THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
UN-based Questionnaire – the
Ultimate Meaning of Life
QUESTIONNAIRE
Available in other languages: click here if the language box does not display.
E-mail your answers to: info@tandemproject.com.
Genuine dialogue on human
rights and freedom of religion or belief calls for respectful discourse,
discussion of taboos and clarity by persons of diverse beliefs. Inclusive
dialogue includes people of theistic, non-theistic and
atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief.
These are United Nations categories in General Comment 22 on Article 18,
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Human Rights Committee
(CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4).
General Comment 22 on
Article 18 clarifies the intersection of human rights and freedom of religion
or belief as a guide for peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and
resolution of conflicts. This UN document must be read as a prerequisite to
filling out the Questionnaire. Click to open:
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/9a30112c27d1167cc12563ed004d8f15?Opendocument
Check the U.N. category
which generally describes your religion or belief:
1. Theist____
This is a person who
believes in a traditional description of God as a supernatural deity or
deities; or who believes in some form of Deism, unstructured supernatural
spirituality.
2. Non-theist ____
This is a person who
believes in a Universal Mind, striving for spiritual self actualizations,
Reincarnation, Pantheist (everything as God), spirituality without a
supernatural deity, or Buddhism, described by some as a Godless religion
without a supernatural deity.
3. Atheist ____
This is a person who
believes in Materialism, naturalism, a person who does not believe in any form
of supernatural reality, otherworldly or traditional descriptions of God.
4. No Religion or Belief ____
This is a person who is
neutral, Agnostic, who suspends belief in theism, non-theism or atheism, but
remains open to conviction; or a person who does not want to be described in
any category.
I. THE ULTIMATE MEANING OF
LIFE
The Ultimate Meaning of Life is a religious, spiritual or philosophical
question; the core concern or first principles of the life of an individual or
community, religious or non-religious.
1. Give a brief description of
the ultimate meaning of your life according to the teachings and understandings
or your religion or belief. If you have not thought about the question, explain
what you think might be the ultimate meaning of your life.
2. How did you come to know the
ultimate meaning of life according to your religion or belief? What role do the
doctrines or sayings of your religion or belief play in knowing the truth of
your meaning? What role does faith play in this knowledge?
3. Are there other religions or
beliefs that hold your understanding of the ultimate meaning of life in common
with your beliefs? What are they?
4. Can you describe what
motivates your life if you are a person that does not profess a religion or
belief, or subscribe to an ultimate meaning.
II. HOW TO LIVE ACCORDINGLY
Most individuals and
communities discern right from wrong behavior by a code of values, morality or
ethics on how to live according to their understanding of the ultimate meaning
of life.
1. Describe how your
understanding of the ultimate meaning of life is applied through a code of
ethics or morality. How does your religion or belief ask you to live according
to their understanding of the ultimate meaning of life? What is the basis
(source of rules, norms and traditions) for this?
2. If you do not understand or do
not have an ultimate meaning of life, what is your code of values, morality or
personal ethics based on?
3. How are your values or ethics
and those of your community of religion or belief expressed through politics to
the public-at-large? Do representatives of your religion or belief guide or
instruct their members on how to apply ethics and morality to politics?
Explain.
4. How do you give expression to
your ultimate meaning of life through cultural esthetics- such as sacred or
secular music, art and dance? If you have no ultimate meaning of life how do
you express this through the arts and culture?
III. INTOLERANCE AND
DISCRIMINATION
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 – Article 18 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
1. Morals derives from many
social, philosophical and religious traditions according to the UN Human Rights
Committee. What restrictions are based on morality?
2. Identify aspects of your
tradition that create conflicts with other religions or beliefs with a
different view of the ultimate meaning of life.
3. Can fundamentalist or extreme
views based on a religion or belief be reconciled with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights without conflicting with each other?
4. Separation
of Religion or Belief & State (SOROBAS) is a phrase based on UN
General Comment 22, Article 18 - International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights. Explain why and how it can be upheld in Constitutions when a religion
or belief is an official arm of the State.
* “Religion explains the
ultimate meaning of life and how to live accordingly,” is a saying credited to
Professor
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.”
Genuine dialogue on human
rights and freedom of religion or belief calls for respectful discourse,
discussion of taboos and clarity by persons of diverse beliefs. Inclusive
dialogue includes people of theistic, non-theistic and
atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief.
The warning signs are clear, unless there is genuine dialogue ranging from
religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism; conflicts in the future will
probably be even more deadly.
In 1968 the UN deferred
work on an International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Religious Intolerance because of its complexity and sensitivity. Violence,
suffering and discrimination based on religion or belief in many part of the
world is greater than ever. It is time for
a UN Working Group to draft what they deferred in 1968, a comprehensive core
international human rights treaty-a United Nations Convention on Freedom of
Religion or Belief: United
Nations History – Freedom of Religion or Belief
The challenge to
religions or beliefs at all levels is awareness, understanding
and acceptance of international human rights standards on freedom of
religion or belief. Leaders, teachers and followers of all religions or
beliefs, with governments, are keys to test the viability of inclusive and
genuine dialogue in response to the UN Secretary General’s urgent call for
constructive and committed dialogue.
The Tandem Project title,
Separation of Religion or Belief and State
(SOROBAS), reflects the far-reaching scope of UN General Comment 22
on Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Human
Rights Committee (CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4). The General Comment on Article 18
interprets this international rule of law as a guide for peaceful cooperation,
respectful competition and resolution of conflicts. See General Comment 22 on
Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Surely one of the best
hopes for 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.
We welcome ideas on how this can be accomplished; info@tandemproject.com.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE TANDEM PROJECT PROPOSALS
Proposals for constructive, long-term solutions to conflicts based on
religion or belief:
(1) Develop a model local-national-international
integrated approach to human rights and freedom of religion or belief,
appropriate to legal systems and cultures of each country, as follow-up to the Universal Periodic Review. See
Documents Attached:
UN based Questionnaire - The Ultimate Meaning of Life
STANDARDS: http://www.tandemproject.com/program/81_dec.htm
1.
2. Mr.
The Tandem Project is a non-governmental organization (NGO)
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 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: info@tandemproject.com.
The Tandem Project is a UN NGO in
Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations