Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 49 ] — RELIGIOUS LEADERS’ PLATFORM — humanity has never known before. Here we find both a model and its contrary, with the events of September 11 — and then more regular acts of terrorism — coming as a contradiction to the hegemony of globalisation. The story of the struggle of religions and cultures also looms as a con- tradiction to globalisation. However, in the short term, these dialogues have created new forums for understanding the many voices, thus con- tributing to the promotion of moderation in the long term. The adoption of the concepts of citizenship, equality and rights necessarily requires condemnation of actions that contradict the principle of citizenship— those practices and behaviour that we all reject, that are not recognised by the laws of heaven but are based on discrimination between the proprietors of heavenly religions, entailing practices of con- tempt and marginalisation which sometimes lead to killing. The chief instrument of cohesion and the strengthen- ing of the common will is the national constitutional state, based on the principles of citizenship, equality, coexistence and the rule of law. Differences in custom and heritage should be celebrated in order to avoid the racist ideas inherent in some historical or social contexts and for which there is no objective justification