Dr. A.W. Sadathullah Khan’s – Talk at the Interfaith Open Dialogue

“I believe that interfaith dialogue is a must today, and the first step is to see and treat every human being as human being. God is One, and we are one family. God has granted human beings freedom of choice. It is people’s birth right and no one has the power to impose choices on others, to judge and discriminate in any matter whatsoever. Today, extremism and fanaticism is all about imposing choices on others. Extremists use religion as a tool to incite hatred and divide humanity, and to exercise power to falsely claim superiority over others.
This game of claiming superiority over others is Satanic, leading humanity towards revenge, hatred, communal clashes, division, intolerance, misunderstanding and killings. In this time of unrest, turmoil, agitation, aggressiveness and inhuman behavior, we need to rise above all discriminations and bring in unity, brotherhood and a feeling of oneness. Unity in diversity and giving the freedom of choice to live in respect and dignity as a human being is the need of the hour. The world has become a global village, where happenings in one part of the world have their bearing on the rest of the world. We can only tackle this Satanism by promoting mutual understanding, religious tolerance and inter-religious dialogue. We must promote educational programs on interfaith and peace, in schools, colleges, universities and among general public as well as among the political and religious leaders. Peace can only prevail where people from different communities and cultures live together without harming each other. All religions, in fact, preach love, peace, brotherhood and promote tolerance. It is not God, nor religion that divides humanity, but men with Satanic vision who seek to divide humanity to rule and to fulfill their selfish agenda.
God is with those who stand and manifest peace in this world!”