|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Thursday, 29 July 2004 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
NCC calls for creation of inter-religious mechanism to facilitate religious harmony The National Christian Council has once again called for the creation of an inter-religious mechanism to deal with issues of contention and to facilitate religious harmony and goodwill in the country. While expressing concern on the presentation of a Bill to restrict religious conversions the NCC fears that such a move could lead to harassment of religious communities due to personal vendettas or political agendas. In a statement issued yesterday the NCC expressed concern at the presentation of a Bill to restrict conversions to Parliament on July 21, 2004. 'We wish to convey to all citizens of Sri Lanka that we are compelled to challenge the validity of this Bill in terms of the Constitution of our country in the Supreme Court for the following reasons: 1. The intended legislation violates the fundamental rights of all persons of all religions to freely choose or practice or to hold on to a religion/belief of their choice. The fundamental rights of all individuals need to be protected at all times. Therefore as Sri Lankans we believe it is our duty to defend the same on behalf of every citizen in this country in the interest of a truly democratic society. 2. The second concern is that this legislation can pave the way for serious abuse by any interested party which could affect any religious community or its leaders or undermine inter-religious harmony leading to an atmosphere of intimidation and fear. This could create a situation where religious communities are harassed or even silenced due to personal vendettas or political agendas. 3. The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka wishes to reiterate that we condemn any unethical/or improper means of conversion. Such methods do not conform to the actual ethics and spirit of the Gospel and is a contradiction to the core spirituality of all religions. We re-affirm our commitment to identify and deal with areas of any such unethical practices with appropriate administrative regulations as a collaborative exercise with all religious communities.' 'We wish to once again appeal to all concerned particularly to all religious leaders to find ways and means of setting up an inter-religious mechanism to deal with such issues of contention and to facilitate the strengthening of religious harmony and goodwill in this country.' 'We are deeply grateful for, and still believe that the goodwill and harmony that exists among all religious communities in Sri Lanka could be harnessed in such a way that rich and diverse forms of spirituality of the respective religious communities, could be pooled together to resolve the contentious issues that have arisen,' the statement said. The statement was signed by: Rt. Rev. Kumara Illangasinghe, Chairperson, National Christian Council of Sri Lanka, Bishop of Kurunegala, Church of Ceylon - Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo, Church of Ceylon - Rt. Rev. Dr. S. Jebanesan, Bishop in Jaffna, Church of South India - Rev. Noel Fernando, President, Methodist Church, Sri Lanka - Rev. W. Warshamanage, President, Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya, Col. Roy Frans., Territorial Commander, The Salvation Army - Rev. C. N. Jansz, President, Dutch Reformed Church, Rev. George Stephen, Moderator, Presbytery of Lanka. The NCC represents the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Student Christian Movement (SCM), Ceylon Bible Society and the Christian Literature Society. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
