Written by Nayla Barakat
Manama, May 4 (BNA): Francisco Denis, a member of the Portuguese Parliament, described the Bahrain-EU Conference on Freedom of Religion and Belief as unique and objective in creating religious harmony.
Speaking to the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), he said that he was honored to participate in a conference in which the Kingdom of Bahrain and the European Union once again united their efforts in order to discuss and cooperate constructively to respond to the needs. of religious freedom.
“When we talk about fundamental rights, it is inevitable to refer to the religious aspect, the belief of man,” he said. In this sense, the sanctity of conscience, religion and worship must be inviolable and guaranteed to all as essential pillars of religious freedom.
Dennis reiterated the message that resonated at the conference that ignorance is the cause of discrimination and hate speech.
“The response to this ignorance must be success, success in implementing better policies, success in stopping hate speech, success in improving behavior, success in improving our lives for equality and freedom,” he said.
“We must start together from a narrative based on three points, inclusiveness, tolerance, and closeness.”
Dennis stressed the importance of education, journalism and youth involvement in combating discrimination and prejudice.
“In the moral educational aspects, all religions have enormous potential to re-educate human beings, help correct individual, selfish and destructive habits, and provide community and solidarity,” he said.
Dennis added, “Freedom of the press is not unconditional freedom. If one person’s freedom begins where another ends, we cannot allow it to degrade and abuse individual and collective rights.”
Dino also spoke about the role of interfaith interaction in facing the challenge of climate change.
“Only through dialogue will it be possible to find solutions to a global threat,” he said. “We must look to cultural principles, values, differences and attitudes as a means of guiding efforts.”
He added, “The contribution is indispensable, not only from states for better policies, but also from multiple religions in mobilizing on the basis of their moral and ethical capacities.”
He said that history has shown that customs, personal behaviour, social values and principles are strongly influenced by religions.
“We will have to promote the new connection between humans and nature as a mission,” he urged.