Interfaith topics lag far behind

THREE interfaith virtual forums were held on the same day Dec 12, 2020 with several thousand Malaysians participating online.

Getting the conversation rolling from 10am, the KL Archdiocesan Ministry for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue in partnership with Catholics At Home titled its panel discussion “Relating with peoples of other faiths” that featured Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Bahai and Christian speakers.

At 11am, Kesatuan Mahasiswa Universiti Malaya began its convention on “Toleransi dalam rangka kemajmukan agama: realiti dan harapan” (Tolerance in the framework of religious pluralism: reality and hope).

Across the Asia Pacific region, the Universal Peace Federation held a webinar which began at 11am on the theme: “The role of faith-based organisations in building a heavenly unified world” featuring seven international speakers from different faiths including two Malaysians.

However, the organisers of all three events picked closely-related subjects that belonged to the 20th century.

Speakers focused on giving reasons why there should be harmony, peace, tolerance, understanding and respect among the followers of all religions.

But peace among religions should already be a well-established condition in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region 20 years into the 21st century.

No doubt, the establishment of peace among all people regardless of their ethnicity or religion was the greatest challenge of the 20th century with its two world wars, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, and a host of other wars including civil wars, religious wars, partition wars, and racial wars.

In the year 2020 we are still trying to instil harmony among devotees of various religions.

Isn’t this an ominous sign that humanity remains anchored in the 20th century?

The necessity for interreligious understanding is as basic as nasi lemak for breakfast. It should be a staple ingredient in the weekly sermons at all places of worship.

If you hold a neighbourhood forum, would you be discussing the need for peace and respect?

More likely, the neighbours will raise topics that are challenging such as dengue, litter, clogged drains, potholes, damaged playground equipment and lack of greenery.

Neighbours will assume that peace is a given. What is up for discussion is how to foster cooperation.

The 21st century throws us a set of global challenges that can only be overcome if peace among the followers of all religions is already there as a pre-existing condition.

Upon this soil of peace, harmony and respect, we then build a cooperative network of faiths or a broad interfaith alliance.

If a multifaith coalition doesn’t yet exist, then we don’t even have a foundation to sustain humanity for the next 80 years.

Humanity faces two engulfing challenges: Disease X and climate change.

The first challenge, if unmet, will cripple the global economy for a second time; the second challenge, if we fail to reverse course, may result in the deaths of up to seven billion people before the end of this century. Covid-19 isn’t the last assault from the micro world of viruses.

The conditions that led to the rise of Covid-19 have been identified. As these conditions – forest destruction, wildlife captivity, and livestock crowding – still exist, virologists are certain that Disease X will follow the path blazed by SARS-CoV-2 in jumping from animal to human.

More threatening is climate change. Scientists once believed there would be sufficient time to develop carbon-capture technology on a large scale.

They no longer think so, because there is growing evidence of climate change acceleration.

The speed of climate change is like a plane at the airport steadily moving towards the runway like a milk van. Then you hear the engine roaring loudly as it picks up speed. Like a plane, climate change is now at runway speed.

Up until 2018, climate scientists were confident that the world’s oceans were creeping up by just 3.2 millimetres per year.

But faster melting of Greenland’s ice has pushed the rate to 4.8 mm per year. This is only one of many signs that climate change is accelerating faster and faster.

The world is speeding in the wrong direction, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg thundered in a three-minute video released on Dec 11.

She called on people everywhere in the world to act as they are the only hope of safeguarding the planet.

Religion has always been the most persuasive organising force in civilised society, and this is without a doubt true in Malaysia as witnessed by the grip that preachers have over the masses and the voluminous crowds that gather for sermons every weekend.

It’s high time for our religions to pick up speed and earnestly build a multifaith coalition. Although there is clearly a lack of expertise in religious circles on the two critical subjects of climate change and Disease X, the task falls upon religion to make it a basic expression of faith for all devotees to believe that we are one race of humans beyond our separate parochial identities as Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, or Taoists.

Both challenges require global inclusive cooperation: this means everyone has to be involved so that a tight web of humanity is formed.

Religions, with their charismatic power over the masses, must feel it is their primary sacred duty to avert Disease X and stop climate change.

The writer champions interfaith harmony. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com