One participant at the Saudi-backed interfaith dialogue that took place in Spain this week presented a draft resolution for the UN to oversee all religious dialogue, including local and regional talks! If this happens it will eventually mean no one will be able to bring up troubling aspect of Islam or discuss Islamism and its goal of Islamic rule or discuss honor killings or Islamic terrorism and so on because these discussions would be ruled insulting to Islam:
The World Conference on Dialogue opened by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in Madrid on Wednesday gathered momentum yesterday with a call from the former speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives, Congressman Jose de Venecia Jr., for an interfaith dialogue council to be set up as a formal UN body.
He presented a draft resolution calling on the conference to petition King Abdullah, King Juan Carlos of Spain and Spanish Premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to organize a joint Saudi-Spanish request to the UN for an Interfaith Council to promote and oversee “all global, regional and local interfaith dialogues among the great religions, civilizations, cultures, governments… to help resolve politico-religious, sectarian and ethnic conflicts and tensions in various parts of the world.” arab news
This is exactly what Islamists wanted to happen. It is far more palatable when the proposal was bought forth by someone outside of Islam such as de Venecia. If Islamists can get religious leaders to buy into being overseen by the U.N in all their religious discussions then that's just one more step to bring the world under UN rule. This is the likely international body where the Islamic world wants to instill their caliphate on the world! I actually read this is the goal on a website of a Islamic center in America!
Will this proposal be presented to the U.N.? I think it will. Will the U.N. act upon it? Remember the Islamic world was successful recently when they shut down any future criticsm of Islam in the U.N.'s human rights council. Now, only Islamic scholars are allowed to Islam at this council!
This is Islamic trickery at its best. It's dangerous for all religions and for free speech we so cherish in America since it is all presented under the guise of interfaith dialogue.
Something the Saudi's will not allow their own citizens to do.
Update 7/21/08: Muhammad bin Ahmed Tayeb, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s regional office, has called upon the United Nations to adopt the resolutions taken by last week’s interfaith conference in Madrid as working plans for its various organizations.
He said the World Conference on Dialogue in the Spanish capital which was called by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, was a big success in terms of the large-scale participation of the leaders of different faiths, and the important resolutions it passed. Arab News
Update 7/21/08: ,,,the conference ended on a sour note as Christian and Jewish participants complained that the organizers, the Muslim World League, had too much control over the conference's closing communiqué. The document appeared to have been revised without the consent of members of a drafting committee. And the vast majority of participants never had a chance to review any version of the statement before Abdul Rahman Al-Zaid of the Muslim World League read it aloud. "For us as participants from other religions this is not an acceptable procedure for adopting documents," a Russian Orthodox priest participating in the conference, George Ryabykh, said.
Even Rabbi Michael Lerner, who was positive about the conference overall, conceded in an e-mail that "The Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, and others who were in attendance here were props" and that though there were some women in attendance, they were essentially excluded from the dialogue. For all the oil money the Saudis have, the Madrid conference underscores the difficulty they will have in buying legitimacy in America or among the other world religions. New York Sun
Update 7/23/08: The Madrid Declaration: Everyone must be told to respect religion and follow our guidlines for religious dialogue
...5. Respecting heavenly religions, preserving their high status, condemning any insult to their symbols, and combating the exploitation of religion in the instigation of racial discrimination.
7. The significance of religion and moral values and the need for humans to revert to their Creator in their fight against crime, corruption, drugs, and terrorism, and in preserving the institution of the family and protecting societies from deviant behaviors.
Based on the above, the conference has adopted the following recommendations:
• To reject theories that call for the clash of civilizations and cultures and to warn of the danger of campaigns seeking to deepen conflicts and destabilize peace and security.
• To enhance common human values, to cooperate in their dissemination within societies and to solve the problems that hinder their achievement.
• To disseminate the culture of tolerance and understanding through dialogue so as to be a framework for international relations through holding conferences and symposia, as well as developing relevant cultural, educational and media programs.
• To agree on international guidelines for dialogue among the followers of religions and cultures through which moral values and ethical principles, which are common denominators among such followers, so as to strengthen stability and achieve prosperity for all humans.
• To work on urging governmental and non-governmental organizations to issue a document that stipulates respect for religions and their symbols, the prohibition of their denigration and the repudiation of those who commit such acts.
Update 7/29/08: The Organization of Islamic Conference had this to say about the interfaith meeting:
The Secretary General of the OIC, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu today
hailed the outcome of the three day World Conference on Dialogue among religions held in Madrid and paid tribute to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud for initiating the Conference.
The OIC Secretary General stated that the Conference was successful in raising awareness of the dangers of the growing intolerance of religious faiths and highlighting cooperation and understanding among diverse religious faiths.
He stated that the declaration issued at the end of the Madrid Conference had sent strong message to the international community to uphold respect for the diversity of religions and condemning any insult to their symbols and to combat the exploitation of religion in the instigation of racial discrimination.
The Muslim World League (MWL), a Saudi charity closely tied to the Saudi government...