A fruitful relation

Freedom of religion: fundamental right or result of the secular rule of law? An answer to this question was attempted at the 8th Ökumenische Sommerakademie, held at Kremsmünster near Vienna from 12 to 14 July. A number of guest speakers tackled various aspects of the theme: the Islamic sociologist FUAD KANDIL spoke of the dignity of the human being in Islam; the position from a Jewish perspective was described by the Frankfurt-based scholar MICHA BRUMLIK . The relation between human dignity and Christian image of the human being was tackled among others by the Salzburg-based dogmatic theologian HANS-JOACHIM SANDER . The relation between religions and human rights was also analysed from a juridical, ethical and social point of view. The meeting ended with a discussion with representatives of the various Christian Churches: Greek-Orthodox Metropolitan MICHAEL STAIKOS , Superintendent of the Evangelical Church in Upper Austria, G EROLD LEHNER, and the vicar general of the diocese of Linz, SEVERIN LEDERHILGER . The ecumenical meeting was held under the auspices of ORF, Austria’s public broadcaster, the Ecumenical Council of the Churches in Austria, the private university of Catholic theology in Linz, the Linz daily “Linzer Kirchenzeitung”, the Evangelical charity Evangelische Bildungswerk Oberösterreich, Stift Kremsmünster and the Land of Upper Austria. LIFE, GIFT OF GOD. The bishop of Linz LUDWIG SCHWARZ stressed that “in spite of all the progress in the medical and technical fields, man must recognize that in the last analysis he cannot dispose of his own life. For life is a gift of God”. Bishop Schwarz said he was sceptical about all wars apparently conducted to protect human rights. The covert reason turns out to be, on the contrary, an interest in petrol and in the riches of the subsoil. Therefore, a commitment to respect human rights is all the more necessary in Western democracies” since “if we would recognize our failings, our commitment to human rights would also become more credible for others”. The Evangelical bishop HERWIG STURM , chairman of the Ecumenical Council of the Churches in Austria (ÖRKÖ), mentioned the great challenges for the Churches: “Such issues as immigration and integration, asylum, and the acceptance of foreigners are more than ever actual today. Europe is changing and this also involves great challenges and opportunities. Especially in a society that has accustomed itself to secularism, non-secularized positions such as that of Islam represent a particular challenge”. Sturm invited those present to participate in the third European Ecumenical Assembly, due to be held in Sibiu in Romania in September 2007. VICTIMS AND EXECUTIONERS. HANS-JOACHIM SANDER warned of the various forms of the abuse of power that always involve a violation of human dignity. “The power of the one increases in inverse proportion to the weakness of the other”, he said, citing the example of the images of the tortures committed by American soldiers in Iraq and the videos of the decapitation of hostages by Islamic fanatics. According to Sander, “since victims and executioners exist in every culture, human rights must hold good for all cultures. Whoever violates human dignity represents a challenge for the humaneness of humanity”, since those who do so establish “a policy defined solely by power and violence”. Sander argued that it makes no sense to respond with violence to attacks on human dignity, “since whoever uses this power is put to shame by the victims and by their weakness: “By placing in the public domain the weakness of those who suffer, the victim becomes an authority. He becomes a symbol for the human dignity of everyone”. So, Jesus is the saviour of humanity: “Christian faith in the historical reality of this Saviour represents a hope for humanity and may be opened to the promotion of human rights”. EQUAL RIGHTS FOR EVERYONE. According to HEINER BIELEFELDT , director of the German Institute for Human Rights, “a State that feels it has obligations to human rights cannot limit itself to permitting religious and ideological freedom. It is also obliged actively to guarantee their possibilities of expression according to the criterion of equality of rights”, without identifying itself with a particular religion. Commenting on the widespread opinion according to which Islam is incompatible with Western democratic societies committed to the respect of human rights, Bielefeldt recalled that “the secular State was born in the West, but one cannot speak of an exclusively Western model”. He also stressed that the concept of religious freedom derives its origin from the Enlightenment. For his part, the expert on international law, HERIBERT KÖCK said that “the European experience shows that a fruitful relation between religion and State in the promotion of human rights is possible. The situation as regards Islam is very different”, he added, recalling the limited religious freedom in Islamic States, due in his view to the absence of a movement comparable to the Enlightenment.