The Role of Parliaments and Religions in Achieving Peace

The 32nd conference of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) was held for five days starting from Sunday, August 25, in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, with the participation of over two hundred political and religious figures. This conference, titled "The Responsibility of Parliamentarians and Religious Leaders," clearly targeted two important groups in today's societies to pave the way for global peace through them. Over two hundred parliamentarians and religious leaders from around the world attended the UPF conference, where speakers included Bibhanswar Kalita, a member of the Indian Parliament, Asma Kafataro, a member of the advisory board of the UN special envoy for peace in Syria, Iqbal Ali Mohammad, a former UN diplomat on refugee issues, Sheikh Samir Asi, the imam of the Jazar Mosque in Israel, and Dan Burton, a former member of the US House of Representatives. The discussions at the conference mainly focused on the important role that parliaments and religious believers can play in advancing peace, with some general topics of speeches including: - Examination and critique of the challenges of our era in various regions - The role of institutions and organizations that deal with peace in religious communities - Peace challenges in the Korean Peninsula. The overall atmosphere of the conference, which brought together many peace thinkers under one roof, instilled hope that if there is a will for peace, such meetings could serve as a practice towards achieving it. It was common to see a Jewish rabbi alongside a Muslim cleric or a Ukrainian parliamentarian conversing with a Russian politician at the 32nd UPF conference. Iqbal Ali Mohammad, a former UN diplomat on refugee issues, discussed the living conditions of war victims in an interview with Radio Farda, explaining the role of organizations striving for peace: "Some governments have countless contradictory and unquestionable interests for themselves, making people feel at risk of conflict with them. They flee from violence, which may be accompanied by some natural disasters, and then try to seek refuge in other countries, where often there are numerous obstacles to accepting them, thus they lose their livelihoods, lives, and positions and find themselves in difficult conditions. "What the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) seeks to do is to convey the message of peace by bringing together members of parliaments and religious leaders. In this way, parliament members can use their specific methods to convince their governments to find solutions to the problems of these people, while those involved with religion can seek to utilize the common values shared by all religions, and the UPF can, albeit slowly, achieve results by blending these moral-spiritual principles with government actions. "Thus, members of parliaments and religious groups on one side and civil society on the other can create a kind of empathy that overcomes intolerance and fundamentalism and allows peaceful efforts to emerge, even if this process is slow. There is no simple and quick way for all this. It is a process that must take its course to reach a definitive remedy." Contrary to what has become a common belief among some people that religions and beliefs are foundations of rigidity and extremism, what was frequently heard in the speeches of religious figures at the Seoul conference indicated religious tolerance and efforts to increase the tolerance of followers of other religions. Asma Kafataro, a member of the advisory board of the UN special envoy for peace in Syria, in response to a question about gathering people from different religions around one table, told Radio Farda's correspondent: "Of course, our presence around one table is essential. I must tell you that Islam is a religion of unity and solidarity, and despite our differences, we have always been advised to respect each other and remain together as members of the human community. "The mission of Prophet Muhammad was based on dedicating himself to God on Earth when he said, we are all servants of God, and God's grace is for those who serve these servants. Islam advises us to be simple and unpretentious in our love for humanity. To end wars and hatred because we are all creations of God, and our destiny is in His hands." Participants at the 32nd UPF conference concluded this meeting with a greater sense of the need for such gatherings than ever before. Potential and actual centers of conflict and war are scattered across various parts of the world, from the Korean Peninsula to Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Ukraine, and the emergence of groups like the Islamic State (ISIS) constantly reminds all peace thinkers of the fragility and delicacy of peace. The Universal Peace Federation was established in 2005 by Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon in South Korea and has since made extensive efforts to deepen the motivations for peace in human thought. Sun Myung Moon believed that religion, as a moral element, could play an important role in achieving global peace alongside other UN tools, and he always emphasized that followers of all religions should come together because we are all creations of God living under His gifts.