THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
ATHEIST BUS ADS & FREEDOM OF
RELIGION OR BELIEF
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Issue: The First Step
– Inclusive & Genuine Dialogue on Freedom of Religion or Belief
For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs,
Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society
Review: Atheists send a Message, on 800
British Buses, by
Sarah Lyall, New York Times,
If the Atheist ad was on one side of the bus and a Theist ad on the other side of the bus it may be a metaphor
for Yin and Yang that
symbolizes a reciprocal relationship between opposing principles. Bus riders
might agree with the advertisements or differ in a wide variety of opinions,
protected from discrimination by international human rights standards on
freedom of religion or belief.
Did God create us or did
we create God? This question disturbs some and is prohibited by others. It
calls for inclusive and genuine dialogue, discussion of taboos and clarity by
persons of diverse beliefs. Inclusive and genuine dialogue is between people of
theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as
well as the right not to profess any religion or belief. These U.N.
categories embodied in international law promote tolerance and prevent
discrimination based on religion or belief. Inclusive dialogue is never
easy.
Inclusive and genuine
dialogue is essential as a first step in recognition of the inherent dignity,
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family and as a
foundation for freedom, justice and peace in the world. Leaders of religious
and non-religious beliefs sanction the truth claims of their own traditions.
They serve their members and maintain institutional structures within their own
communities. The inward focus in such matters of belief makes inclusive and
genuine dialogue hard for them to understand and accept.
As we are all painfully
aware, religious conflict continues to escalate worldwide whether in the
United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki Moon, at the Alliance of Civilizations Madrid Forum said; “Never
in our lifetime has there been a more desperate need for constructive and
committed dialogue, among individuals, among communities, among cultures, among
and between nations.” A writer in another setting has said, “The warning signs
are clear: unless we establish genuine dialogue within and among all kinds of
belief, ranging from religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism, the
conflicts of the future will probably be even more deadly.”
This warning is confirmed
by on-going terrorism and growing potential for the misuse of nuclear and
biological weapons. Attached Documents include: Atheist Bus Ads & Freedom
of Religion or Belief; Inclusive & Genuine Dialogue on Freedom of Religion
or Belief – is it possible; Saudi Arabia Sponsors U.N. Dialogue - now is the
time for a Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief; Faith, Evolution &
Morality; Human Rights – Religion & Science.
Link to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/world/europe/07london.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print
Excerpts: Excerpts are presented under the Eight Articles of
the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Examples of extracts are presented
prior to an Issue Statement for each Review.
1. 2. No one shall be subject to
coercion which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his
choice.
1. 3 Freedom to manifest one’s
religion or belief may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by
law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, morals or the
fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
2. 1 No one shall be subject to
discrimination by any State, institution, group of persons or person on the
grounds of religion or other beliefs.
FOUR EXCERPTS FROM THE FOLLOWING
ARTICLE
“There’s probably no God,” the advertisements say.
“Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” Supported by the scientist and author
Richard Dawkins, the philosopher A.C. Grayling and the British Humanist
Association, among others, the campaign raised nearly $150,000 in four days.
Now it has more than $200,000, and last Wednesday it unveiled its
advertisements on 800 buses across
In 2003, when an interviewer asked Tony Blair,
then prime minister, about religion, his spokesman, Alastair Campbell,
interjected, snapping, “We don’t do God.” After leaving office, Mr. Blair
became a Roman Catholic.
Mr. Bleakley [manager for outdoor sales] said he
had no problem with the atheist bus ads. “We do have religious organizations
that promote themselves,” he said. “If somebody doesn’t believe in religion,
why wouldn’t we carry an ad that promotes the opposite view? To coin a phrase,
it’s not for us to play God.”
Next week, the Atheist Bus Campaign plans to place
1,000 advertisements in the subway system. An interesting element of the bus
slogan is the world “probably,” which would seem to be more suited to an
Agnostic Bus Campaign than to an atheist one. Mr. Dawkins, for one, argued that
the word should not be there at all.
LONDON — The advertisement
on the bus was fairly mild, just a passage from the Bible and the address of a Christian Web
site. But when Ariane Sherine, a comedy writer, looked on the Web site in
June, she was startled to learn that she and her nonbelieving friends were
headed straight to hell, to “spend all eternity in torment.”
That’s a bit extreme, she
thought, as well as hard to prove. “If I wanted to run a bus ad saying ‘Beware
— there is a giant lion from
And then she thought, how
about putting some atheist messages on the bus, as a corrective to the
religious ones?
