Minister of International Development Ms Hilde F. Johnson

Teaching for tolerance, respect and recognition in relation to religion or belief

The Oslo Global Meeting of Experts,
The Nobel Institute, 2 September 2004

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Ladies and gentlemen,

Six years have passed since the last time we met here in Oslo at the conference that became the foundation for the Oslo Coalition. I wish I could say that the world has become a more tolerant, open-minded place since then, but we all know that is not true. On the contrary, we have witnessed events that make the efforts to promote religious tolerance more urgent than ever.

The conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan - where I have a personal engagement - and Russia make it painfully clear why the message of tolerance and respect for the individual is such an important one. The threat of terrorism, coupled with the increasing diversity of peoples and cultures in many countries, has revived attitudes we had hoped were dead and buried for ever. In the Middle East, in North America, in Europe, confrontations are becoming more and more common.

In France, the ban on religious symbols in schools has released a flood of protest, including the recent kidnapping of French journalists in Iraq.

In the United States, the debate over the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance recited in schools has had to be settled by the Supreme Court.

In Italy this July, the Education Ministry abandoned plans to create all-Muslim classes in some Milan schools to aid integration efforts. The proposal was deemed unconstitutional.

In Norway, a young Muslim woman is having to fight for her right to wear hijab at her workplace, and young Jews are talking of leaving the country because of intolerance and harassment.

These recent controversies make us realise that the multi-religious fabric of contemporary society requires us to take a fresh approach. The challenge is to safeguard the universal right to freedom of religion or belief while acknowledging the historical and cultural identity of societies struggling to adjust to rapid change. New thinking is needed, and schools are the obvious place to start.

The teaching of tolerance in our education systems is essential if we are to succeed in building bridges between faiths and belief systems. Education is the key to tolerance.

Charlotte Brontë once said that,

“Prejudices...are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among rocks.”

It is these “weeds among rocks” that must be uprooted, that must be prevented from taking hold in young minds.

Education has the power to correct attitudes, to build tolerance, to breed respect for other people and other religions. Indeed, in development circles we often speak of the “education vaccine” – a remedy that we know has the power to cure many of the world’s ills.

So also with the kinds of fundamentalist beliefs that lead to strife and suffering. Education is the best tool for weeding out prejudice and intolerance. Education can build respect for other people’s values. Education must be our first priority: in Norway and in every other corner of the world.

Freedom of religion is explicitly mentioned in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And we need look no further than Article 1 to understand why we should practise tolerance: all human beings “are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

All individuals must be free to live together in this spirit of brotherhood, confident that they will not be subjected to abuse or harassment. Laws must be in place to allow citizens to worship freely, and to ensure that education in religion is unbiased and non-discriminatory.

The freedom to worship is a human right and a fundamental spiritual need. Political ideologies that are based on a purely materialistic concept of the individual have failed – in no small part due to the lack of attention to people’s spiritual needs. Real political freedom requires freedom of thought, freedom of conscience and freedom of religion or belief. This is why tolerance and the defence of religious freedom must be at the top of the agenda – nationally and internationally.

We must use our faculty of reason to dispel the myths and untangle the misunderstandings that give rise to our fear of “the other”. The spirit of brotherhood is an obligation that compels us to try to understand our fellow man.

We must avoid a narrow interpretation of freedom of religion that can easily become an excuse for destructive intellectual isolation. It is not enough to say that as long as I am allowed to practise my own faith I will let everyone else practise theirs. Unless schools actively promote tolerance, we risk getting nowhere with inter-religious dialogue and understanding. We risk undermining freedom of religion itself.

Religious leaders and educators have a particular responsibility to act in the spirit of brotherhood. In the words of George Eliot:

“The responsibility of tolerance lies with those who have the wider vision”.

Intellectual isolation will not help; religious leaders must provide practical, tolerant and visionary leadership for those looking for spiritual guidance. And they must realise that religious dialogue is an important instrument in an era of conflict and confrontation between cultures. Rather than fanning the flames of mistrust and misery, religious leaders must use their influence to teach tolerance, understanding and inclusion, in the way that only they are able to. Religion and belief must be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

As Minister of International Development I see this very clearly. I am talking about the devastating consequences of poverty, the struggle to stop AIDS from spreading, the fight for human dignity for everyone. I am talking about the many parts of the world where prejudice is rearing its ugly head and finding fertile ground among people struggling to make sense of hopelessness, fear and anger.

We must slay this monster. We must care for our neighbours, no matter what their religion or race or lifestyle. We must face reality with courage and compassion. This is a task for the religious leaders and educators of the world, and it is a task for us. We must educate for change.

Not long ago, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan issued a call to world leaders. He said that, “there must be no more sticking heads in the sand, no more embarrassment and no more hiding behind a veil of apathy”. Let us take inspiration from these words.

Religious leaders exercise enormous influence over their followers.

Few are in a better position to give people guidance on how to think and how to behave. They can reach into people’s hearts and minds in a way no other group can do. In many countries, faith-based communities and societies are also the best civil society network in existence.

Religious leaders must realise the power they wield in the fight against poverty, in the struggle for human dignity for all, and they must use it. That means heads up from the sand, a willingness to face reality, a readiness to accept and respect every single human being regardless of colour or creed.

We know the power of faith-based organisations, especially in developing countries. Their networks are unequalled, in strength and in size. This power must be used. It is a formidable responsibility, and a formidable opportunity.

Tolerance and respect are the foundation for a better and more peaceful world. The scientist and writer René Dubos put it this way,

“Human diversity makes tolerance more than a virtue; it makes it a requirement for survival.”

At this conference you will be grappling with a number of controversial issues related to this “requirement for survival”. As educators you will be familiar with oppressive or discriminatory behaviour in the name of religion. And you will have to take a stand. We must all confront practices that violate fundamental and universally accepted human rights; this is a duty we cannot shy away from. Human rights and the fundamental value of human dignity apply to all of us, concern all of us, must be defended by all of us.

You have important work ahead of you. I have seen the impressive list of workshops and discussions, and know that this audience is in a unique position to put tolerance at the top of the international agenda. And the challenge facing you is: to translate deliberations and discussions into concrete measures that will benefit young people all around the world; to draw on the resources of understanding and compassion; to find the right means of teaching people that tolerance really is necessary for our survival, that only if we respect and honour the rights of others can we ensure that our own are respected.

When I last spoke to you, I quoted from Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, where Siddhartha speaks to the ferryman of the “river (having) many voices...the voices of all living creatures”. This is how I see the world’s religions and beliefs: as a river of many voices, many faiths and beliefs, many moods – a river that cannot and should not be stopped, a river where the voices of all living creatures are not only heard, but truly respected.

This must be our goal – this is what we must all strive towards.

Thank you.