Prince Charles calls for more 'Respect'
Childrens bbc asks kids:-
Do you have respect? E-mail us now!
The Prince of Wales launches the Respect campaign for greater religious tolerance at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham. 29 April, 2002.
The launch of respect in Birmingham on Monday 29 April was given widespread coverage in the press.
"Zaki Badawi, principal of the Muslim College, described [the prince] as 'the most popular world leader in the Muslim community throughout the world'... The prince replied: 'I feel flattered and embarrassed.'"
Charles the promotoer of Islam
Charles the freindly face of Islam
Islam is about this, it commands
it.
and breeds rulers such as
this,
this,
this,
and this,
AND
THIS
WHICH LEADS TO THIS AND
MORE
DO YOUR KIDS HAVE RESPECT?
Many papers linked the launch of the respect campaign to recent events around the world. The Mirror reported it as coming in the light of "the killings in New York and the Middle East, the Bradford riots and the rise of racist French leader Jean-Marie Le Pen." An editorial in The Daily Telegraph said, "Britain cannot afford to allow religions to be instrumentalised in this ungodly way." Urging people to put aside "distrust of 'the other side'" it insisted, "Inter-faith dialogue is boring in the abstract, fascinating in the concrete. To be invited to a Passover meal, for example, is to understand what Jews feel about their history and identity."
Above all though, respect is a local initiative. An article on the BBC website quoted Prince Charles: "Good neighbourliness is, perhaps, one of the things most in need of repair... It is about the young Muslim mowing the lawn for the elderly Hindu lady down the street. Or the choir from the Catholic church singing to entertain the Jewish old people's club."
The Leamington Spa Courier reported that Prince Charles had met members of Leamington Spa's Baha'i community at the launch: "Fariba Appleton, secretary of the assembly of the Baha'is in Leamington, said: 'It was very good to meet Prince Charles, but I was even more excited about the project.'" The story went on to describe how Bahai's in Leamington Spa had already been working towards inter-faith relationships in recent months through 'unity feasts', which take place every month and are open to all faith groups and people.
Both The Sun and The Mirror mentioned Prince Charles' joke about the name of the campaign. Under the headline, "Charles: Respec' to Ali G,"( HOW FUNNY (ck15) after all its a laughing matter isnt it?) The Sun reported the prince's "hilarious remark": ( ha ha .ck15)"As so often happens a name is needed and everyone seems to have settled on respect. I could not help wondering if Ali G was on the committee – my children certainly think he was." Striking a more serious note, The Sun continued by quoting Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks as saying, "It is an answer to all the cynics who say religion divides. Here it is uniting."
http://www.evangelical-times.org/ETNews/June02/jun02n04.htm
Prince Charles is calling for greater tolerance of other cultures after September 11, far right gains in the French elections and the rise of the British National Party.
He says it is time to restore values such as good neighbourliness and finding time for others.
He is launching a campaign to boost respect and understanding between faiths and communities.
Flanked by 23 leading religious figures including Christians, Muslims and Jews, Charles said it is a "tragedy" that faiths are so divided when they have so much in common.
The campaign, Respect, forms part of the Prince's contribution to the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations.
The prince said: "Over the past year, we have seen, internationally, nationally and locally, all too many examples of intolerance to others.
"Tolerance is an easy word to pronounce, but it seems to be very difficult to enact in our lives. And yet it is such a tragedy that when the various faith communities have so much in common, its members should so often be divided by the different ways we have of interpreting the inner meaning of our existence."
Though he did not refer specifically to examples of intolerance, his remarks are being taken in the context of September 11, the crisis in the Middle East, Jean-Marie Le Pen's success in the French elections and cultural clashes in Britain such as the Bradford riots. The BNP is also campaigning in many local elections this week.
A spokesman for the Prince says the Respect launch had been in the pipeline for three years, "but the Bradford riots, September 11 and all these things can't help but make it more timely".
Before the Prince spoke, Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow, who was compering the event, at Birmingham's International Convention Centre, said the initiative was poignant "in the aftermath of the events in France and the strife in the Middle East".
Story filed: 14:31 Monday 29th April 2002
Here is a different argument. We are witnessing a reinvention of the monarchy to articulate the values of a tolerant society and to provide a focus for multiculturalism and religious pluralism. The first stage was Prince Charles's declaration on Charles: The Private Man, The Public Role (1994) that he would prefer the monarch to be defender of faith rather than Defender of the Faith, defending "faith itself which is so often under threat in our day where the whole concept of there being anything beyond this existence, beyond life itself is considered almost old-fashioned".
Since then, the prince has taken on the role of "defender of faith", reaching out to non-Christian traditions, crusading against the reductionism and scientific materialism of genetic modification, extolling the holistic and spiritual dimension in architecture, medicine and education. His Respect campaign seeks to encourage individuals and communities to give time to those of another faith, to share and learn together and enjoy the company of people of other cultures and experience.
Perhaps even more significant has been the Queen's journey, first signalled in her 2000 Christmas broadcast. After speaking of the strength and importance of her Christian faith, she commended the spirituality found in the teachings of other great faiths.
She took this theme further in her Christmas broadcast last year, commending "strong and open communities", and saying: "A sense of belonging to a group, which has in common the same desire for a fair and ordered society, helps to overcome difficulties and misunderstandings by reducing prejudice, ignorance and fear. We all have something to learn from one another, whatever our faith - be it Christian or Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or Sikh - whatever our background, whether we be young or old, from town or countryside."
This espousal of inclusivity and openness also underlay the Queen's jubilee address to parliament in April when she characterised the British as "a moderate, pragmatic people, outward-looking and open-minded" and identified fairness and tolerance as the two traditions in which the country should take particular pride. She also singled out "the consolidation of our richly multicultural and multi-faith society" as one of the most significant and welcome developments of her reign.
This embrace of multiculturalism and religious diversity puts the monarch ahead of many politicians and pundits, and is not mere rhetoric. It springs in part from her experience of the multicultural, multi-faith Commonwealth, bound together by loyalty to shared ideals and values and to the person of the monarch. As the Queen's formersecretary, Sir Edward Ford, observed, its creation and preservation has perhaps been the most significant personal achievement of her reign.
If we need to learn to live together as a community of communities with a diverse ethnic, cultural and religious mix, then the Commonwealth is not a bad model. The monarchy has identified itself with openness, tolerance and a respect for religious faith and a sense of the spiritual. Intolerance, bigotry and fundamentalism can be heard across the world. The fact that our head of state and her heir have championed inclusivism and liberal pluralism is something to celebrate, not least for Guardian readers even of a moderately republican tendency.
· Ian Bradley is reader in practical theology at St Andrews University and author of God Save The Queen: The Spiritual Dimension Of Monarchy (Darton, Longman and Todd).
By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter
(Filed: 28/10/2001)
THE Prince of Wales is holding a series of meetings with senior British Muslims in an attempt to convince them that the war on Afghanistan is not an attack on Islam.
The Telegraph can reveal that Prince Charles discussed his wartime role with the Prime Minister at a meeting on Thursday at St James's Palace.
Tony Blair is understood to have declared support for the Prince's desire to forge closer links with the country's Muslim community and to win wider support for the war against Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist group.
After his meeting with Mr Blair, the Prince held the first of a series of meetings with five high-ranking British Muslims at St James's Palace. The group included Iqbal Sacranie, the chairman of Muslim Aid and the chairman of the Balham Mosque in south London, and Dr Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr.
Mr Sacranie and other Muslim leaders have urged the West to use legal, rather than military, methods to punish those responsible for the terrorist attacks on the America.
A spokesman for St James's Palace said yesterday: "The Prince of Wales has a long interest in Islam and has developed close links with the British Muslim community."
It is understood that the Prince hoped to intervene publicly after the riots involving young Muslims in northern towns this summer, but was dissuaded from doing so by his advisers. Prince Charles also hopes to be able to visit British troops serving abroad before Christmas.
Last weekend, it was revealed that the Prince is to act as an unofficial envoy for Britain in the war against global terrorism. American and Britain have been unable to win wholehearted backing from Saudi Arabia for the war.
Prince Charles, with the Government's support, hopes to use his good contacts with Saudi Arabia in order to repair cracks in the Arab coalition.
He has won respect from Muslims around the world for his understanding of Islam and Islamic culture. He has helped to improve Britain's relations with the Arab world over the past decade.
BAHIA NEWS THE SUNDAY TIMES
Britain
April 14, 2002
Charles to be the prince of faiths
By Nicholas Hellen and Christopher Morgan
THE Prince of Wales is to launch a multi-faith campaign that is being seen as a move to take on an expanded royal role following the death of the Queen Mother.
