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That brings me to a second observation – so well represented in this group by religious leaders who are at the forefront of this challenge.

Because as you know, credible religious leaders must not only call on other religions to be tolerant and true to its own tenets – but they must confront the intolerance and distortions that exist within their own faith.

Before a Christian leader can ask a Muslim cleric for tolerance, must they not condemn the intolerance within their own so-called believers?

Before a Jewish leader can reach out to a Christian pastor and ask for tolerance, must they not address the intolerance within some portions of their own religious communities?

Before a Muslim leader can call upon Jewish and Christian leaders, must they not reject the intolerance of those who claim to own and define Islam?

Our world has been witness to violence and death in the name of a Christian god, a Jewish god and a Muslim god. We must universally and loudly reject and condemn those responsible.

And so my point is that we all must continue in that outspokenness. We must be stronger in volume and will and clarity. We must see destruction and death lauded in the name of religion and call it down for what it is – destruction and death. The three Abrahamic religions sanction nothing else.

And this brings me to my third observation. Violence that is carried out in the name of religion is a false cause. And it is my hope that we, who embrace our unique religious convictions, will do all we can to reject those who label violence under the arc of any true faith.

Holy War is an oxymoron. How can any war that perpetrates the violent loss of innocent life be considered the aspiration of any god?

We have heard many labels since 9/11 and well before – labels such as “freedom fighters,” “infidels,” “religious terrorism,” “Islamic terrorism,” “the Militant Right,” “Judao Soldiers.” We have watched in horror as terrorists proclaim “God is great!” before they commit ghastly executions and distribute the videos of these murders for all the world to see.

No one can commit such violence in the name of God. Because religion has long brought people together under the most cherished and civilized principle of humanity. Our collective faiths speak to the shared values of compassion, goodness, mercy and right.

In my view, when we impose religious labels on military and political battles, they are not authentic and appropriate.

Again, is it not better to call it what it is? Holy War as war? Religious terrorism as terrorism? Religious conflict as conflict? Christian, Jewish and Islamic fundamentalists – as simply fundamentalists – terrorists, criminals, murderers?

There are pockets of religious conflict all over the world, but these conflicts are not about religion; they are about domination. They are about destabilization. They are about disharmony. They are about fear.

After al, the collective fuel of extremists is the fear of that which they do not understand – modernity, the advancement of society. Fear is the glue of this movement. Ignorance is the shield they hide behind to protect against what they view as the “dangerous new ways of the world.”

When we propel and move forward, as civilizations and societies do, when we bring forth knowledge that cast doubts and dispersions on long-held beliefs, we are not simply making a point. In an extremist’s mind, that is provocation.

We are imposing and threatening their views of immortality. That leads to anger and as we have seen with devastating demonstration, that leads to violence.

We know that the challenges from a religious point of view are many. When people distort religion for their own cause, how do you get them to see that their cause is not God’s will? How does one reason with such radical ideologues? How does one reason with someone who knows only violence as a means of expression?

How do you stand up to those who exploit pluralism and re-interpret the Bible, Torah and Koran for their extremist agendas?

In such a context, how will the lamb ever lay down next to the lion?

Again, I join you today as an observer and defer to the vast scholarship abundant in this room. But I will say and I do believe, that the more we assimilate as one vast community of many different faiths, the more similarities we will find than differences.

And the more we eliminate religious labels when defining conflicts, brutality and violence, the more we will see conflicts for what they really are.

And the more we speak out and reject the intolerant within our own faiths, the more we will eradicate the religious cover extremists use to justify their own violent and bigoted causes. And the less chance, then, they will have of enticing others to bloodshed in the name of peaceful and compassionate religions.

In the name of all that is truly holy, in the name of true humanity, let us embrace action and zeal in highlighting the commonalities of our faiths. For in times of moral crisis, there is no place for neutrality. One must take a stand. One must speak out. Actually, not one – but many. We all must rise up against intolerance and express our religious diversity with one voice – and a singular belief in the importance of peaceful co-existence.

For peace is our Providence. Solidarity is our salvation. And tyranny is out of time.

So let all of us who are different cling together in our sameness. Let us be individual – yet indivisible. Let us live by the unique and collective tenets of all religions. And let us work mercifully, resolutely and collectively toward the preservation and advancement of humankind.

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