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MESSAGE
FROM HIS HOLINESS, THE DALAI LAMA ON THE INTERFAITH
CALL FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS
July
18, 2001 I
am encouraged that so many people are lending
their hearts and voices to the Interfaith
Call for Religious Freedom and Human Rights.
I
have for many years now engaged in interfaith
dialogue and understanding with the basic
belief that all the major religions of the
world have the same potential to transform
people into better human beings.
The common messages of love, kindness,
tolerance, self-discipline and a sense of
sharing are in some ways the foundation for
respecting the fundamental and basic human
rights of every person.
The world religions can therefore contribute
to peace, harmony and human dignity. That is why
understanding and good relations amongst the
different religious traditions of the world
are so important and that is why the Interfaith
Call is also important. I
have long stood for religious freedom and
human rights for everyone, which I bwelieve
are fundamental rights all people should enjoy.
The Interfaith Call specifically
focuses on the tragic situation in Tibet -
where the Tibetan people essentially have
no religious freedom at all and where their
basic human rights are brutally denied. The
Call also points to similarly deplorable situations
in Afghanistan and the Sudan, as well as for
other peoples facing oppression and genocide.
For
myself and for the Tibetan people, it is gratifying
to see how deeply this Interfaith Call has
struck a chord in the conscience of humanity,
in such a short time since it was founded.
Finally,
because the Interfaith Call holds good promise
for building interfaith support for Tibet
and for other peoples facing genocide, I want
to encourage Tibetan Associations and Tibet
Support Groups around the world to actively
participate in this Interfaith Call, and to
offer their help to Richard Rosenkranz, the
creator of the Call as well as of World Tibet
Day. Tenzin
Gyatso
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