He has held a summit for Britain's religious leaders at St James's Palace to combat a "dangerous" breakdown of tolerance in society. He will make public their proposed solution on the eve of the Queen's golden jubilee address to parliament later this month, flanked by a cardinal, two archbishops and the chief rabbi.
The multi-faith campaign coincides with plans to increase his royal profile. He had dinner with Tony Blair last Monday and will, in future, hold bi-monthly meetings with the prime minister. Charles is also to conduct more ceremonial duties, including investitures, and take over from the Queen some of the duties of receiving foreign ambassadors in London. He will also increase his public engagements, particularly in Scotland.
His plan to enlist millions of people in a movement to bridge the religious divide in schools, relief work and deprived areas represents a high-risk intervention for the heir to the throne and eventual governor of the Church of England.
Schemes under discussion include opening Muslim faith schools to other religions, providing sanctuary for victims of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and joint Christian-Muslim aid for the West Bank.
Charles has moved rapidly since an initial meeting with religious heads on March 11. It was first inspired by a suggestion to the prince from Jonathan Sacks, the chief rabbi.
He will launch his movement, called Respect, alongside the leaders of all of Britain's principal religions in Birmingham on April 29, at an event co-ordinated by the Prince's Trust. The leaders will include the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and the Archbishop of Wales. Also present will be Zaki Badawi, a leading Muslim; Indarjit Singh, of the Sikh Council for Interfaith Relations; and Barnabas Leith, of the Bahai faith. There will also be Hindu, Buddhist and Jain representatives.
The prince's plan, which will be his principal contribution to the jubilee, will be the first time that he has sought to implement his ideas on the religious role of the monarch in a multi-faith society. He declared his intention to reign as "defender of faith" in 1994. Charles took a close interest in the causes of the riots in Bradford last summer and hosted a dinner at his Highgrove home for leading Muslim figures shortly after September 11.
One religious leader said: "His view is that we have had dialogue between the faiths since the second world war and now it is time for a new stage, harnessing the day-to-day deeds of millions of ordinary people."
It goes beyond the Queen's 50th Christmas message last year, in which she urged people to respond to the terrorist outrage in New York by rediscovering the value of faith and community spirit.
Iqbal Sacranie, a member of the advisory council of Respect, said British Muslims should co-operate with Christians and Jews in providing overseas aid.
Other proposals at a meeting of Respect, held last Wednesday, included a plan for faith schools to share lessons with schools from other religions; the provision of child-minders for refugees and bridge-building in Northern Ireland. Leith, the secretary-general of the Bahai community of the UK, said: "It is about inspiring a genuinely popular movement for people to get to know each other."
The Prince's Trust will approach pop stars to perform at a street party for the launch of Respect on the day before the Queen addresses parliament. One source said: "The prince wants to attract young people because they are most likely to overcome prejudice."
taken from The Bahai news.
http://www.uga.edu/bahai/2002/020414.html
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Anything But Woolly
Prince Charles is not noted for his religious fervour, even if his official website says that he is “profoundly attached to the traditional rites of the Church of England and to the Book of Common Prayer”. Heir to the roles of Supreme Governor of the Church and Defender of the Faith, he has commented that the latter position ought to be rebadged simply “Defender of Faith”. But now he has launched a multi-faith initiative that seems anything but woolly.
The religious campaign will see Prince Charles taking the lead in moves to bridge the faith divide in schools, relief work and deprived areas.
Schemes under consideration include opening Muslim faith schools to other religions, providing refuge for victims of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and joint Christian/Muslim aid for the West Bank.
Church of England officials are said to be planning changes to their marriage rules, to allow Charles to marry long-time lover Camilla Parker Bowles.
PRINCE
CHARLES MEETS JEWISH PEOPLE AND VISITS TEMPLE IN WARSAW.
Prince Charles was very busy the next day. In the morning, he visited the Tempel and Remuh synagogues, and the Old Jewish Cemetery in Cracow's Kazimierz district. He met with representatives of the Jewish Community at Cafe Alef on Szeroka Street. HRH asked about the history of Cracow and the vicissitudes of Jews during the war. He regretted that he could not listen to cantors singing at the Tempel synagogue.
http://www.warsawvoice.pl/v713/News05.html
the official EEC promtion poster depicting the tower of babel.
