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Lutheran leaders urge dialogue with other faiths to avoid religious conflict
2002-215-6
9/17/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
Leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), gathered in Wittenberg, Germany, where Lutheranism had its beginnings in the 16th century, urged dialogue with other faiths to ensure that no 'confrontation between religions is allowed to develop anywhere in the world.'
'However unambiguously we may condemn and combat terrorism and however committed our solidarity with the victims, it is equally true that to propagate sweeping hostile images, primarily of Arabs and Islam, and threats of war is counterproductive for peace,' said Bishop Christian Krause, president of the LWF, which represents 95 percent of the world's 65 million Lutherans.
Krause urged the LWF council to avoid a tendency to adopt hostile images associated with an 'axis of evil' and instead strive for 'an axis of hope,' one that won't be 'misinterpreted as some kind of power struggle between the religions.'
The meeting was intended for Jerusalem but was moved because of the increased violence. Krause praised the role of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the region, citing its efforts to facilitate the encounter between the 'children of Abraham,' the Christians, Jews and Muslims. 'Peace in the Holy Land can only be achieved, like everywhere else, through dialogue, understanding and trust between two peoples presently locked in conflict,' said Dr. Ishmael Noko, a Zimbabwean who is general secretary of the LWF. 'This will depend, however, to a large extent on Israel's decisive and genuine support for an independent Palestinian state and a better future, rather than fomenting desperation through measures that amount to collective punishment.'
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