Call for Cessation of Violence at Millennium's Dawn

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But those issues can be worked out with cooperation, Swing said. 'If I might summarize, it's also a lack of imagination,' he said. 'If religious leaders of the world were ever inspired to work together in the same way, they could gather people together and work through those problems, but when you appeal to their imagination, you are quickly dismissed.'

'I think that there is a rising tide of interfaith living and interfaith daily problems that beg for solutions, and together this is creating an urgent demand for the world to move on toward the democratization of religions,' Swing said. 'By that I mean somehow or another we're going to have to grant some respect and some acceptance of the fact that other religions exist and have the right to exist and must be dealt with as equal participants in life on this planet.'

The United Religious Initiative was launched at its first global summit in San Francisco, the organization?s headquarters, in 1996. Membership includes representatives of more than 40 different religions, and the group functions in 50 countries with this purpose: 'To create enduring cooperation among the people of the world to honor the sacred, end religious violence, build community and generate new possibilities for the flourishing of all life.'

This mission statement forms the fundamental basis of the initiative's charter, which is being circulated globally for discussion and revision. The charter formally launching United Religions will be signed June 26, 2000, exactly 55 years after the signing of the charter that established the United Nations.

Grassroots involvement is critical for United Religions to accomplish goals like the 72 Hours of Interfaith Peacebuilding, Swing said.

'We didn't get the little bit of nuclear disarmament we have in the world because somebody called up someone in the Kremlin at the height of nuclear proliferation and said, 'This is madness'' But the people of the world said to the Pentagon and the Kremlin, 'This is madness'' and things began to change,' Swing said.

Contact: William Swing, Episcopal bishop of California, San Francisco, Calif., 415-673-0606.

Background: United Religions web site: www.united-religions.org.

COPYRIGHT 1998 THE American News Service, 289 Fox Farm Road, Brattleboro, VT 05301. For further information, please call 1-800-654-NEWS or e-mail info@americannews.com

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