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Codes of Tolerance and Respect for Each of us

Posted in Codes of Tolerance | 13-Feb-13

  1. Those in the minority should respect the culture of the majority and be tolerant of their religion, culture and behavior. Do not demand too much of the other side, either as a majority or minority, but instead balance your approach
  2. “Yes for Tolerance!” Each and every day we must practice tolerance in our families and society; we must make every effort to live in peace in an increasingly international world with human beings who are unlike us. At home we give tolerance; abroad we receive tolerance. At home someone else is the stranger; in other countries you may be the stranger. Here you are a majority; there you are a minority. Everyone needs tolerance sometime, somewhere.
  3. The elite in each of the 190 countries of the world—in politics, religion; culture, business, and sports—must promote tolerance in their society and affinity groups. We have to establish a new system of global common values of freedom, liberty, peace and social responsibility which will bring us together.
  4. Accept that people are different and let them live as they like, unless they harm others. Tolerance requires the recognition of difference. We must know ourselves before can show tolerance to others. The world does not revolve around you; it revolves around the sun which shines on all people.
  5. Tolerance always has two sides: you and another. Each person needs tolerance. Treat other human beings just as you would like to be treated by them.
  6. Treat everybody’s children as if they were your own. It is paramount that children are brought up not to hate.
  7. Accept that you live in a global village and do not tolerate that which can destroy it. Ethnic cleansing, expulsions, and terrorism are the greatest crimes against humanity.
  8. We must not only tolerate our fellow human beings, but go one step further towards acceptance. Acceptance of others’ choices and individualities can help us discover positive powers within ourselves and to become better human beings.
  9. Generosity can truly influence the view of people with a different outlook, opening their minds to cooperation. This is the right course in living together, based on humanity.
  10. Patriotism is a product of love, not of hate. Pure nationalism, however, can degenerate into chauvinism, is inhuman, and sooner or later leads to war.
  11. Hatred between people can only be conquered in the long run if terrorism is stamped out. Terrorism is a fruit of ideology, which must be defeated in the hearts and minds of people.
  12. Antagonism is not in the nature of Islam or Christianity or any other religion, but is an extreme form of ideological interpretation of religious beliefs. When ideology takes precedence, it fuels hatred and leads to atrocities, such as modern-day suicide killings or the burning of “witches” during the Inquisition.
  13. Working together as Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus, we must put hate and ideology behind us and endeavor to achieve unity and mutual goodwill through tolerance.
  14. All people must take the risk of a new, fresh start. By thinking only in categories of retaliation, fuelled by the desire for revenge, a person also dehumanizes himself, failing to give others a chance.
  15. The idea of reconciliation as a balm with the power to heal memory is the fundamental principle of living together. Towards this end, a number of elite individuals—teachers, journalists, and politicians—must embark upon and lead the rest on a new path towards peace and reconciliation between peoples. They must tread this path courageously, with a “Thoughtful Heart and a Loving Mind.”
  16. The more human a person becomes, the more divine his thoughts, feelings, and actions.
  17. Education and culture are the best weapons against intolerance. Learn and study other cultures and civilizations to see how rich they are. The world around you is so large und interesting. See what you can borrow from other cultures. This way you will enrich your own personality.
  18. All human beings are unique and equal before their God.
  19. Tolerance, as the mutual respect among human beings, needs self-confidence on both sides. Each minority and the majority have to be proud of themselves and their different roots.
  20. The media should and must not only report about violence and conflicts but should also cover the new hopes and weak seedlings of peaceful coexistence and tolerance.
  21. In both the West and East, many no longer know the meaning of their religions and what it means to be a true Christian, Muslim or Buddhist. Therefore, out of fear and insecurity, they cling helplessly to prejudices.
  22. The true conflict occurs between the followers of real existing cultural liberalism and the representatives of a religious worldview. This is the tension which requires tolerance, and above all, the recognition of difference.
  23. Envy is a very negative quality of human nature, which will never make one better or more successful. Value other people according to their merits.
  24. All foreign groups should respect the fundamental rules and laws of the host country in which they choose to reside.
  25. All host nations should give foreign groups a fair chance to integrate – but no group should be forced to assimilate. Learning the host nation’s language is the first important step into integration.
  26. Extremists and terrorists and their supporters should be isolated and expelled. Attacking civilians—for whatever political or religious reason—must be condemned by all people.
  27. The social position of women and minorities should be enhanced.
  28. For all people, tolerance begins with knowing oneself and with love for oneself. Only by accepting and analyzing one’s own fears and insecurities of the unfamiliar does one achieve true acceptance and respect concerning other people and cultures. One recognizes what is essentially human in others, rather than that which divides. Tolerance is harmony, over and above numerous differences.
  29. Moral tolerance commands esteem and respect towards the other, the unfamiliar, those fellow human beings so different from myself. Rejection, xenophobia and chauvinism are repressed through a definite relationship toward divine unification, precisely because we are all children of God—not mere possessions of others.
  30. We should no longer view others in the obsolete categories of enemy and friend, but rather accept others in their complete humanity and see them as an enrichment—not as a threat and an attack on our essence.
  31. Tolerance requires and affirms plurality—in this regard, States with a monolithic conception of totalitarian social structures breed intolerance.
  32. Tolerance is the opposing concept to totalitarianism—whether it be politically or religiously motivated and justified.
  33. Tolerance is the opposing concept to terrorism, which places its political opinion above the life and integrity of people.

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