The Melbourne Declaration of the Fifth World Assembly, 1989
![](img/image17.jpg)
The Fifth Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace has met
in Melbourne, Australia. It records its gratitude that it met in a nuclear-weapons-free
zone. We came, nearly 600 of us, from many of the world's religious traditions
and from some 60 countries. A women's meeting and a youth meeting preceded
the main conference. Thirty-five percent of the participants were women,
fifteen percent youth. Though we are of different religions, we have all
come with a common commitment to seek peace, pursue justice, and preserve
the sacredness of nature.
Signs of Hope
We share many feelings. First we feel a sense of hope, stimulated because
of developments in the international arena occurring since 1987. The Central
American Peace Process brought progress toward the resolution of the tragic
conflicts in that region of the world. Fighting has ended between Iran
and Iraq, and hope for a speedy conclusion of fighting in Afghanistan follows
the planned withdrawal of Soviet troops from that country. Progress has
been made toward the withdrawal of South Africa from Namibia and the complete
independence of that country. In the field of disarmament, the Intermediate-range
Nuclear Forces Treaty, concluded by the United States and the Soviet Union,
will lead to the dismantling of certain classes of nuclear weapons. The
recent world conference in Paris condemning the use of poisonous gas in
warfare may indeed lead to the end of the production, stockpiling, and
use of chemical weapons.
Many people have shared the hope for the potential end of the Cold War.
Freedom and democracy have become realistic goals in countries long noted
for their dictatorial systems. In some nations where the concept of the
national security state has resulted in internally repressive regimes,
democratic practices are once again emerging with the prospects of renewed
rights and freedom. Changes in the Middle East increase the potential and
the necessity for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be resolved. The
agreement reached at the Vienna Conference (CSCE) raises new hopes for
human rights in Europe. The worldwide ecological crisis is creating a new
awareness of our global interdependence and the necessity to find ways
of preserving the environment. The concept of the sacredness of the land
and our unity with it is deeply felt in many places in the world. In many
countries, people of differing cultures and religions are striving to find
ways of creating pluralistic societies. And around the world, religious
people are meditating and praying together for peace as in Assisi, 1986;
Mt.Hiei, 1987; and elsewhere.
Second, we share a sense of anticipation as the 20th century draws to a
close. We hope to enter the next century with a better understanding of
our common humanity and common destiny. The conflicts and problems of the
20th century should not be allowed to enter or destroy the 21st century.
Signs of hope exist. In Europe, a political-economic community will come
into being in 1992, committed to unity within and peaceful relations without.
Hong Kong and Macao will be reunited with the People's Republic of China
by the end of the century, ending an era of colonial rule. There is growing
consciousness of the need to resolve the global debt crisis and create
a more just and sustainable economy. This is accompanied by critical self-examination
by many national governments of their economic, social, political, and
cultural policies. Words such as freedom, identity, minority rights, openness,
and reconstruction now have new meaning. A vision of a world community
is beginning to take shape.
Third, there is an increased awareness of the importance of moral values
in human life. Humanity can shape matters of life and death. We need not
be subject to blind fates or political forces beyond our reach. Rationality
and technology are not the ultimate values of human existence. Human rights
are not to be defined by or for political and other conveniences, but defended
because of their inherent values.
Fourth, the United Nations is being revitalized as nations have once again
begun to use the U.N. as an effective instrument for achieving and sustaining
peace, justice, and freedom. We rejoice that the United Nations peacekeeping
force has been awarded the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize. The special effort of
the U.N. to conclude a Convention on the Rights of the Child has focused
concern upon the world's children, those who will inherit the situation
we have created for the 21st century.
Fifth, education systems involving the media and other forms of communication
are being developed in order to educate people for peace and justice, creating
respect for all peoples, cultures, and faiths.
Finally, a willingness on the part of many religions is emerging whereby
they contribute their finest and deepest inspirations, and cooperate with
each other and with all who share common concerns in order to achieve lasting
peace; a humane social and physical environment; a world not suffering
from poverty, oppression, and often avoidable sickness and death, including
the ravages of AIDS; endemic wars; discrimination; and the other powers
that plague our peoples.
