ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

163 DIFFERENT CIVILIZATIONS: WAR OR PEACE? EXCHANGE VIEWS, ROTARY – 2014 I reflected on some of the concerns rai- sed at last night's meeting: war or peace, dialogue, the positivity of religion, how a religion is identified is a label of belief common to a group of people or so- mething else. Until the Second World War the regions of the globe were inhabited by people in a given territory, a country, linked by a common denominator same culture, religion, creed habits and the like for example: countries of Arabic language and culture with a majority Islamic cre- ed, Europe the West, India and Pakistan, Japan, China, etc., each fairly uniform within itself without the drive of revolu- tions caused by diversity. See the case of the Armenians in Turkey. It can be said, for example, that the unifying element of the populations is the religious one, that is, the common Islamic religion. I do not know of populations without a creed, re- ligion even atheism after all is a label si- milar to a religious creed discriminating against those who believe. There was not this range of crossbree- ding of cultures that we find today in a gi- ven territory. An invasion of populations attracted by economic pressures, ease of movement, the internet, the media and the like that put us in front of a fait ac- compli. They bring the cultural and sen- timental baggage that has come to them through the teaching of their religion through the education they have recei- ved in their families and schools. For example, what would happen in a city or territory where various ethnic groups are concentrated, each one with its own habits and beliefs, each one wishing to impose favourable or separate laws to al- low a given category to survive the social life of the country of origin, can also cre- ate tensions and competitive situations. This may be the seed that would lead to war if there were not common glue that cannot be laws derived from a specific religion but I would recognize that I am in- serted in the context in which it operates. To overcome this danger of religious war- fare the host country should take care to offer glue that unites all the components around a common project with a policy of inclusion that makes the population feel at ease. Find a common denominator that discourages drifts. Inclusion cannot mean moving a bit to make room for the other, for any other. It means building with rea- son a framework of human values, a fra- mework of the common good, and within this framework making room for those who share it, even if of different religion or culture. Without this, there is no true inclusion. This task is eminently political, and politics, if it were to be exempt from it, limiting itself to welcoming without in- clusion, would not play its role. At international level the same concept can be applied to relations between coun- tries. If a war should persist or break out, religion is not the cause, but rather the instrument for imposing power. And here I quote Baroness Ashton: "The best re- sponse to extremism is to create a united international front based on universal stan- dards of freedom of belief and religion. »