And so were planted the
seeds of the Atheist Bus Campaign, an effort to
disseminate a godless message to the greater public. When the organizers
announced the effort in October, they said they hoped to raise a modest $8,000
or so.
But something seized
people’s imagination. Supported by the scientist and author Richard Dawkins, the philosopher
A. C. Grayling and the British Humanist Association, among others, the campaign
raised nearly $150,000 in four days. Now it has more than $200,000, and on
Tuesday it unveiled its advertisements on 800 buses across
“There’s probably no God,”
the advertisements say. “Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
Spotting one of the buses
on display at a news conference in Kensington, passers-by were struck by the
unusual message.
Not always positively. “I
think it’s dreadful,” said Sandra Lafaire, 76, a tourist from
But Sarah Hall, 28, a
visitor from
Inspired by the
Although Australian
atheists were refused permission to place advertisements on buses saying,
“Atheism: Sleep in on Sunday mornings,” the British effort has been striking in
the lack of outrage it has generated. The
Although Queen Elizabeth
is the head of the Church of England,
In 2003, when an
interviewer asked Tony Blair, then the prime
minister, about religion, his spokesman, Alastair Campbell,
interjected, snapping, “We don’t do God.” After leaving office, Mr. Blair
became a Roman Catholic.
More recently, Nick Clegg,
a member of Parliament and the leader of the Liberal Democrats, announced that
he was an atheist. (He later downgraded himself to agnostic.)
David Cameron, leader of the
Conservative Party, alluded to a popular radio station when he joked that his
religious belief was like “the reception for Magic FM in the Chilterns: it sort
of comes and goes.”
Still, since
“Across
Next week, the Atheist Bus
Campaign plans to place 1,000 advertisements in the subway system, featuring
enthusiastic quotations from Emily Dickinson, Albert Einstein, Douglas Adams
and Katharine Hepburn.
An interesting element of
the bus slogan is the word “probably,” which would seem to be more suited to an
Agnostic Bus Campaign than to an atheist one. Mr. Dawkins, for one, argued that
the word should not be there at all.
But the element of doubt
was necessary to meet British advertising guidelines, said Tim Bleakley,
managing director for sales and marketing at CBS Outdoor in
For religious people,
advertisements saying there is no God “would have been misleading,” Mr.
Bleakley said.
“So as not to fall foul of
the code, you have to acknowledge that there is a gray area,” he said.
He said that potential ads
were rejected all the time. “We wouldn’t, for example, run an ad for an action
movie where the gun was pointing toward the commuter,” he said.
But Mr. Bleakley said he
had no problem with the atheist bus ads. “We do have religious organizations
that promote themselves,” he said. “If somebody doesn’t believe in religion,
why wouldn’t we carry an ad that promotes the opposite view? To coin a phrase,
it’s not for us to play God.”
ISSUE STATEMENT Surely one of the best hopes for the future of
humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs accept
one another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of an
exclusive right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts with
mediation, compassion and understanding.
International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
Religion or Belief are international law and codes of conduct for peaceful
cooperation, respectful competition and resolution of conflicts. The standards are
a platform for genuine dialogue on core principles and values within and among
nations, all religions and other beliefs.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Documents Attached:
Atheist Bus Ads & Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Inclusive & Genuine Dialogue on Freedom of Religion or Belief - Is it Possible
Human Rights - Religion & Science
STANDARDS: http://www.tandemproject.com/program/81_dec.htm
Submit information under the Eight Articles and
sub-paragraphs of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of
Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief by using The Tandem
Project Country & Community Database.
http://www.tandemproject.com/databases/forms/card.htm
The Tandem Project: a non-governmental organization founded
in 1986 to build understanding, tolerance and respect for diversity, and to
prevent discrimination in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief.
The Tandem Project, a non-profit NGO, has sponsored multiple conferences,
curricula, reference materials and programs on Article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Everyone shall have the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and 1981 United Nations
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination
Based on Religion or Belief.
The Tandem Project
initiative is the result of a co-founder representing the World Federation of
United Nations Associations at the United Nations Geneva Seminar, Encouragement of Understanding, Tolerance
and Respect in Matters Relating to Freedom of Religion or Belief,
called by the UN Secretariat in 1984 on ways to implement the 1981 UN
Declaration. In 1986, The Tandem Project organized the first NGO International
Conference on the 1981 UN Declaration.
The Tandem Project
Executive Director is: Michael M. Roan, mroan@tandemproject.com.
