Opening of the International Dialogue on Interfaith Co-operation

A Speech to the Interfaith Dialogue

Introduction

His Excellency President of the Republic of Indonesia and Madame Ani Yudhoyono.

His Royal Highness the Sultan and Governor of the Special Region of Jogjakarta and Her Royal Highness Hemas.

His Excellency Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and Madame Herawati Wirajuda.

Dr Syafii Maarif, Chairman of Muhammadiyah.

Ministers, Religious leaders and Representatives from ASEAN, New Zealand, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and from Australia.

Ladies and Gentleman

I am very pleased to be here today to participate in the opening of this International Dialogue on Interfaith Co-operation.

It is a profoundly important discourse, a most timely conversation.

Interfaith dialogue unfailingly reminds us of all the fundamental things the great religions of the world have in common.

People of faith see mankind as divinely ordered.

For many, faith enriches their understanding of what it means to be human and it fleshes out their sense of the sanctity of life.

It also underpins their view of human rights and moves people to act when they are violated.

Faith should inform a commitment to justice and sway people to mercy and compassion.

As all these examples show, people of faith share a world view and a common vocabulary for articulating their best and deepest instincts.

Irrespective of their religious tradition, people of faith believe and honour bonds that bind the dead, the living and those yet to be born.

They have spiritual understanding of time's passing and our own mortality.

People of faith are also likely to have an inward sense of the richness of their cultural inheritance and the need to pass it on intact to the rising generation.

By the same token, they should be responsible custodians of the environment, knowing that we hold it temporarily and in trust.

They also should be peace-makers, abhorring violence and prizing order, because religious conviction impels them to harmonious co-existence.

One of the reasons why this Dialogue is so timely is because, as we all know, the peace and harmony of the world, and of our region, is under threat.

A terrible perversion of religion, with a violent face, threatens moderate believers and moderate states in both the East and the West.

Indonesians have felt that threat at close quarters, in bombings that claimed many lives.

Many of our communities have lost sons and daughters in those outrages and there are others left scarred for life by injury.

In the ensuing confusion, there has been much talk of growing division between the faiths and even dire predictions of "a clash of civilisations".

I think all this misconceives the problem.

The terrorists present themselves as a common enemy to people of moderation across the world.

Ultimately it is people of moderation who are going to be able effectively to curb the terrorists and others who commit violent acts in the name of religion, to thwart them in their attempts at recruiting and to vanquish them in the battle of ideas.

In reflecting on terrorism, I take considerable comfort from the fact that Christian leaders in Australia made a point of going to the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney just after September the Eleventh.

It was a great example of Interfaith dialogue in action. Prominent clerics, including Cardinal George Pell and the Reverend John Henderson, who are here today, went to pray with the Islamic community and to demonstrate support and solidarity.

To anyone in Australia who felt tempted to blame local Muslims, it sent a very clear message : these people are our friends and fellow citizens, in no way to blame for outrages on the other side of the world.

Let no-one who bears them ill be in any doubt about where we stand, which is with them.

There has since emerged a very important Interfaith exchange - the Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Muslims and Jews.

The three Abrahamic faiths obviously have a great deal in common, especially in terms of origins, and much to discuss in the way of promoting local models of inter-community harmony and co-operation.

I spoke before about winning the battle of ideas as the key to overcoming terrorism and promoting peace.

All of us here today know how easy it is to do as the terrorists do, inflaming popular prejudices and old grievances.

How much harder to persuade people to prefer the common good and peaceful co-existence.

Yet we who, as politicians and religious leaders, provide an example to our people, must be tireless advocates for peace, moderation and goodwill.

The war on terror will falter and fail if it is not prosecuted vigorously in our pulpits, mosques, synagogues, temples and schoolrooms as well as in our parliaments and the mass media.

I have no hesitation in saying that the gift of faith can fortify us in all our various efforts to combat terror and violence.

The friendships and shared understandings which arise out of participation in dialogues like this one will, I'm sure, be fruitful.

The spirit of goodwill which animates us here today is palpable.

So, too, are the hopes invested in us by people who long for peace and an end to violence.

We must not fail them.

My good friend Hassan Wirajuda and I have worked together to initiate this event.

We want to recognise and celebrate the very valuable role of religious leaders in building community harmony in our region.

We trust that you will find the Dialogue an empowering experience.

What comes out of it depends on all of you.

It's not my job to guide your deliberations, only to facilitate them and, in formally opening the Dialogue, to wish you well.

ENDS