We are grateful for these signs of hope, because five years ago the Nairobi
Assembly met in a context of despair. Yet we are also realists. The nuclear
threat still exists. Chemical weapons have been used in recent years. Many
countries face incredible debts and remain in conflict with external economic
powers, states, transnational corporations, and financial institutions.
Torture and other forms of inhumanity are still rampant. The apartheid
system in South Africa continues its defiant, oppressive course.
The excesses of consumer waste are often revealed in patterns of exploitation
of people and depletion of resources. The environment is still polluted
without sufficient thought for the consequences. "Small" wars
are still being fought with tragic consequences. Militarism still dominates
many societies. The problems of refugees continue. Political and religious
fanaticism violates human rights and freedoms. All forms of discrimination
persist against women, ethnic, religious, and racial groups, indigenous
peoples, and marginalized sections of society.
As people of religion, we ask what we can do to preserve the changes that
have improved the human condition and to address those problems that remain.
Human greed, self-interest, and pride will not disappear just by a change
of the century. We must keep alive the conviction that the achievement
of human happiness and fulfillment is dependent upon higher spiritual powers,
powers which enable us to believe that peace is possible.
As people of religion we have responded to a call to build peace through
trust. We realize that there are many definitions of trust. Therefore we
must first break down the walls of mistrust. For us, trust is active. We
must acknowledge the manifold causes of mistrust that beset us as individuals,
as people, even as religions. When we ask what creates fear in others,
we sometimes forget that the fears of others may stem from our insecurities
and fears, our greed and selfishness, our striving for power and possession,
our arrogance and ignorance.
We are sustained by a spiritual trust - our belief in the creative forces
within the universe by which we are given life, in which we find beauty,
by which we perceive truth, by which we live in hope. That spiritual trust
is liberating and enabling. It is based on our living in harmony with the
sources of our being, with other humans and with all of nature.
Building Peace Through Trust
How, then, do we build peace through trust?
1. We build trust through disarmament and through the strengthening of
institutions for conflict resolution. This kind of trust implies risk and
vulnerability, because it depends on acceptance of mutual dependence rather
than a reliance on mutual terror. In the field of disarmament, however,
the recent development gives us hope that further progress can be made
by reducing intercontinental ballistic missiles by 50 percent; stopping
all nuclear weapons tests; banning the production and use of biological
and chemical weapons; reducing conventional arms and arms trade; and adopting
a comprehensive program of disarmament, including eliminating all nuclear
weapons, by the year 2000.
To facilitate this process we have to develop confidence-building measures
by broadening zones of peace and nuclear-free zones; by preventing an arms
race in outer space; by converting from military to civilian economy; and
by shifting military-based research to peace-oriented research. In this
way, the resources used for military purposes may be directed toward social,
beneficial use, and thus disarmament and development can be linked.
We recognize the role of the United Nations as one of the most effective
conflict-resolution structures in the light of its recent achievements,
and want to help strengthen its role through our cooperation with it. At
the same time, in its capacity as a religious Non-Government Organization
at the United Nations, Religions for Peace has to serve all the more actively
as an instrument of reconciliation wherever it is possible, particularly
in those situations in which religious issues and forces contribute to
the conflict. In this context we would welcome the convening of an International
Conference on the Middle East under United Nations auspices.
2. We build trust through the protection and preservation of human rights
for all peoples. This kind of trust implies responsibility, a readiness
to be accountable for the well being of all, particularly those who are
powerless or marginalized in our societies.
Women and children are the most vulnerable groups in our societies. Forced
labor, drug usage, and sexual exploitation all provide examples of the
denial and degradation of their basic human rights. They are the first
victims of war and they constitute over 80 percent of the present 13.5
million refugees. Because of these problems, we reaffirm our support for
the efforts of the U.N. Development Fund for Women. We also support efforts
to conclude the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. The rapid decimation
of indigenous peoples and of their unique culture goes hand in hand with
the degradation of our environment. Because of this plight, we strive for
the speedy and full adoption of the draft U.N. Declaration of Indigenous
Rights.
Moral duty impels all people of faith to work for a greater justice. Warring
political ideologies still curtail religious freedom in many countries.
Religious fanaticism and intolerance only serve further to fuel insecurities.
These struggles threaten world security. Often conflicts have both religious
and political components, as in the Sudanese, the Afghan, the Israeli-Palestinian,
and the South African cases. We must seek non-violent resolution of these
struggles. In this regard, we are grateful for the effective role played
by the U.N. and its peacekeeping forces. We also rejoice at the 40th anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and we call on our respective
faith communities to join in this celebration. The growing trust shown
in the United Nations family of organizations gives us hope for the future.
3. We build trust by the creation of economic systems that provide for
and assure the well being of all, and that conserve and respect the ecological
balances of nature. This kind of trust implies that we are the inheritors
of a bountiful nature of which we are the stewards, to protect it, share
it, and pass it on to our children and their children in wholeness.
Economic systems must be measured by ethical criteria, by how justly they
provide for the well being of all members of society, and by how they respect
and use the environmental base that sustains all life.
Current economic systems do not measure well, as reflected in the ever-widening
gap between the rich and the poor, the burden of debt which impacts every
society; the exploitation of human and natural resources located in some
countries which supports the affluence and technological growth of other
countries; and the massive displacement of population caught up in rural-urban
migration.
We renew the longstanding hope for the creation of a new international
economic order, assuring more equitable distribution of goods and services
and greater participation in decision-making by the people.
Aware that economic and political structures are often intertwined with
the religious structures of society, we call on the world's religious communities
to examine their links to the power structures, and their own economic
activity.
Our religious traditions agree that nature is to be respected. We are both
trustees of nature and dependent upon it. Evidence abounds regarding the
abuse and degradation of our global environment. We have polluted the oceans
with toxic waste, and cut down forests for short-term gain or to make way
for industrial land usage. These and other careless uses of our resources
have resulted both in the greenhouse effect and in the depletion of the
ozone layer.
Realizing that the condition of our common future will be determined by
our current environment and industrial practices, we call for increasing
global consciousness of environmental issues. Our technological research
should be directed toward the progressive upgrading of a sustainable global
eco-system. Long-range planning for waste disposal, reforestation, and
the conservation of non-renewable resources should be advocated and quickly
implemented. We will indeed be held accountable for our stewardships of
the inheritance we are to pass on to all living being in the 21st century.
Non-violence is love, and love is the most powerful force against injustice
and violence. Readiness to suffer for truth and justice can be an effective
non-violent action. The use or threat of violence destroys trust. Hatred
and the misuse of anger are forms of violence. There can be no building
of peace where violence is involved. The roots of violence lie in the human
condition. Therefore, the cultivation of non-violent behavior, not only
in our spiritual witness, but also through challenging media portrayals
of enemies and glorification of violence, are necessary steps for peace
and trust.
We need to challenge patterns of education which perpetuate prejudice and
stereotypes, those in our textbooks, our religious teachings, our political
rhetoric, wherever we focus on violence as power, prestige, and solution.
Since "history" is often shaped by the powerful, we should recognize
that the difficulty of oppressed peoples to escape from "unjust histories"
destroys their ability to trust.
Religious communities and religious leaders can assist in global education,
promoting positive learning experiences related to peoples of other cultures
and other religions, in shaping their own religious curricula, and in monitoring
those resources that are used in their respective communities. They can
also model patterns of behavior that strengthen strong and loving family
relations, which provide the context for transformative social behavior.
"Lead Us from Fear to Trust"
Lead us from fear to trust. Lead us from common terror to common security
as we surrender our reliance on armaments, accept and love our enemies.
Lead us from casualness to responsibility as we recognize in the suffering
of others our oneness in the human family. Lead us from greed and selfishness
to compassionate service as we acknowledge that the inheritance of the
earth and all creation is not only to us, but to others and all succeeding
generations. Lead us from ignorance to knowledge, from violence to non-violence,
as we learn of one another, as we overcome our suspicions, as we grow in
patience and the ability to love, and as we ourselves experience true inward
peace.