“SCOURGE OF RELIGIOUS NATIONALISMS” – AN INTERFAITH WITNESS
FIACONA joined two Interfaith Press Conferences on Religious Nationalisms on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival in the United Nations in New York City, NY.
New York, NY—September 20, 2024
This past weekend, FIACONA was proud to be represented at two crucial events across New York City, standing shoulder to shoulder with activists, faith leaders, and civil society members in the ongoing fight against religious nationalism and the persecution of religious minorities. On Friday, September 20, at 2 PM, the Annual United Nations General Assembly provided the backdrop for an Interfaith Press Conference at 777 United Nations Plaza, titled “The Scourge of Religious Nationalisms”.
Watch the press conference here.
The Religious Nationalism Project (TRNP) is a collaborative effort to amplify multiple voices to raise awareness of the harm caused to democracy building by religious nationalisms.
Speakers included The Rev. Peter Cook, Executive Director NY State Council of Churches. The Rev. Neal Christie, Executive Director FIACONA; Rabbi Barat Ellman, Board Member Rabbis for Ceasefire; The Rev. Chloe Breyer, Executive Director Interfaith Center of NY; Imam Saffet Catovic, Director UN Office Justice for All; Sahar Alsahlani, Board Member CAIR-NY; Nikhil Arur, organizer Hindus for Human Rights; The Rev. Dr. Gideon Jebamani, Board Member FIACONA and Board Member NY State Council of Churches.
Here are a few excepts from speakers related to FIACONA.
The Reverend Peter Cook, Board Member FIACONA, Executive Director of the New York State Council of Churches and principal with The Religious Nationalisms Project.
“We address the scourge of religious nationalism as heads of state come to New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly. We gather with people from several faith traditions and sectors of civil society to condemn the gross distortion of religions and cultures by governments and politicians who can adopt a dominant religion to advance supremacist and nationalist policy agendas in the United States and across the globe….
And we are also concerned about his tepid willingness to stand up to Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist cause, which twists the Hindu faith to justify genocidal actions and ethnocentric violence. We are also mindful of other ways in which Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism can be used to cause damage rather than usher in light the ongoing intimidation and repression of religious minorities must be addressed.
We reject all forms of religious nationalism, as they are anti-democratic and strip billions of people worldwide of their religious freedom, their land and their basic human rights and citizenship.”
The Reverend Neal Christie, Executive Director FIACONA and Principle The Religious Nationalisms Project.
“The Summit of the Futures” hosted by the General Assembly of the United Nations here in NYC brings together 193 nations and according to Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez and promises “to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to serves as a moment to mend eroded trust and demonstrate that international cooperation can effectively achieve agreed goals and tackle emerging threats and opportunities….
Instead of a “summit of the future” Mr. Modi has created a valley of despair for over 1.4 billion people by propagating a myth of a Hindu supremacist state, leaving behind the 90 percent of the Indian population who live as opposed Dalits and marginal castes, religious minorities, and disenfranchised Indigenous peoples….
“Tell me in what other secular democracy except the Indian Supreme Court has one God in this case the “Lord Ram” (referred to as “Ram Lalla” in legal proceedings) been determined to be a “juristic person”.
This means one religion’s God has legal standing and rights like a human being, allowing him to be a plaintiff in a lawsuit and claim ownership of the disputed land in Ayodhya, where religious supremacist believe he was born; this was established in the landmark Ayodhya case regarding the Babri Masjid dispute.
Dr. Fernand Varrens, former Special Rapporteur for Minorities at the United Nations has said, “ India is becoming one of the worlds, main generators of instability, atrocities and violence, because of its massive scale and gravity of the violations and abuses targeting mainly religious and other minorities, such as Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and others. It is not just individual or local, it is systemic, and it reflects religious nationalism.”
In 2023 alone marked a rise in Christian persecution across India, as religious nationalist, Weaponized, an operation of the Hindu faith to attack 1570 Christians and murder over 200 more. Hate crimes perpetrated by religious nationalist leaders justified 300 churches to be demolished , and orchestrated thousands of extra judicial arrest and detention, denied Christian families to bury their dead, and forced ritual conversions back to Hinduism.
