Nostra Aetate - In Our Time

85 those who come to be associated with us. Indeed, we need to go beyond the self. We often hear talk about a tolerant society. Tolerance is demeaning, acceptance is slightly better, albeit still demeaning, respect is better but we are required to go beyond that and sacrifice ourselves for the other. The tenth Guru in his writings states: “Manas ki jaat Sabhe ek hi pehchanbo” – recognise all of mankind as a single caste of humanity, the whole of the human race is one family. We in England have a government objective. The government said that we are now going to follow the community. I have argued that we need to substitute the word family for community. There are 7.3 billion people on this globe. Each one is unique, no two are alike, we can meet thousands of people better than you, thousands of people worse than you but we cannot meet anybody like you. That is the inter-faith context in which we should work. Each life is precious so in every Sikh congregation, in the individual supplication and the con- gregational supplication, we have to invoke blessings for all of humankind – Sarbat da bhala – wish everyone well. Thus, while highly distinct as a tradition, the Sikh Dharam holds a profound spirit of universality at its core. The Nostra Aetate declaration resonates extremely well with, and endorses, the Sikhs’ ethos and psyche. In fact, the development of the Sikh inter-faith mindset and the Nostra Aetate declaration are crucial milestones in a long sequence of inter-faith encounters and dialogues that have occurred over millennia. Over 2,000 years ago, Emperor Asoka, in India, issued an edict that there should be contact between religions. These edicts are built on rock – these are rock edicts. He said that the contact between religions is good. One should listen to and respect the doctrines professed by others. In the 13th century Saint Francis of Assisi travelled to the Middle East, meeting Muslim leaders seeking peace and harmony. In 16th century India, the Mughal Emperor Akbar is known to have convened interreli- gious gatherings at his court. Of course, in 1965 we had Nostra Aetate . It is assumed that the first event of modern times promoting interreligious dialogue and understanding was the Parliament of the World’s Religions which took place in 1893 in Chicago. Subsequent parliaments were held in 1993, 1999, 2004, 2009, and recently in 2015. We can see that, particularly over the last century, the interreligious movement has grown significantly with countless interreligious conferences, gatherings and initiatives having taken place and continuing to do so, pointing to the growing desire of humanity to cooperate BROADENING INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND COLLABORAT ION FOR OUR T IME “Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity” The Moral Dimensions of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, held at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Vatican City, Rome, April 2015 Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh receiving the inaugural African Inter-faith Harmony Award of the Year, awarded by the United Religions Initiative Africa, February 2016