The Tandem Project is a UN NGO in
Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations
__________________________________________
Goal: To eliminate all forms of intolerance and
discrimination based on religion or belief.
Purpose: To build understanding and support for
Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights –Everyone
shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and the
1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Encourage the United Nations,
Governments, Religions or Beliefs, Academia, NGOs, Media and Civil Society to
utilize International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief
as essential for long-term solutions to conflicts
in all matters relating to religion or belief.
Objectives:
1. Use International
Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief as a platform for
genuine dialogue on the core principles and values within and among nations,
all religions and other beliefs.
2. Adapt these human rights
standards to early childhood education, teaching children, from the very
beginning, that their own religion is one out of many and that it is a personal
choice for everyone to adhere to the religion or belief by which he or she
feels most inspired, or to adhere to no religion or belief at all.1
Challenge: In 1968 the United Nations deferred work on an
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Religious
Intolerance, because of its apparent complexity and sensitivity. In the twenty-first
century, a dramatic increase of intolerance and discrimination on grounds of
religion or belief is motivating a worldwide search to find solutions to these
problems. This is a challenge calling for enhanced dialogue by States and
others; including consideration of an International Convention on Freedom of
Religion or Belief for protection of and accountability by all religions or
beliefs. The tensions in today’s world inspire a question such as:
Should the United Nations
adopt an International Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief?
Response: Is it the appropriate moment to
reinitiate the drafting of a legally binding international convention on
freedom of religion or belief? Law making of this nature requires a minimum
consensus and an environment that appeals to reason rather than emotions. At
the same time we are on a learning curve as the various dimensions of the
Declaration are being explored. Many academics have produced voluminous books
on these questions but more ground has to be prepared before setting up of a UN
working group on drafting a convention. In my opinion, we should not try to
rush the elaboration of a Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
especially not in times of high tensions and unpreparedness. - UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
Option: After forty years this may be the time,
however complex and sensitive, for the United Nations Human Rights Council to
appoint an Open-ended Working Group to draft a United Nations Convention on
Freedom of Religion or Belief. The mandate for an Open-ended Working Group
ought to assure nothing in a draft Convention will be construed as restricting
or derogating from any right defined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, and the 1981 UN
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.
Separation of Religion or Belief
and State
Concept: Separation of Religion or Belief and State - SOROBAS. The First Preamble to the 1948 United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads; “Whereas
recognition of the inherent
dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. This concept
suggests States recalling their history, culture and constitution adopt fair
and equal human rights protection for all religions or beliefs as described in
General Comment 22 on Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, UN Human Rights Committee,
Article
18: protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not
to profess any religion or belief.
The terms belief and religion are to be broadly construed. Article 18 is not
limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs
with international characteristics or practices analogous to those of
traditional religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency
to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reasons, including the
fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that may
be the subject of hostility by a predominant religious community. Article 18: permits restrictions to manifest a religion or
belief only if such limitations are prescribed by law and necessary to protect
public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms
of others.
International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of
Religion or Belief are used to review the actions of governments, religions or
beliefs, non-governmental organizations and civil society under constitutional
systems such as Separation of Church and State,
Dialogue: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki
Moon, at the Alliance of Civilizations Madrid Forum said; “Never in our
lifetime has there been a more desperate need for constructive and committed
dialogue, among individuals, among communities, among cultures, among and
between nations.” A writer in another setting has said, “The warning signs are
clear: unless we establish genuine dialogue within and among all kinds of
belief, ranging from religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism, the
conflicts of the future will probably be even more deadly.”
International Human Rights
Standards on Freedom or Religion or Belief are international law and universal
codes of conduct for peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and
resolution of conflicts. The standards are a platform for genuine dialogue on
core principles and values within and among nations, all religions and other
beliefs.
Education: Ambassador
1981 U.N. Declaration on
Freedom of Religion or Belief
5.2: Every child shall enjoy the right to have access
to education in the matter of religion or belief in accordance with the wishes
of his parents, and shall not be compelled to receive teaching on religion or
belief against the wishes of his parents, the best interests of the child being
the guiding principle.” With International Human Rights safeguards, early
childhood education is the best time to begin to build tolerance, understanding
and respect for freedom of religion or belief.
5.3: The child shall be protected from any form of
discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief. He shall be brought up in
a spirit of understanding, tolerance, and friendship among peoples, peace and
universal brotherhood, respect for the freedom of religion or belief of others
and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the
service of his fellow men.