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World Peace Conference
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Mr.
Gorbachev thanking SGI-Germany members for their
performance of Russian folk song at the peace conference |
A peace conference hosted by Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union and Nobel Peace Laureate, was held in Hamburg City Hall in Germany on October 21?22. Titled "Together--For a Better World," the conference addressed contemporary problems and proposed concrete solutions for making the world more secure. Participants included some 500 international leaders, including Lech Walesa, former president of Poland; Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former federal minister for foreign affairs of Germany; and Irmgard von Lehsten, member of the German Committee for UNICEF. Institute of Oriental Philosophy Director Yoichi Kawada and SGI-Europe Vice Chair Sakae Takahashi attended on behalf of SGI President Daisaku Ikeda.
Mrs. von Lehsten gave a chilling presentation about child soldiers who are both the victims of war and its unwilling perpetrators. She quoted one young boy as saying, "The gun is my mother--it gives me food and protection." Mrs. von Lehsten, using the expression "motivating rage," stated that the energy of outrage should spur the world on to address this deplorable situation.
In a paper "The Role of Religion: Peace Through Dialogue Among Religions," introduced by Dr. Kawada, Mr. Ikeda shared his experience of dialogue with people of various religious backgrounds. He stated that, from the common ground of our humanity and respect for the sanctity of life, we can work together to find solutions to any problem. He emphasized that religious practitioners should continually return to the original ideals of their religion and strive to ensure that religion serves the people, rather than people being made to serve religion. He advocated openhearted dialogue in which religions share the wisdom unique to each, and called upon practitioners to go beyond the frame of loyalty to their own religion to honor the truth that underlies all religious belief.
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