-BEFORE YOU CONSIDER THE TERM OF REFERENCE BELOW, NOT SO MUCH REASON 5 WHY I OPENED THIS AWARD-WINNING WEBSITE BUT IN THIS CASE THE REASON WHY I AM MAINTAINING IT AND PLANNING TO MAINTAIN IT BEYOND THE PRESENT (AND FUTURE) AMERICAN (AND CANADIAN) ELECTION CAMPAIGN(S), TO CONSIDER IT IN CONTEXT, PLEASE TAKE THE NECESSARY BRIEF SIDESTEPS HERE AND THEN COME BACK HERE.
By GREG McINTYRE
Religion Reporter
For Leyla Raphael, religious conversion doesn't mean converting others.
It means converting yourself to the principles of your own religion.
It means closing the gap between word and deed.
Jews can't pray for peace one day and then beat up Palestinians the next, said the 57-year-old Roman Catholic nun.
"When your religion talks about peace, do it. Don't just say it," the Montreal native said in Vancouver this week.
"Our history and today's events in Iran, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Israel show that in the name of religion some people are capable of going into warfare," she said.
"Most religions have acted at times in their history in that way."
As Canadian president of the World Conference on Religion for Peace, Raphael sees her role as helping others bridge the gap between the faith they profess and the way they live.
"First, be honest with yourself," she said.
"Secondly, work at converting yourself to your own religion--Christians to Christianity, Moslems to Islam, Jews to Judaism.
"And from one religion to another, learn to respect and uphold the other with his or her religion. Don't claim you've got all the answers and the other one doesn't know or doesn't see.
"Realize that what we call in Christianity the spirit of God, has different ways, different methods, different approaches with different people.
"And let's work together on peace since all religions teach peace."
Raphael is also director of the Quebec-based non-government aid organization Carrefours Des Cedars (Crossroads of the Cedars) which works to "restore the broken lines of communication in the Middle East."
She said Israel's three-month-old policy of beatings, arrests and deportations of Palestinians is shocking and "in the long run cannot possibly benefit Israel."
The Mideast violence won't end until Jews recognize their Moslem neighbor's right to establish an independent Palestinian state, she predicted.
In Vancouver, the World Conference on Religion for Peace is sponsored by Canadian Ecumenical Action, an interfaith group with an office in the basement of Chalmers United Church on West 12th Avenue.
Canadian and U.S. representatives meet in Toronto in October
to begin planning for a world conference in 1989 in Melbourne,
Australia.
(article accompanied by photograph of Leyla Raphael, captioned:
Leyla Raphael: "When your religion talks about peace, do it.")
(text of February 26, 1988 The Province column)
DON'T THINK THE WISDOM OF THOMAS JEFFERSON IS PASSÉ YET IN WHAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO FROM YOUR GOVERNMENT? LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD: TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE TO SIGN MY GUESTBOOK.
TO CONSIDER OTHER TERMS OF REFERENCE ABOUT OTHER HEROIC NUNS AND PEOPLE OF GOODWILL AND FAITH, TAKE YOUR NEXT FOOTSTEP HERE.