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The Vienna dialogue by Tausch, Arno 18 March 2002 16:27 UTC |
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kindest regards. Arno Tausch 13Mar2002 AUSTRIA: Iranian president discusses religious issues during Austria visit. Text of report by "ar": "Of absolute truth, small-minded people" by Austrian newspaper Die Presse on 13 March Speaking in Vienna's Hofburg palace on Tuesday [12 March], Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said that wars are waged "when small-minded people think they are in the possession of the absolute truth". "What we need is humility and modesty," he said in response to questions that were raised at the "Dialogue Between Religions", a meeting organized by Austrian President Thomas Klestil. Khatami repeatedly spoke of the "abuse of religion" by various rulers, which led again and again to "evil actions" and great tragedies. In his first statement, he also raised the issue of the Christian crusades against Muslims and the lesson that has to be learnt from it today. He then quoted a passage that seemed to refer to a statement by US President George W. Bush's after the 11 September terror attacks. Bush then spoke of a "crusade" against terror. Khatami said: "He who speaks of crusades today with the intention of fomenting hatred is, indeed, morally degenerated. We have to pray for the salvation of his soul and not tangle with him." At the opening of the meeting, Klestil warned against "regarding the other one as one's enemy". Nothing would be simpler, more evident, and fateful, since plurality is an asset and not a threat. Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn raised the question whether, by their very nature, the individual religions made a dialogue of religions possible at all, since Christianity and Islam both regarded themselves as "exclusive", which was bound to lead to intolerance. Schoenborn provided part of the answer himself when he pointed to the one God in both religions, which included one mankind, and thus all "peoples as a single community". The "dialogue" mainly consisted of questions from the forum to Khatami, and was affected by the scarce time that was available. This would have almost produced an uproar when the input of Greek-oriental metropolitan Archbishop Michael Staikos almost got turned down. Some questions to Khatami dealt with the problem of unity of state and religion and democracy. Khatami argued that in a democracy, all power emanates from the people, and when the majority of a people wants "such a system" - the unity of state and religion - then this was democratic. The only thing that was undemocratic was when members of other denominations would be oppressed, he said. Khatami: "When religion and freedom are in opposition, both will lose." When both stand side by side, there is no extremism and no fundamentalism, he added. Khatami noted that ethics and morality had been weakened in the West, "the soul and spirituality forgotten" and Christianity been forced back. The concept of Jihad or Holy War was not mentioned in the meeting. Source: Die Presse, Vienna, in German 13 Mar 02 p 5. BBC Worldwide Monitoring/ (c) BBC 2002. Source: BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS BBC MONITORING EUROPEAN - POLITICAL 13/03/2002
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