Federico Mayor, Director-general of UNESCO (1987-1999): It is intolerable that the world's religions - founded on the values of love and compassion - should provide a pretext for the expression of hatred and violence.
Andrew C Clark, General Secretary,
International Association for Religious Freedom
(IARF): Religion and belief are motivating forces which guide
our existence and make it meaningful. What we can rightly demand is religious
freedom, and what we correspondingly must supply are the highest ethical standards
of responsible conduct. IARF is a committed fellowship of those who are engaged
in both tasks.
Pope John Paul II:
No peace without justice, no justice without forgiveness. To pray for peace
is to pray for justice, for a right-ordering of relations within and among
nations and peoples. It is to pray for freedom, especially for the religious
freedom that is a basic human and civil right of every individual. To pray
for peace is to seek God's forgiveness, and to implore the courage to forgive
those who have trespassed against us.
Mahatma Gandhi: Like the bee
gathering honey from the different flowers, the wise person accepts the essence
of the different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions.
John F. Kennedy: If we cannot end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.
Thomas Jefferson: The legitimate
powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others.
But it does me no injury f
or
my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket
nor breaks my leg. Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions,
any more than our opinions in physics or geometry.
Blaise Pascal: Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
William Penn: Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.
Trial of William Penn: © Quaker Tapestry Scheme
Permission to use this illustration has been
given by the Quaker Tapestry at Kendal. The Quaker Tapestry is a community
textile of 77 embroidered panels made by 4,000 people from 15 countries. Further
information can be obtained from: The Quaker Tapestry Exhibition Centre, Friends
Meeting House, Stramongate, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4BH England UK
Tel and Fax: +44 (0)1539 722975 http://www.quaker-tapestry.co.uk
