Workshops of Diversity in National Interfaith Forum
The New Zealand National Interfaith forum continued on to day 2 with several workshops being hosted. The organiser of this three-day forum, Dunedin Interfaith committee had a list of 10 topics for that day:
1) Promoting inter-faith harmony in our community, joining a big 'yes' in a world of many 'nos'; 2) Peace-building grounded in faith;
3) A New Zealand 21st Century spiritual teaching;
4) Stimulating and Resourcing multi-faith education formally in schools and informally in the community with ideas from home and abroad;
5) No space for conflict: the essential harmony of science and religion;
6) A Muslim and Christian reflect on their experiences at the Australian Catholic University Dialogue Conference;
7) Insights from the Baha’i Teachings on the inseparable relationship between personal and social transformation;
8) Religious diversity in New Zealand: The 2013 Census results, the National Religious Diversity Statement and implications for interfaith relations in Aotearoa;
9) Spiritual responses to the challenge of sustainability;
10) Setting the agenda for interfaith activity.
The speakers for these 10 topics led the 150 or so religious representatives, splitting them into focus groups, to facilitate open dialogue in recognizing each other’s religions and also promote cohesion. During that day, 5 youth representatives from Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Hinduism and Baha'ism faiths gave their opinions on what they learnt that day from a youth's perspective. They said that it was a humbling experience for their own self-transformation and certainly helped to create social harmony besides encouraging world peace.
Then, there was a discussion session which focused on the theme of 'How can the rise of information communication technology aid us to spread the idea of interfaith values' that sought out ideas from all the religious representatives. This was also a call out to all the New Zealand interfaith district committee members to actively organise religious discussion activities in order for interfaith values to gain recognition and from that, respect and understanding as well.
During the social dinner banquet, Reverend Dr. Lord Leslie Griffiths from Britain's Wesley Church shared his experiences on his trip to Haiti after the earthquake to rebuild the country. He noted that teamwork is key to building interfaith relations, in that encouragement can come from a religious education background, by dwelling into the scriptures or sutras of various religions, interacting and collaborating, in order for harmonious coexistence to be long lasting, towards an equal, freedom of belief for all religions.
New Zealand Police Inspector Rakesh Naidoo was amongst the guests invited to the banquet dinner, and he commented on how Fo Guang Shan New Zealand Venerable Abbess Manshin is the first Buddhist patron for the wing 261 of Royal New Zealand police academy, providing a high quality level and wise method of counseling, clearly an acknowledgment towards the power of religious belief. Inspector Rakesh, having encountered numerous religious divides both at home and work in encountering with, is pleased to say that one of the current ways the police department is promoting social cohesiveness is through religious and cultural understanding.
The forum ended on 29th Jun, with each of the religious representatives expressing their gratitude and using their own religious method to spread their blessings, hoping for world peace. They said that they will indeed be active in spreading and promoting interfaith and intercultural cohesion, by treating all as equals, and together, we can truly live up to the meaning of harmonious religious coexistence.