
- 2. That moral and spiritual values, in whatever way these are expressed, are an important foundation for any society and these should be respected, upheld and used.
- 3. We should develop ways to foster positive religious and/or moral values at all levels of society. Co-operating together in different projects designed to deal with social problems was emphasised.
- 4. To this end, it was agreed that an executive committee should be created to start working out a series of different projects that would enable different groups to work together.
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- 5. It is important to create an atmosphere of understanding, tolerance and respect for other people’s cultures. When presenting our own system of values to others, we should be aware of the similarities and difference that lie between them.
- 6. We should organise various cultural and social events where communities can get together and get to know each other.
- 7. Moral values must be practised and not just discussed theoretically. Leaders must set a good example.
- 8. The needs of the minority communities must be kept in mind in all policy making, but minority communities should also organise themselves and take the initiative for this to happen.
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- 9. The family is a vital building block of society and ways in which to communicate values at the level that children and youth can understand and appreciate need to be developed.
- 10. A number of community events and projects were suggested to facilitate different communities participating in other communities’ activities.
- 11. A statement, “A call to reverse a dangerous trend” was drafted during the conference and many participants signed this, pledging their commitment to making a difference and calling upon others to do likewise.
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Religions working together
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From these points it was decided to establish the Religions Working Together Alliance to continue the conference momentum on the above points.
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Here are links to useful sites on the subject of religious freedom:
Human Rights Without Frontiers Int.
HRWF is independent of all political, ideological or religious movements.
Its object is to promote democracy, the rule of law and the rights of the individual – man, woman and child – everywhere in the world, by every appropriate means.
Nobody carrying out a political mandate (including representing a political party in exile) or being a cleric can be a member of the board of directors.
www.hrwf.net
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CESNUR
CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, is an international network of associations of scholars working in the field of new religious movements. Its director is the Italian scholar Massimo Introvigne. CESNUR is independent from any religious group, Church, denomination or association.
www.cesnur.org
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