Recommendations for Peaceful Co-Existence in a Multi Religious World
The extent to which freedom of belief is enjoyed in the contemporary world and how different cultures and legal systems respond to diversity of religious and secular beliefs in their midst, is a neglected topic in human rights research. The process of reaching consensus on the norms governing freedom of conscience, religion and belief has been protracted and is far from complete. Questions of religion, ideology or belief are among the most sensitive matters in international relations and in international human rights exchanges within the United Nations and regional bodies. Diplomatic discourse has preferred to confine itself largely to abstract reference to situations of 'intolerance' or 'religious extremism', for example, rather than identify specific violations. The general wariness towards, if not lack of interest in, the subject by many governments, has resulted in a studied neglect. Yet for the bulk of humankind, belief is the most significant of all aspects of life and the freedoms to maintain, to manifest and to transmit their beliefs to their children, are among the most important claims made by citizens everywhere on their governments. Freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief is far from bei
3. People tend to mean by a nation a humanly created nation-state rather than an ethnic grouping with an inherited common culture. Such a nation often has quite artificial, arbitrary geographical boundaries and separates related groups of people. The answer to the question of why different nations exist is most commonly given in historical, social, geographical and nationalistic, rather than religious terms. The majority of the nation-states of today contain a diversity of cultures and religious groupings within them. It is possible for a nation to affirm this variety as a microcosm of the varied world in which we live. Members of religions might then feel secure living side by side. However, there is sometimes a tension between religious beliefs and commitment to separate nation-states. The state may be oppressive of religion or some religious groups. There may be a desire to create and live in a nation in which one can follow one's religious life and its ethical ideals with the minimum of compromise. This desire may lead to a radical reform of a nation from within (as in the case of the Iranian Revolution) or the setting-up of a new nation-state (as in the case of Pakistan in 1947 and the Sikh desire for a homeland). Religious beliefs may emphasize that fellowship with co-religionists in other nation-states transcends national divisions and loyalties. There may be a deep awareness of the final unity of all humankind whatever their religion or race (Chichester, 1987). 5. Some people have blamed the poverty in the less technologically developed countries on the tendency of their populations to grow faster than those in the more affluent countries of the northern hemisphere. This is by no means a total explanation and in some ways a complete red herring. Nevertheless, each community is challenged by the situation to develop an attitude towards the growth of the world's population and the fact that humanity possesses the capacity to control or reduce its numbers, if it so wishes (Green, 1988). Should people as it were, 'trust in God' and carry on producing children? Should people engineer a certain population size, in line with economic realities? A third possibility is, of course, to try to adjust economic realities to suit the size of population. Nevertheless, the size of population in some impoverished countries has been seen as a major problem, and it is worth considering that the other side of the problem is the diminishing size of the populations of affluent countries. In time there is a fear that either there will be an insufficient workforce, or there will not be enough people to support the elderly, who through medical advances are living longer.
Some common words found in the essay are:
United Nations, Iranian Revolution, , Cold War, religion belief, human rights, religious beliefs, conscience religion belief, countries northern hemisphere, freedom conscience religion, discrimination intolerance, people world, northern hemisphere, affluent countries, countries northern, united nations, religions teach,
Approximate Word count = 2010
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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