The Middle East Council of Churches: Violence is a crime against God and humanity … Religions are a message of love and peace

Photo: Sébastien Botella/ Nice Matin

In a communiqué today, The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) condemned the abominable crime that took place in France in the last few days, and declared that “violence is a crime against God and humanity, so how would it be if it is justified by religious faith, against the teachings of all religions that is love, peace, solidarity and the admittance of the right of diversity and interaction while considering diversity as a rich cultural heritage”.

MECC also added, “We were outraged, and so was the entire world, with the resurgence of the hate speech, the persistence on spreading fear and the perpetration of terrible massacres against innocent people, an act that is incompatible with the doctrines of religions, law as well as the moral obligation to safeguard the freedom of beliefs linked to the freedom of conscience; This requires that the entire world, with its religious, political, academic, media and educational leaderships, reinforces the confrontation with terrorism and extremism; This requires too that the trend of dialog, love and moderation governs. In addition to that, the world is invited to adopt moderation in religious practice, based on human dignity where inclusive citizenship triumphs over exclusion, isolation and abolition."  

Furthermore, MECC confirmed its continuous exchange with its partners across the globe, at the local, regional or international levels, in order to deeply reflect on coordination in the mechanisms of condemning terrorism and extremism in all its forms, and to make the spirit of Human Brotherhood and common living prevail.

In Conclusion MECC called to “Reject the hate speech, to refuse all forms of violence and to persist in raising the level of alert in confronting these hate speeches and violence logic in addition to increasing awareness campaigns in educational curricula, on social media and in the religious guidance which will prevent conflict. This requires the formation of local, regional and international committees that tackle the subject of general preventive and proactive public policies against religious violence instead of being satisfied with simply condemning reactions.”

Communication and Public Relations Department