Monsieur le Ministre,
Madame la Directrice,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends.
1. Allow me first of all to being you a message form the leaders of Buddhism in Europe, who express their gratitude to the Committee of Ministers who have invited their representative to these encounters since 2011.
2. The horizon of the young is largely determined by the effective force of socio-economic change and by the arrival of electronic technology; the two go together and create and environment that is self evidently different from the one we knew in the past.
3. These far reaching changes in society have been transformed by the young in a number of ways:
4. In some circles we are talking about the sacrificed generation, in any event of a generation to which we do not give the space that it needs. In fact, some young people build their understanding of the world and society by incorporating the idea of "too little space in the world" as a humiliation. Humiliation is a bad guide which leads to a spirit of revenge.
5. On the other hand it is reassuring to note that high grade studies suggest that young people give a central place to the values of Human Rights and to values on which democracy is founded. However they deal with these values with a strong emphasis on personal freedom for the individual. This is a new factor with surprising consequences.
6. Between a spirit of revenge and subscription to fundamental values there is a revaluation of their relative importance. The implications may be unexpected.
7. The presence of many initiatives gives reason for optimism concerning the application of fundamental values by those who will come after us, even, if they approach the issues differently from us.
8. But that does not mean that there is no danger. In our commissions and working groups in the Council of Europe we are sufficiently aware of the backwash that comes upon democracy.
9. The dangers and uncertainties that menace human rights and democracy engender fear, frustration, disillusion resentment and all kinds of suffering.
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10. There are two chief causes of this suffering:
- Desire that becomes insatiable greed and intolerance, obscurantism and multiculturalism.
- The competition with which we are faced throughout life from the school classroom until the end of professional activity where older people must win at the expense of the youngest if they are to finish their careers.
11. All of us together in this room are witnesses to religious currents and thought, so we make up an enormous capacity to counterbalance these sufferings because we are essentially bearers of peace, of goodwill, of respect for the dignity of other people. Our common endeavour proves that our cooperation is bearing fruit!
12. In the matter of fundamental values, we note that what we treasure may be different because of our different convictions. But after the first stage of determining our values it is clear that all of us, whether theists or non theists, share the same understanding and defend the same methods of engagement in the service of Human Rights and democracy. Nothing prevents mutual respect among our different convictions in a spirit of cooperation, insofar as ...
13. Recent studies attest that there is a growth in religious practice among young people. This potential development could be a new dawn for the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue insofar as we continue to develop inspirational cooperation.
14. In conclusion I express three things that I would like to see:
1. That many young people should be involved in religious organisations and currents of thought; whether it is new religions or those to which they have a cultural link by their birth. The important thing, in fact, is to seek Truth and develop Wisdom. |
2. What comes from the interior attitude of a person or a group is more powerful than any proselytism. It is our responsibility to ensure that the final proposals that we express tomorrow at the end of Encounter 2012 on the religious Dimension of Intercultural Dialogue should really inspire the young. |
3. In a society of a certain ruggedness the young expect from religions and movements of thought that they should provide messages that calm the situation and call for fraternal cooperation. Let us come back to modern methods of communication to provide awareness of the fact that religions know how mutually to respect each other and to cooperate in the face of major challenges. |
Thank you very much.
Michel Aguilar
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Contribution
for
the European Buddists
Michel Aguilar :
International Intercultural Interconvictional Groupe
