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Religious summit in Baku condemns terrorism

Baku, April 27, Interfax - Members of the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu communities from 32 countries condemned terrorism and any attempts to use religion for destructive purposes in a declaration adopted at the World Summit of Religious Leaders in Baku on Tuesday.

Russia's delegation to the summit was headed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

"People responsible for spreading death and destruction have been trying to use religion to disguise their goals. They have already started to formulate alternative 'theological theories' that justify murders along religious and ethnic lines. Those who finance terrorism or spread its ideology are behaving with greater cynicism," the participants in the summit said.

The religious leaders said that their calls to fight against this evil could be heard "only by people who are open to arguments of faith and common sense."

"Regrettably, hardened criminals understand the language of force much better. That is why religious-political doctrines that justify aggressive violence against the peaceful population must be banned all over the world, as many countries have banned Nazism," they said.

"At the same time, we know that one idea can be defeated only by another idea. That is why traditional religious communities are duty bound to prevent any distortions of religious values in favor of extremism and terrorism," the religious leaders said.

Among other threats facing the modern-day world, the participants in the summit mentioned poverty, social imbalances, drug trafficking, terrorism, armed conflicts, environmental problems, as well as attempts to strip nations of their identity, to push religion to the periphery of social life and to dilute ethic norms.

The religious leaders also welcomed recent UN and UNESCO initiatives aimed at promoting cooperation and dialogue between religious communities and politicians.

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