While the United Nations evaluates its progress against the UN Declaration of Hunan Rights Mr. Modi, has targeting over 3,000 advocates for Indigenous people in Indian jails including Roman Catholic Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy, all without trial or legal representation.
Mr. Modi’s allegiance to Hindu supremacist nationalist has led over 300 Christian clergy and laity to sign a public letter addressed to the United States Department of State and the international community to designate India as a ‘country of particular concern,’ and today we ask member nations of the United Nations to investigate escalating religious freedom violations and support religious organizations and human rights groups targeted for their advocacy of religious freedom.
Now is the time to create an independent multilateral Truth and Reparations to investigate the system harm to Christians and other religious minorities by the government of India.”
Reverend Dr. Gideon Jebamani, Board Member FIACONA, Dalit Advocate, Board Member New York State Council of Churches.
“Dalits and Dalit Christians are being oppressed. That is one aspect of human rights Violation and what we talk today about religious nationalism. In numerical strength religious nationalism excludes all the minority of other faith groups, denying their right to practice their belief, which is Very dangerous that I see in India is taking place, and whoever criticizes those in power are termed as anti-social or terrorists. Even without trial, they are put behind bars.
That’s what we see. Today also I see Christians falsified as if they are converting. They put them in jail in Uttar Pradesh. That’s what we as collective force are gathered to expose: the damage that is bringing to humanity by religious nationalism, wherever you know we see, either in Israel or in Sri Lanka or in India, even in us, that’s what we see.
It is a very dangerous term. Those who are like minded, we are called to come together and raise our voices and ensure every human being, human rights and human dignity, and the freedom of religion to be exercised by everyone, whether they are minority or their majority. Everyone has the right to exercise their freedom of religion. I am also part of this collective force so that together Let us raise our voices against any religious nationalist.
Mr. Pieter Frederich, Board Member FIACONA and Journalist who’s written several books on Hindu nationalism.
“Peace be with you all, and we’re all here united, standing closer together for common purpose. Here in America, and I speak as a Christian, one of our most immediately pressing concerns is the rise of Christian nationalism. Thank God. It is only still on the rise, and currently remains relatively far from achieving power…
We see religious nationalism, which is not merely ascendant, but is now predominant. In Israel, we see a genocide of religious minorities underway. In India, we see a slow brewing genocide of religious minorities swiftly spinning towards a major flashpoint, and meanwhile, as religious nationalists within India and Israel inevitably shed the blood of the innocent the US government, as we will no doubt witness here at the UN General Assembly, maintains unconditional and ever more intimate partnerships with both the Hindu and the Jewish nationalist regimes, and yet, outside by direct halls of power, there’s worse to consider here at home…
Two months ago, in Washington, DC, three of the world’s leading strains of religious nationalism came together to unite around their common cause. The conference was organized by prominent Jewish nationalists. It featured top Christian nationalist pastors from around America, as well as Senator JD Vance, who spoke there just one week before he was picked as Donald Trump’s running mate.
The conference also featured top leaders from India’s Hindu nationalist movement, including one who has served for decades within the Hindu nationalist paramilitary the RSS. It was a confluence of Jewish, Christian and Hindu nationalism that vividly illustrated how, as we are witnessing a radical rise in global religious nationalist movements, we are also witnessing these movements forged flourishing alliances with each other…
If we as people of faith from these various religious backgrounds fail to stand up against the sick, twisting and weaponization of our religions wither as Americans? If we neglect to recognize, call out and oppose the alliance of the world’s leading strains of religious nationalism.”
“What is our call? Our call is to educate, to agitate and to organize. Those of us here are educated, but millions out there need to hear this message. We especially call on those who are caught in the lie of religious nationalism to shed that delusion which will only lead them to ugliness and ruin, and instead to embrace the beauty of true religion…
We will lead by example, by being the very first ones to begin beating our own swords into plowshares as we stand up for peace and as we reach out and say not with pride, but with humility, peace, be with you.”
Watch the press conference here.
Few Pictures
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